Chapter 53

Deliberation on the Recovery of Wealth from a Debtor by Confinement and Other Means

A debtor should be held in confinement openly in a public assembly until he pays what is due, according to the established custom of the region. // K_580 //

If a person being held in detention has a need to urinate or defecate, he should be followed from behind, or he should be released while bound. // K_581 //

He should be released day by day after providing a surety. At mealtime and at night, the surety remains responsible for his confinement. // K_582 //

He who cannot find a surety for appearance and has no refuge should be confined in a prison, or placed under the watch of guards after informing them. // K_583 //

An honorable, trustworthy, and pure man should not be confined in a prison. He should be released without bonds, or bound only by an oath. // K_584 //

A creditor may recover the wealth from a debtor by coercion and by confinement, after the debt has been established, first by gentle means, by work, and by legal process. // K_585 //

He should take the wealth by this means and by employing a stratagem. He should make Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras, and those of equal or lower rank, pay by means of work. // K_586 //

He should make a king, a master, and a Brahmin pay by gentle means only. He should make an heir or a friend pay by means of a stratagem. // K_587 //

For merchants, farmers, and artisans, Bhṛgu has said they should be made to pay according to the custom of the region; the wicked should be made to pay by coercion. // K_588 //

Where a creditor harasses a debtor who is acting according to law, he shall lose that amount and shall incur an equal fine. // K_589 //

If, at the outset, he makes the debtor perform a forbidden task that was not stipulated, he shall incur the first amercement, and the debtor shall be released from the debt. // K_590 //

He who, having collected a debt or other property, does not give it to his master, becomes his slave, servant, wife, or beast in his house. // K_591 //