Kautilya

“ If leaving her husband's house, a woman goes to another village, she shall not only pay a fine of 12 panas, but also forfeit her endowment and jewels (sthápyábharanalopascha) . If under any other excuse than receiving her subsistence or pilgrimage (bharmádánatirthagamanábhyámanyatra) , a woman goes to any other place even in company with an associable man, she shall not only pay a fine of 24 panas, but also lose all kinds of social privileges (sarvadharmalopascha) . But the man who allows such a woman to accompany him in his journey shall be punished with the first amercement. ”

“ Even that property which has been given her with full powers of enjoyment and disposal she shall endow in the name of her sons.
A barren widow who is faithful to the bed of her dead husband may, under the protection of her teacher, enjoy her property as long as she lives: for it is to ward off calamities that women are endowed with property. On her death, her property shall pass into the hands of her kinsmen (dáyáda) . If the husband is alive and the wife is dead, then her sons and daughters shall divide her property among themselves. If there are no sons, her daughters shall have it. ”

“ As it is certain that sacrificial merits fall in value when performed in company with a drunkard, the husband of a Súdra woman, a murderer of a Bráhman, or one who has violated the chastify of the wife of his preceptor, a receiver of condemnable gifts, or is a thief, or one whose performance of sacrificial acts is condemnable, it is no offence to send out such a priest. ”

“ The kinsmen (gnátis) of a woman shall return to her whatever property of her own she had placed in their custody. Whoever justly takes a woman under his protection shall equally protect her property. No woman shall succeed in her attempt to establish her title to the property of her husband.
If she lives a pious life, she may enjoy it (dharmakámá bhunjíta) . No woman with a son or sons shall be at liberty to make free use of her own property (strídhana) ; for that property of hers her sons shall receive. ”

“ If the husband is a Bráhman, studying abroad, his wife who has no issue should wait for him for ten years; but if she has given birth to children, she should wait for twelve years. If the husband is of Kshatriya caste, his wife should wait for him till her death; but even if she bears children to a savarna husband, (i.e., a second husband belonging to the same gotra as that of the former husband) with a view to avoid the extinction of her race, she shall not be liable to contempt thereof (savarnatascha prajátá ná pavádam labheta) . ”

“ Persons fallen from caste, persons born of outcaste men, and eunuchs shall have no share; likewise idiots, lunatics, the blind and lepers. If the idiots, etc., have wives with property, their issues who are not equally idiots, etc., shall share inheritance. All these persons excepting those that are fallen from caste (patitavarjah) shall be entitled to only food and clothing.
If these persons have been married (before they became fallen, etc.) and if their line is likely to become extinct, their relatives may beget sons for them and give proportional shares of inheritance to those sons. ”

“ Invalid gifts shall be kept in the safe custody of some persons. Any person who has given as gift not only his whole property, his sons, and his wife, but also his own life shall bring the same for the consideration of rescissors. Gifts or charitable subscriptions to the wicked or for unworthy purposes, monetary help to such persons as are malevolent or cruel, and promise of sexual enjoyment to the unworthy shall be so settled by rescissors that neither the giver nor the receiver shall be injured thereby. ”

“ A woman, who hates her husband, who has passed the period of seven turns of her menses, and who loves another shall immediately return to her husband both the endowment and jewellery she has received from him, and allow him to lie down with another woman. A man, hating his wife, shall allow her to take shelter in the house of a mendicant woman, or of her lawful guardians or of her kinsmen. ”

“ In dispute concerning assault, theft, or abduction, persons other than wife's brothers, enemies, and co-partners, can be witnesses. In secret dealings, a single woman or a single man who has stealthily heard or seen them can be a witness, with the exception of the king or an ascetic. On the side of prosecution masters against servants, priests or teachers against their disciples, and parents against their sons can be witnesses (nigrahanasákshyam kuryuh) ; Persons other than these may also be witnesses in criminal cases. ”

“ When a person threatens and abandons his companion in the midst of a forest, he shall be punished with the highest amercement.
Whenever persons who have started together on some journey abandon one another as above, half of the above fine shall be levied. ”

