Verse 8.314

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

राजा स्तेनेन गन्तव्यो मुक्तकेशेन धावता ।
आचक्षाणेन तत् स्तेयमेवङ्कर्माऽस्मि शाधि माम् ॥ ३१४ ॥

rājā stenena gantavyo muktakeśena dhāvatā |
ācakṣāṇena tat steyamevaṅkarmā'smi śādhi mām || 314 ||

The wise thief shall approach the king, with flying hair, confessing the theft, with the words—‘I have done this, punish me’;—(314)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

In as much as nothing is specified, the ‘thief’ here is to be understood as one who has stolen gold; specially as it is only in the case of such a thief that other Smṛti-texts have laid down the ‘approaching of the king.’ The present text itself cannot be taken as an injunction laying down the act of ‘approaching’; because the subject-matter of the present context consists of the injunction of punishments for theft, as clearly declared above in Verse 301—‘I am now going to expound the law relating to punishments for theft.’ Hence the present can only be taken as a re-iteration of the act of ‘approaching’ (enjoined elsewhere); hence it must mean that ‘one who has stolen gold should approach the king’—‘with flying hair.’

‘Wise’—courageous.

Another reading for ‘dhīmatā,’ ‘wise,’ is ‘dhāvatā,’ ‘running.’ ‘confessing’—proclaiming his crime on the road—‘i have done this’—act of stealing brāhmaṇa’s gold—inflict upon me the proper punishment.’—(314)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

(verses 8.314-315)

Cf 11.199-201.

These verses are quoted in Aparārka (p. 1078):—and in Mitākṣarā (2.267, where only 315 is quoted).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 8.314-315)

[ See Manu 11.100-101.]

Gautama (12.48).—‘A man who has stolen gold shall approach the King, with flying hair, holding a club in his hand, and proclaim his deed.’

Baudhāyana (2.1.16-17).—‘A thief shall go to the King with flying hair, carrying on his shoulder a club of sindhuka wood, and say ‘strike me with this.’ Then the King shall strike him. They quote the following verse:—“A thief shall go to the King carrying a club on his shoulder and say to him, Punish me with this, O King.”’

Āpastamba (1.25.4).—‘A thief shall go to the King with flying hair, carrying a club on his shoulder and tell him what he has done. The King shall give him a blow with that club. If the thief dies, his sin is expiated.’

Vaśiṣṭha (20.41).—‘If a man has stolon gold belonging to a Brāhmaṇa he shall run with flying hair to the King, exclaiming “Ho! I am a thief, Sir, punish me.” The King shall give him a weapon made of udumbara wood, with that he shall kill himself. It is declared in the Veda that he becomes purified by this death.’

Viṣṇu (52.1).—‘He who has stolen gold must bring a club to the King, proclaiming his deed.’

Yājñavalkya (3.257).—‘The man who has stolen gold belonging to a Brāhmaṇa shall present to the King a club, proclaiming his deed; he becomes purified if the King kills him with it, or pardons him.’

Nārada (Theft, 27).—‘For stealing more than a hundred palas of gold, silver, or other precious metals, or line clothes, or very precious gems, corporal punishment or death shall be inflicted.’

Nārada (Theft, 46).—‘The thief must approach the King with flying hair running and proclaiming his deed, saying “thus have I acted, chastise me.” By so doing, he is cleared from guilt, because he has confessed his deed. The King therefore shall touch him with the club or dismiss him.’

Bṛhaspati (22.27-28).—‘For the stealing of women, men, gold, gems, the property of a deity or Brāhmaṇa, silk and other valuable things, the fine shall he equal to the value of the article stolen; or double the amount shall be inflicted by the King as fine; or the thief shall be executed, to prevent a repetition of the offence.’

Saṃvarta (Aparārka, p. 1079).—‘Then the King himself shall strike the thief with a club; if the thief is alive after this, he becomes freed from the sin of stealing.’