Verse 8.127

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:

अधर्मदण्डनं लोके यशोघ्नं कीर्तिनाशनम् ।
अस्वर्ग्यं च परत्रापि तस्मात् तत् परिवर्जयेत् ॥ १२७ ॥

adharmadaṇḍanaṃ loke yaśoghnaṃ kīrtināśanam |
asvargyaṃ ca paratrāpi tasmāt tat parivarjayet || 127 ||

Unjust punishment is destructive of reputation among men and subversive of fame; in the other world also it leads to loss of heaven; he shall therefore avoid it.—(127)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Unfair punishment’ is that punishment, that savours strongly of injustice;—i.e., one that takes no account of what has been just said, and which is determined cither entirely on the basis of the letter of the law, or by the king’s whim, or by love, hatred and such other feelings.

Such a punishment is ‘destructive of reputation,’ also ‘subversive of fame’; ‘reputation’ consists in the man’s good qualities being known in his own country, while ‘fame’ in their being known in foreign countries. Or ‘reputation’ may consist in one’s good name during life.—Or the passage being a purely commendatory one, some other distinction may be drawn.

‘Leads to loss of heaven’;—i.e., obstructs the passage to heaven, that might have been opened by other meritorious deeds.

‘In the other world’;—this has been added for filling up the metre; ‘heaven’ itself being the other world.—(127)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Vivādaratnākara (p. 649).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 8.127-128)

Vaśiṣṭha (19.42-45).—‘If an innocent person is punished, the domestic priest shall perform a Kṛcchra penance; and the King shall fast during three days and nights.’

Yājñavalkya (1.356, 358).—‘Punishment illegally inflicted by the King destroys heaven, fame and worldly prosperity; legally inflicted, it brings to the King heaven, fame and victory. If the King punishes those who deserve punishment, and if he kills those who deserve to be killed, he offers, thereby, sacrifices at which excellent sacrificial fees are given.’

Nārada (Punishments, 61).—‘Let the King, faithful to the tenets of the sacred law, practise the duties of his office and follow the rule of inflicting punishment. Let him destroy, as governor, the evil-doers, after having traced them by cunning stratagems and arrested them.’

Kātyāyana (Vivādaratnākara, p. 649).—‘By not chastising evil-doers, and by punishing those who are already submissive, kings and ministers incur sin.’