Verse 9.276-277

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

सन्धिं छित्त्वा तु ये चौर्यं रात्रौ कुर्वन्ति तस्कराः ।
तेषां छित्त्वा नृपो हस्तौ तीक्ष्णे शूले निवेशयेत् ॥ २७६ ॥
अङ्गुलीर्ग्रन्थिभेदस्य छेदयेत् प्रथमे ग्रहे ।
द्वितीये हस्तचरणौ तृतीये वधमर्हति ॥ २७७ ॥

sandhiṃ chittvā tu ye cauryaṃ rātrau kurvanti taskarāḥ |
teṣāṃ chittvā nṛpo hastau tīkṣṇe śūle niveśayet || 276 ||
aṅgulīrgranthibhedasya chedayet prathame grahe |
dvitīye hastacaraṇau tṛtīye vadhamarhati || 277 ||

If thieves commit thefts at night, after breaking into a house, the king shall cut off their hands and have them impaled on a pointed stake;—(276) on the first conviction he should have two fingers of the cut-purse amputated; on the second a hand and a foot; and on the third he should be put to death.—(277)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

(verses 9.276-277)

‘Cut-purse’—one who cuts out a purse; i.e., the opening of knots or bundles of cloth. Or the name ‘cut-purse’ may apply to those persons who are bent upon slinking away, on some pretext, with the property that has been stolen,—after loosening the knots with which he may have been bound.

When such a man has been detected in doing this for the first time, his fingers shall be cut off; on the second occasion a hand and a foot; and on the third, he shall suffer death.—(276-277)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

(verse 9.276)

This verse is quoted in Mitākṣarā (2. 275), as illustrating the principle that the severity of the penalty is to be determined by the seriousness of the offence;—in Aparārka (p. 845), which explains the meaning to be that the nails are to he fixed on the points where the two hands have been cut off;—in Vivādaratnākara (p. 316), which adds that when construed with ‘śūle niveśayet’, ‘teṣām’ is to be taken as ‘tān’;—in Vivādacintāmaṇi (Calcutta, p. 86);—and in Vīramitrodaya (Vyavahāra 151b).

(verse 9.277)

‘Aṅgulīḥ’—Rāghavānanda reads ‘aṅgulī’ (Dual) and explains that the thumb and the index-finger are meant;—the same view is held by Kullūka also;—according to Nandana, the ‘two fingers’ are the index and the middle fingers,—Medhātithi adopts the reading in the plural.

This verse is quoted in Vivādaratnākara (p. 321), which reads ‘aṅgulī’ (Dual) and explains it as the thumb and the index finger;—‘graha’, detection;—in Parāśaramādhava (Vyavahāra, p. 302), which explains the ‘two fingers’ as the thumb and the index finger;—in Aparārka (p. 845);—in Mitākṣarā (2. 274) to the effect that a pickpocket detected thrice should be put to death;—in Vivādacintāmaṇi (Calcutta, p. 87), which adds the following explanations—‘If one is detected in untying cattle for stealing it, then, if it is the first offence of its kind, his fingers should be cut off, in the second offence, his hands and feet, and in the third, death-penalty is to be inflicted;—and in Nṛṣiṃhaprasāda (Vyavahāra 42b).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verse 9.276)

Yājñavalkya (2.270).—‘The thief should he made to restore the stolen goods and to suffer various forms of corporal punishment.’

Vyāsa (Vivādaratnākara, p. 316).—‘If a man cuts a hole in the wall and steals wealth, he should be made to restore to the owner the stolen goods and should then be impaled.’

(verse 9.277)

Viṣṇu (5.136).—‘Cut-purses shall lose one hand.’

Yāñjavalkya (2.274).—‘The pick-pocket and the cut-purse should be deprived of their picking fingers (thumb and index), for the first offence; on the second they should be deprived of one hand and one foot.’

Vyāsa (Vivādaratnākara, p. 321).—‘The pick-pocket and the cut-purse should be deprived of their picking fingers.’

Nārada (Do., p. 322).—‘For the first offence, cut-purses shall have the thumb and the index finger cut off; for the

second, the remaining fingers shall be cut off; and for the third, he shall be put to death.’