Chapter 258 - Punishments for making defamatory speeches

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

[Full title: Punishments for making defamatory speeches and committing other offences (vākpāruṣya)]

Fire-god said:

1. If a person abuses the sick and men having defective organs, by means of lampoons, whether true or untrue or otherwise, he should be fined thirteen and a half paṇas.

2. The king should levy a fine of twenty-five (paṇas) on one that abuses another (with the words) “I copulate with your sister or (I copulate with your) mother”.

3. A punishment should be awarded after due consideration of the higher or lower caste. (A man of the higher caste committing adultery (on women) of the lower caste (should be levied) half (the fine) and (a man of the lower caste committing adultery) on (women) of the higher caste (should be levied) double (the fine).

4. The men of lower orders of castes censuring the men of the next higher order should be levied double or three times the fine. But in the case of censures made by men of the higher orders on those of lower orders, half the fine should be levied.

5. The fine (that should be levied) on a capable person uttering words threatening the injury of the hands, neck, eyes and thighs (of another) should be levied (the sāhasa) fine. It is half the fine, if it relates to the foot, nose, ear and arms.

6. An incapable person who says as above should be levied a fine of ten paṇas. So also a capable person should give surety for the safety of that person.

7. The middle sāhasa fine should be levied on that person who abuses one ascribing degrading sin (to him). The first kind of sāhasa should be levied on one who ascribes (another) with minor sin of second degree.

8. The highest sāhasa (should be levied) for offences villifying the brahmins, kings and gods. Middle (sāhasa) (should be levided for offences villifying) one’s own relatives and the members of the village assembly and the first (sāhasa) (for speaking ill of one’s own) village or country.

9. In the case of charge of murder without witness, (the judge) should pronounce (the judgement) after considering the marks, reasoning and written testimony, in order to safeguard (himself) from being misled by false marks.

10. The fine for touching (another) with ashes, mud or dust is said to be ten paṇas and for touching with filth or the heels or spitting, double (that).

11. (For offences against women) of one’s own (caste) single (fine should be levied) and twice that in the case of other women as well as of higher castes. The fine is half in the case of (offences against those) belonging to lower castes. (For offences done) under delusion or the influence of liquor, (there is) no punishment.

12. The organ of a non-brahmin that inflicts pain on a brahmin should be cut off. First (sāhasa) punishment (should be preseribed) for one who raises (one’s arms and strikes a brahmin) and half that (fine) if one touches.

13. If the hand and the leg are held and pulled, the fine is ten and twenty (paṇas) respectively. If (several men) one by one (hold and pull), the scriptures (prescribe) the middle sāhasa for all of them.

14. The fine for pulling the feet or hair or the garment or hand is ten paṇas. The fine for causing affliction or pulling or dragging after putting cloth around or placing foot (on a person) is one hundered (paṇas).

15. One who causes misery by means of a log of wood etc. and (if there be) no blood (injury), should be fined thirtytwo paṇas. Double that (is the fine), if blood is seen.

16-17. The middle (sāhasa) fine is levied for breaking hand, foot and teeth and cutting ear and nose. Similarly one causing injurious wounds, (one who) strikes fatally, (one who) impairs (organs of) movement, eating and speaking, (one who) pierces eyes etc., and (one who) breaks neck, arm and thigh (should be punished with) middle sāhasa.

18. If many persons jointly) assault a man, each one of them (should be levied) double the (amount of) fine laid down before. Articles (forcibly) taken away after a quarrel should be returned and the fine is said to be double.

19. A person who causes grief should pay the cost of recovery (of the article) and the fine is said to be the same as laid down in the case of a quarrel.

20. A ferry-man collecting a land-toll should be punished (to pay) ten paṇas. A brahmin (going to dine) at the neighbour’s house uninvited, (shall be liable) for the same punishment).

21. One has to be fined five, ten, twenty and sixty paṇas respectively for assaulting, piercing, cutting and breaking the house (of another person).

22. One should be fined sixteen paṇas for having thrown into another’s house, an object, that would cause misery or death to another. The abettor should be fined the middle sāhasa.

23. One should duly be fined two paṇas onwards for having caused misery or bleeding injury or breaking the limbs of the body of a small animal.

24. (One should be fined) the middle (sāhasa) and should pay the price for having cut off the genital organ (of an animal) or having killed it. In the case of bigger animals, in these instances, the fine would be double (the above).

25. The fine is forty (paṇas) for lopping the branches, trunk of the tree or the whole tree that is growing and providing sustenance.

