Verse 8.243

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

क्षेत्रियस्यात्यये दण्डो भागाद् दशगुणो भवेत् ।
ततोऽर्धदण्डो भृत्यानामज्ञानात् क्षेत्रिकस्य तु ॥ २४३ ॥

kṣetriyasyātyaye daṇḍo bhāgād daśaguṇo bhavet |
tato'rdhadaṇḍo bhṛtyānāmajñānāt kṣetrikasya tu || 243 ||

When there is transgression on the part of the farmer himself, his fine shall be ten times the royal share,—half of that in the case of servants, if it is unknown to the farmer.—(243)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

If there has been some ‘transgression’—fault—on the part of the farmer himself, in connection with In’s farm,—such as untimely sowing, sowing of unripe seed, damage to the crops by his own cattle, harvesting before ripening, and so forth,—then the man should be fined ten times the amount of the king’s share.

If without the farmer’s knowledge, the wrong has been done by the servants employed by him—in the shape of night-watchers and others,—then these servants shall be fined half the aforesaid amount.

The construction is—‘atyaye kṣetriyasya daṇḍaḥ.’

This has been set forth here in the present context, because it deals with cultivated fields.—(243)

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Āpastamba (2.28.1).—‘If a person who has taken up a plot of land for cultivation does not exert himself and hence the land bears no crop, he shall, if he is rich, be made to pay to the owner of the land the value of the crops that ought to have been grown.’