Verse 9.232

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

कूटशासनकर्तॄंश्च प्रकृतीनां च दूषकान् ।
स्त्रीबालब्राह्मणघ्नांश्च हन्याद् द्विष् सेविनस्तथा ?? ॥ २३२ ॥

kūṭaśāsanakartṝṃśca prakṛtīnāṃ ca dūṣakān |
strībālabrāhmaṇaghnāṃśca hanyād dviṣ sevinastathā ?? || 232 ||

Forgers of royal proclamations, sowers of disaffection among the people, the slayers of women, infants and Brāhmaṇas, and those serving his enemies,—the king shall put to death.—(232)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Forgers of Royal proclamations’—give out as done by the king what is not done by him. ‘Proclamations’—royal edicts such orders as ‘No one shall eat at the house of such and such a person’, ‘such and such a favour has been conferred upon this man’, ‘such is the law that has been laid down by the king’, and so forth—are always entered upon a piece of paper, written by the hand of the royal scribe, and are then known as the ‘Royal proclamation’. And people may forge these—i.e., misrepresent them.

‘Sowers of disaffection among the people’,—who spread disaffection among such of the people as may have some grievance or may be too greedy and so forth;—also the slayers of woman and infants and of Brāhmnṇas;—‘those that serve his enemies’—secretly carrying on visits to them.—(232)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Aparārka (p. 862), which adds the following notes:—‘Prakṛtīnām,’ of the various ‘members’ of the state;—‘dviṭsevinaḥ,’ those who serve persons disloyal to the king;—and in Vivādaratnākara (p. 370), which adds the following notes:—‘Śāsana’ here stands for royal proclamations;—‘prakṛtīnām,’ of the Minister and other members of the State;—‘dūṣakān,’ defamers without justification, those who attribute delinquencies, when in reality, there are none;—‘dviṭsevinaḥ,’ persons serving men inimical to the king.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Viṣṇu (5.9, 11).—‘The King shall put to death those who forge royal edicts;—and those who forge private documents;—and also poisoners, incendiaries, robbers, killers of women, children or men;—those stealing more than ten

Kumbhas of grain,—or more than a hundred māṣas of things sold by weight;—also those who aspire to sovereignty, though being of low birth; breakers of dikes, and such as give shelter to robbers; and a woman who is unfaithful to her lord.’

Viṣṇu (Vivādaratnākara, p. 370).—‘One who tries to contaminate the limbs of the kingdom—Minister, etc., and the people—should be put to death.’

Yājñavalkya (2.240).—‘One who forges weighing scales, royal edicts, weights and measures, or coins,—and one who deals with these,—should be fined the highest amercement.’

Do. (2.294).—‘One who subtracts from or adds to a royal edict, and one who lets go an adulterer or a thief,—should be fined the highest amercement.’

Śaṅkha-Likhita (Aparārka, p. 862).—‘One who makes use of a forged document, or disobeys a royal edict, and deals with short weights and measures should suffer corporal punishment or cutting off of a limb.’

Katyāyana (Do.).—‘One who tries to establish his case either by forged evidence or by means of a forged seal, should he fined with the highest amercement.’