26. One who causes another to indulge in a violent act shall have to pay double the fine and one who says that he would pay (if fine is imposed) and causes another to do (a violent act) (shall be required to pay) four times (that fine).

27-28. It has been fixed that, a person who reviles or shows disrespect to a respectable person, one who beats the wife of his brother, one who does not give the promised gift, one who breaks the summer-house built in the midst of water and one who injures the neighbours, shall be fined fifty paṇas.

29-32. One who copulates with a licentious widow, one who assaults (another) uttering abuses, one who abuses (another) without any reason, a man of the low caste touching the men of higher castes, a śūdra (a man of the fourth caste) eating the meal at the time of the ceremony of a mendicant and in the divine and ancestral ceremonies, one who makes an improper oath, an incompetent person who does the act of a competent person, one who castrates the bulls or small animals, one who hides a well-known matter, one who destroys the foetus of a servant woman, one who disregards any one of the following—father, son, sister, brother, husband or wife, preceptor and pupil, that has not been degraded, shall be fined a hundred (paṇas).

33. A washerman who wears the dress of others (given to him for washing) should be fined three paṇas. It is ten paṇas if he sells them or requests others to take (them) without any charges.

34. One who deals with those who make false (marks) on weights and measures and make counterfeit coins should be fined the highest (sāhasa).

35. The coin-tester who declares the genuine as counterfeit and the counterfeit as genuine should be fined the first (sāhasa).

36. A physician who gives wrong medical treatment to birds and animals, men (in general) and men of royal (household), should be punished with the first, middle and the highest fine respectively.

37. (An officer) who keeps in custody a man that should not be kept incarcerated and allows an untried (criminal) to escape, should be fined the highest (sāhasa).

38. One who steals an eighth part (of the real weight) of an article, by means of (false) scale or (fraudulent) measurement, should be fined twenty-two paṇas, no matter, whether (the real weight) has been increased. or decreased by that fraction.

39. One who mixes low-standard (material) in medicines, oils, salts, perfumes, grains and molasses etc. should be fined sixteen paṇas.

40. A thousand (paṇas) is said to be the fine (to be imposed) on the artisans who collectively (indulge) in affecting the value (of the goods) (or cause) the decrease or the increase of the wealth.

41. It is considered to be profitable for the traders to sell or purchase everyday, goods that are dependent on the king.

42. A trader should take five per cent profit on indigenous goods and ten percent (profit) on foreign goods that are bought and sold immediately.

43. (A trader), after having added the incidental expenses relating to the goods, to (the price) of the goods, should settle its price with the seller or purchaser.

44. A trader not delivering the goods to the purchaser from whom the cost has been collected, should be made to pay (the amount) along with the profit or the profit (allowed) on the foreign (goods) if (the goods) have come from the foreign (country).

45. Goods that are sold (already) could (again) be sold, if the previous purchaser has not taken delivery (of the goods). The defects in the goods due to the purchaser’s fault should be borne only by the purchaser.

46. In the case of any damage to the goods caused by political disturbances or natural calamities, or due to non-delivery at the desired time, the consequences have to be borne only by the seller.

47. The fine payable by a seller for the damage or the apparent damage to goods sold through his agent would be double the value of the cost (of the goods).

48. A trader who has purchased the goods without the knowledge of the decrease or increase (in their prices) should not reopen the negotiation. In case he does so, he should be punished (to pay) one sixth (of the value of the whole stock).

49-50. The profits and losses of traders trading as partners for the sake of profit, (should be divided) proportionately to their shares in the capital, or according to agreement made (at the commencement of the business). (A partner) should make good the loss sustained by him on account of doing the prohibited thing or doing a thing that he has not been asked to do or on account of folly. A partner who has saved (the goods) from destruction is eligible to get one tenth (of the value of the goods).

51. The king shall take a twentieth part (of the value) of the abandoned goods as tax. The contraband (goods) fit for royal use and sold (to someone) should go to the king.

52. A deceitful purchaser or seller giving out false measures and going away from the toll office should be fined eight times (the value of the goods).

53. Relatives and rightful heirs who have come should get the properties of a person on his death or his settlement abroad and the king (should get) in the absence of them (the legal heirs).

54. The (following) injunctions have been laid down for the officiating priest and ploughman: They should eschew dishonesty. They should not be greedy. They should get the task done by (employing) another in the case of (personal) incapacity.

55. A thief is apprehended by constables on finding the stolen property in his possession, by (his) foot-print, his past crime and dirty clothes.

