Kautilya

“ Elephants, cavalry, chariots, and infantry shall each be officered with many chiefs inasmuch as chiefs, when many, are under the fear of betrayal from each other and scarcely liable to the insinuations and intrigues of an enemy. ”

“ The superintendent shall tell the merchants (in question) that such and such a merchant has brought such and such amount of superior or inferior merchandise, which none can possibly hide, and that that information is due to the omniscient power of the king.
For hiding inferior commodities, eight times the amount of toll shall be imposed; and for hiding or concealing superior commodities, they shall be wholly confiscated.
Whatever causes harm or is useless to the country shall be shut out; and whatever is of immense good as well as seeds not easily available shall be let in free of toll. ”

“ Those women who can present themselves at the weaving house shall at dawn be enabled to exchange their spinnings for wages (bhándavetanavinimayam) . Only so much light as is enough to examine the threads shall be kept. If the superintendent looks at the face of such women or talks about any other work, he shall be punished with the first amercement. Delay in paying the wages shall be punished with the middlemost amercement. Likewise when wages are paid for work that is not completed.
She who, having received wages, does not turn out the work shall have her thumb cut off. ”

“ He shall also know what kind of ground is more advantageous to his own army, what time is more favourable, what the strength of the enemy is, how to sow dissension in an enemy's army of united mind, how to collect his own scattered forces, how to scatter the compact body of an enemy's army, how to assail a fortress, and when to make a general advance. ”

“ The artisans employed in the office shall do their work as ordered and in time. When under the excuse that time and nature of the work has not been prescribed, they spoil the work, they shall not only forfeit their wages, but also pay a fine of twice the amount of their wages. When they postpone work, they shall forfeit one-fourth the amount of their wages and pay a fine of twice the amount of the forfeited wages. ”

“ A Gopa shall keep the accounts of ten households, twenty households, or forty households. He shall not only know the caste, gotra, the name, and occupation of both men and women in those households, but also ascertain their income and expenditure. ”

“ Manufactories to prepare commodities from forest produce shall also be set up.
Wild tracts shall be separated from timber-forests. In the extreme limit of the country, elephant forests, separated from wild tracts, shall be formed.
The superintendent of forests with his retinue of forest guards shall not only maintain the up-keep of the forests, but also acquaint himself with all passages for entrance into, or exit from such of them as are mountainous or boggy or contain rivers or lakes.
Whoever kills an elephant shall be put to death. ”

“ Whoever spends the revenue (without bringing in any profit) eats up the labour of workmen. Such an officer shall be punished in proportion to the value of the work done, the number of days taken, the amount of capital spent, and the amount of daily wages paid.
Hence the chief officer of each department (adhikarana) shall thoroughly scrutinise the real amount of the work done, the receipts realised from, and the expenditure incurred in that departmental work both in detail and in the aggregate. ”

“ When those who rear a hundred heads made up of equal numbers of each of afflicted cattle, crippled cattle, cattle that cannot be milked by any one but the accustomed person, cattle that are not easily milked, and cattle that kill their own calves give in return (to the owner) a share in dairy produce, it is termed ‘useless and abandoned herd.’
(4) When under the fear of cattle-lifting enemies (parachakrátavibhayát) , cattle are kept under the care of the superintendent, giving him 1/10th of the dairy produce for his protection, it is termed "herds maintained for a share in dairy produce." ”

“ The colour of a diamond may be like that of a cat's eye, that of the flower of Sirísha (Acacia Sirísa) , the urine of a cow, the bile of a cow, like alum (sphatika) , the flower of Málati, or like that of any of the gems (described above) .
That which is big, heavy, hard (prahárasaham, tolerant of hitting) , regular (samakóna) , capable of scratching on the surface of vessels (bhájanalékhi) , refractive of light (kubrámi) , and brilliant is the best. ”

“ THE Superintendent of elephants shall take proper steps to protect elephant-forests and supervise the operations with regard to the standing or lying in stables of elephants, male, female, or young, when they are tired after training, and examine the proportional quantity of rations and grass, the extent of training given to them, their accoutrements and ornaments, as well as the work of elephant-doctors, of trainers of elephants in warlike feats, and of grooms, such as drivers, binders and others. ”

“ A fine of 600 panas shall be imposed on all offenders other than those who are manufacturers, purchasers, or sellers in liquor-traffic.
Liquor shall not be taken out of villages, nor shall liquor shops be close to each other.
Lest workmen spoil the work in hand, and Aryas violate their decency and virtuous character, and lest firebrands commit indiscreet acts, liquor shall be sold to persons of well known character in such small quantities as one-fourth or half-a-kudumba, one kudumba, half-a-prastha, or one prastha. Those who are well known and of pure character may take liquor out of shop. ”

“ Rogue elephants can be trained only in one way. The only means to keep them under control is punishment. It has a suspicious aversion to work, is obstinate, of perverse nature, unsteady, willful, or of infatuated temper under the influence of rut. ”

“ If, with the edge of the palm dipped in a solution, of vermilion (játihinguláka) or of sulphate of iron (pushpakásísa) in cow's urine, gold (suvarna) is touched, it becomes white.
A touch-stone with soft and shining splendour is the best. The touch-stone of the Kálinga country with the colour of green beans is also the best. A touch-stone of even or uniform colour is good in sale or purchase (of gold) . That which possesses the colour of an elephant, tinged with green colour and capable of reflecting light (pratirági) is good in selling gold. ”

