Verse 8.264

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

गृहं तडागमारामं क्षेत्रं वा भीषया हरन् ।
शतानि पञ्च दण्ड्यः स्यादज्ञानाद् द्विशतो दमः ॥ २६४ ॥

gṛhaṃ taḍāgamārāmaṃ kṣetraṃ vā bhīṣayā haran |
śatāni pañca daṇḍyaḥ syādajñānād dviśato damaḥ || 264 ||

If a person, by intimidation, appropriates a house, a tank, a garden, or a field, he shall be fined five hundred; but only two hundred, if he does it in ignorance.—(264)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

In the course of dealing with fields, etc., this additional law is here added.

‘Intimidation’—has been mentioned only as an example, of the methods of misappropriation employed; the meaning is that—‘if a man knowing the field to belong to another person, takes possession of it, he shall he fined five hundred.’

‘Middle amercement’ (which is 500) having been already mentioned in the preceding verse, its reiteration here is meant to indicate that the amount shall vary according to the methods of misappropriation. Or it may be, as some people hold, that in the preceding verse, no significance is meant to be attached to the exact number.

The man appropriates another’s property by such intimidations as—‘I shall file a suit and have him punished by the king,’ or ‘I shall have him robbed by thieves,’ and so forth; and in this case the fine shall he five hundred, while in other oases, it is to be some other form of it.—(264)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Mitākṣarā (2.155), according to which ajñānāt is meant to cover those cases where a man takes possession of another’s garden &c. under the impression that they really belong to himself; in which case the fine is to be only two hundred. Bālambhaṭṭī has the following notes:—‘Bhīṣayā,’ threatening with dangers from some other source; this includes greed also.

It is quoted in Aparārka (p. 766);—in Vivādaratnākara (p. 222), which explains ‘bhīṣayā,’ as ‘by arousing fear in him,’—‘ajñānāt’ as ‘through mistake’;—in Vyavahāramayūkha (p. 98);—in Vivādacintāmaṇi (Calcutta, p. 64), which explains that ‘if one robs the house after having threatened the owner, the fine is only 500 paṇas;’—and in Vīramitrodaya, (Vyavahāra, 143b).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 8.253-264)

See Comparative notes for Verse 8.253.