56-57. Others that hide their caste, name etc. should also be held on account of suspicion. Persons addicted to gambling, wenching and drinking and those who turn pale and speak in a dry and broken voice (should also be held). Those who enquire about the properties and houses of others, those who wander in disguise, those who spend (much) without income, those who sell lost goods (should also be held).

58. If one who is held on suspicion for theft cannot expiate (himself), he should restore the stolen property. He should be punished as a thief.

59. Stolen (articles) should be recovered from the thief and he should be put to death by different (methods). A brahmin (convicted of theft) should be branded and banished from his country.

60-6la. The headman of a village should be held responsible for murder and theft, if (the criminal) has not left his jurisdiction. He should be brought to account in the village where he sets his foot. Similarly five or ten villages within a radius of two miles (of the place) (are held responsible).

61b-62a. Those men who abduct the captives, horses and elephants and those who murder violently should be put on the (iron) stake.

62b-64. A stealer of clothes and a pick-pocket should be deprived of both the hands (ie., hands should be cut off). (Or) for the latter offence, one hand and leg should be cut off. (Putting) a thief or a murderer to death by means of giving food or stimulant, (or by means of) fire, water, mantra or weapon is known as excellent punishment. The highest (sāhasa) (should be) the punishment for causing abortion/miscarriage by means of a weapon.

65. The highest or the lowest (fine) (should be imposed) on those who kill a man or a woman. A woman who kills a man by giving poison should be fastened to a stone and thrown into water.

66. A woman who kills by giving poison or setting fire to her preceptor or offspring should be deprived of her ears, hands, nose and lips and killed by (employing) cows.

67. Incendiaries of fields, dwelling houses, forests, villages, pasture lands and threshing floors and a person who has had intercourse with the king’s wife should be burnt by fire fed on straw placed around.

68. A man should be caught by the hair when he is having adultery with other women. The highest (sāhasa) is the fine if (the woman belonged) to his own caste and middle fine (is prescribed) if (the woman belonged) to the lower caste.

69a. (But) if (the woman) belonged to the higher caste (than the adulterer), the man should be killed and the ears of the woman should be cut off.

69b-71a. One who forcibly removes the garments covering the waist, breast, navel and braids (of a woman), and one who engages in conversation (with a woman) at an inappropriate place and time and who stays with her (similarly) (is liable to be fined). If it is prohibited for a woman, she has to pay (a fine) of one hundred (paṇas) and (if for a man), he (has to pay) two hundred (paṇas). (In spite of the prohibition if they indulge in the above crimes), they have to be fined as in the case of adultery.

71b. A person mating with an animal shall be fined one hundred (paṇas), and (one mating) with a woman of low caste or with a cow (shall be fined) the middle (sāhasa).

72. A person (who mates) with a slave girl or a maidservant held in captivity, though otherwise fit for cohabitation, should be fined fifty paṇas.

73. The fine is said to be ten paṇas if one forcibly copulates with a slave girl. One who mates with a woman of the last caste and a woman mendicant should be fettered and banished (from the country).

74. A person who adds or omits in copying the royal edict or one who releases a seducer should be fined the highest (sāhas).

75a. One who pollutes a brahmin (by mixing) forbidden food, should be fined the highest (sāhasa).

75b-76a. One who deals in counterfeit gold and one who sells unclean meat should be maimed and fined the highest (sāhasa).

76b-77. An owner who releases the wild boars and horned cattle, though he is capable (of keeping them penned), should pay the first sāhasa (as fine). (If it is accompanied) by shouting, (the owner should pay) double (the fine). (A man) who calls an innocent man a thief should be made to pay a fine of five hundred (paṇas).

78-79. One who utters undesirable words against the king, one who abuses the same, one who sells things connected with a dead body, one who beats his preceptor, one who divulges his (preceptor’s) mantra, should be banished (from the country) with his tongue cut off. The fine for a person who rides the carriage or sits on the seat of the king, is the middle sāhasa.

80. The two eyes should be plucked out in the case of a person who acts hostile to the king or the nation. A śūdra living like a brahmin (should be) fined eight hundred (paṇas).

81. If one has been defeated in the proper way, thinks that he is unconquered, he should be defeated (again) when he comes and should be punished (to pay) double the (amount of) fine.

82. A king who has fined a person unjustly should offer the amount to (lord) VaruṇaGL_NOTE:178860:} and pay thirty times (the amount) to the brahmins.

83. Piety, wealth, fame, esteem of mankind, favour, love of the subjects and permanent residence in heaven, dispensing justice even as (people) watch are the seven qualities of a king.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Lord of ocean and righteousness.