“ Cattle such as a calf, a bull, or a milch cow shall not be slaughtered.
He who slaughters or tortures them to death shall be fined 50 panas.
The flesh of animals which have been killed outside the slaughter-house (parisúnam) , headless, legless and boneless flesh, rotten flesh, and the flesh of animals which have suddenly died shall not be sold. Otherwise a fine of 12 panas shall be imposed.
Cattle, wild beasts, elephants (vyala) , and fish living in forests under State protection shall, if they become of vicious nature, be entrapped and killed outside the forest preserve. ”

“ When a person imports such forbidden articles as weapons (sastra) , mail armour, metals, chariots, precious stones, grains and cattle, he shall not only be punished as laid down elsewhere, but also be made to forfeit his merchandise. When any of such commodities has been brought in for sale, they shall be sold, free of toll far outside (the fort) . ”

“ Elephant doctors, trainers, expert riders, as well as those who groom them, those who prepare their food, those who procure grass for them, those who tether them to posts, those who sweep elephant stables, and those who keep watch in the stables at night, are some of the persons that have to attend to the needs of elephants.
Elephant doctors, watchmen, sweepers, cooks and others shall receive (from the storehouse,) 1 prastha of cooked rice, a handful of oil, land 2 palas of sugar and of salt. Excepting the doctors, others shall also receive 10 palas of flesh. ”

“ Wayfarers going along a high road or by a foot path shall catch hold of any person whom they find to be suffering from a wound or ulcer, or possessed of destructive instruments, or tired of carrying a heavy load, or timidly avoiding the presence of others, or indulging in too much sleep, or fatigued from a long journey, or who appears to be a stranger to the place in localities such as inside or outside the capital, temples of gods, places of pilgrimage, or burial grounds. ”

“ The king will have to suffer in the end if he curtails the fixed amount of expenditure on profitable works.
(When a man engaged by Government for any work absents himself) , his sureties who conjointly received (wages?) from the government, or his sons, brothers, wives, daughters or servants living upon his work shall bear the loss caused to the Government.
The work of 354 days and nights is a year. Such a work shall be paid for more or less in proportion to its quantity at the end of the month, Ashádha (about the middle of July) . ”

“ When purchasers happen to bid for it, the enhanced amount of the price together with the toll on the merchandise shall be paid into the king's treasury. When under the fear of having to pay a heavy toll, the quantity or the price of merchandise is lowered, the excess shall be taken by the king or the merchants shall be made to pay eight times the toll. ”

“ Whatever metal is split into a hundred thousand parts is rendered soft when it is thrice soaked in the mixture made up of honey (madhu) , madhuka (Bassia Latifolia) , sheep's milk, sesamum oil, clarified butter, jaggery, kinva (ferment) and mushroom.
Permanent softness (mridustambhana) is also attained when the metal is treated with the powder of cow's teeth and horn.
Those ores which are obtained from plains or slopes of mountains; and which are heavy, greasy, soft, tawny, green, dark, bluish-yellow (harita) , pale-red, or red are ores of copper. ”

“ Having paid sufficient attention to the caste, family, social rank, age, learning (sruta) , occupation, property, character (síla) , blood-relationship (yaunánubandha) of the addressee, as well as to the place and time (of writing) , the writer shall form a writ befitting the position of the person addressed.
Arrangement of subject-matter (arthakrama) , relevancy (sambandha) , completeness, sweetness, dignity, and lucidity are the necessary qualities of a writ.
The act of mentioning facts in the order of their importance is arrangement. ”

“ Whoever hurts or causes another to hurt, or steals or causes another to steal a cow, should be slain.
When a person substitutes an animal (rúpa) bearing the royal brand mark for a private one, he shall be punished with the first amercement. ”

“ Elephant doctors shall apply necessary medicines to elephants which, while making a journey, happen to suffer from disease, overwork, rut, or old age.
Accumulation of dirt in stables, failure to supply grass, causing an elephant to lie down on hard and unprepared ground, striking on vital parts of its body, permission to a stranger to ride over it, untimely riding, leading it to water through impassable places, and allowing it to enter into thick forests are offences punishable with fines. Such fines shall be deducted from the rations and wages due to the offenders. ”

“ If cultivators pay their taxes easily, they may be favourably supplied with grains, cattle, and money.
The king shall bestow on cultivators only such favour and remission (anugrahaparihárau) as will tend to swell the treasury, and shall avoid such as will deplete it.
A king with depleted treasury will eat into the very vitality of both citizens and country people. Either on the occasion of opening new settlements or on any other emergent occasions, remission of taxes shall be made. ”

“ If no profit can be realised by selling the local produce in foreign countries, he has to consider whether any local produce can be profitably bartered for any foreign produce. Then he may send one quarter of his valuable merchandise through safe roads to different markets on land. ”

“ The amount of vyáji due on commodities sold by cubical measure is one-sixteenth of the quantity (shodasabhágo mánavyáji) ; that on commodities sold by weighing balance is one-twentieth of the quantity; and that on commodities sold in numbers is one-eleventh of the whole.
The superintendent shall show favour to those who import foreign merchandise: mariners (návika) and merchants who import foreign merchandise shall be favoured with remission of the trade-taxes, so that they may derive some profit (áyatikshamam pariháram dadyát) . ”

“ When customers under intoxication lose any of their things, the merchants of the shop shall not only make good the loss, but also pay an equivalent fine.
Merchants seated in half-closed rooms shall observe the appearance of local and foreign customers who, in real or false guise of Aryas lie down in intoxication along with their beautiful mistresses.
Of various kinds of liquor such as medaka, prasanna, ásava, arista, maireya, and madhu:--
Medaka is manufactured with one drona of water, half, an ádaka of rice, and three prastha of kinva (ferment) . ”