Chapter 43

The Rule of Punishment

The king should make a Brahmin pay his master by gentle means only. Others who are wicked, he should make pay by coercion according to local custom. // K_477 //

He should make an heir or a friend pay by means of a stratagem. Bhṛgu has said this for merchants, farmers, and artisans. // K_478 //

Knowing him to be unable to pay the money, one should make him perform work under one's control. If he is unable, he should be put in a place of confinement, except for a Brahmin. // K_479 //

Farmers and those of the Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra classes who are able-bodied should be made to pay. // K_480 //

For offenses against a teacher, father, mother, and relatives, no punishment is prescribed. // K_481 //

Where an improper act has been done in a situation of mortal peril, there shall be no punishment; this is the law remembered by Bhṛgu. // K_482 //

One should never kill a Brahmin, even if he is guilty of all sins. He should be banished from the kingdom with all his wealth intact. // K_483 //

For the four castes who do not perform the prescribed penance, one should impose a just punishment involving their body and wealth. // K_484 //

For whatever offense a Shudra is lawfully fined, for that same offense the fine for a Kshatriya and a Brahmin shall be double and double again, respectively. // K_485 //

A Shudra who has become an ascetic and is devoted to chanting and fire-sacrifices, one should punish that sinner with death, or he is liable for a double fine. // K_486 //

In all offenses, whatever monetary fine is prescribed for a man, women should pay half of that; in a capital case for a man, the punishment is mutilation of a limb. // K_487 //

Dependent women should not be arrested; the man is at fault there. They are to be disciplined by their master, and the king should punish the man. // K_488 //

A woman whose husband is away, even if she is arrested at home, should be kept in confinement until her master has returned. // K_489 //

Whatever fine is carefully fixed for a certain offense, that amount in paṇas, or its equivalent value, should be collected for the king. // K_490 //

Where a fine of a half or a quarter māṣa is prescribed, and it is not specified, it should be known that one māṣaka should be determined. // K_491 //

Where the fine is stated in māṣakas, it should be understood as silver. Where it is stated in kṛṣṇalas, it is as stated; this is the determination of the stated fine. // K_492 //

A māṣa should be known as the twentieth part of a kārṣāpaṇa. A kākaṇī is the fourth part of a māṣaka and of a paṇa. // K_493 //

In the region of the five rivers, this practical terminology should be known: a kārṣāpaṇa is to be known as an aṇḍikā; four of these are a dhānaka; twelve of those are a suvarṇa, which is also called a dīnāra or citraka. // K_494 //