“ The ransom necessary for a slave to regain his freedom is equal to what he has been sold for. Any person who has been enslaved for fines or court decrees (dandapranítah) shall earn the amount by work. An Arya, made captive in war shall for his freedom pay a certain amount proportional to the dangerous work done at the time of his capture, or half the amount. ”

“ If a man falsely accuses his wife of adultery with one of her or his kinsmen or with a spy--an accusation which can only be proved by eyewitnesses (drishtilinge) --or falsely accuses her of her intention to deprive him of her company, he shall pay a fine of 12 panas. A woman, hating her husband, can not dissolve her marriage with him against his will. Nor can a man dissolve his marriage with his wife against her will. ”

“ Those who have been living together shall redivide their property whether they had already divided their ancestral property before or they had received no such property at all. Of sons, he who brings the ancestral property to a prosperous condition shall also have a share of the profit. ”

“ If witnesses give testimony for a less amount, the plaintiff shall pay a fine proportional to the increased amount; if they attest to a greater amount, the excess shall go to the king. In cases where the plaintiff proves himself stupid, or where bad hearing (on the part of witnesses at the time of the transaction) or bad writing is the cause of difficulty, or where the debtor is dead, the evidence of witnesses alone shall be depended on (sákshipratyayameva syát) . ”

“ The fine levied on a cultivator who arriving at a village for work, does not work shall be taken by the village itself. He shall refund not only double the amount of the wages he received promising to work, but also double the value of food and drink with which he has been provided. ”

“ An employer may be at liberty to get the work done by (another) provided there is no such adverse condition that the former shall not employ another servant to execute the work, nor shall the latter go elsewhere for work. ”

“ AN interest of a pana and a quarter per month per cent is just. Five panas per month per cent is commercial interest (vyávaháriki) . Ten panas per month per cent prevails among forests. Twenty panas per month per cent prevails among sea-traders (sámudránám) . Persons exceeding, or causing to exceed the above rate of interest shall be punished with the first amercement; and hearers of such transactions shall each pay half of the above fine. ”

“ When a person does not hand over the property entrusted to him for delivery to a third person, drags with his hand the wife of his brother, has connection with a public woman kept by another, sells merchandise that is under ill repute, breaks open the sealed door of a house, or causes hurt to any of the forty-house-holders or neighbours, a fine of 48 panas shall be imposed. ”

“ The rest of the property, or the above things, too, may be equally divided among themselves. Sisters shall have no claim to inheritance; they shall have the bronze plate and jewellery of their mother after her death. An impotent eldest son shall have only 1/3rd of the special share usually given to the eldest; if the eldest son follows a condemnable occupation or if he has given up the observance of religious duties, he shall have only 1⁄4 of the special share; if he is unrestrained in his actions he shall have nothing.
The same rule shall hold good with the middlemost and youngest sons ”

“ An adventurer may enjoy whatever the king graciously gives him out of the booty he has plundered from an enemy's country, excepting the life of an Arya and the property belonging to gods, Bráhmans or ascetics. ”

“ If owing to distance in time or place there occurs any fall in the value of the merchandise, the retail dealers shall pay the value and profit at that rate which obtained when they received the merchandise.
Servants selling commodities at prices prescribed by their masters shall realise no profit. They shall only return the actual sale proceeds. If prices fall, they shall pay only as much of the sale proceeds as is realised at the low rate. ”

“ Having given the necessary amount of sulka and property (strídhana) even to those women who have not received such things on the occasion of their marriage with him, and also having given his wives the proportionate compensation and an adequate subsistence (vritti) , he may marry any number of women; for women are created for the sake of sons. If many or all of them are at the same time in menses, he shall lie with that woman among them, whom he married earlier or who has a living son. ”

“ Neighbours of good family, forty in number and different from the purchasers above mentioned, shall congregate in front of the building for sale and announce it as such. Accurate description of the exact boundaries of fields, gardens, buildings of any kind, lakes or tanks shall be declared before the elders of the village or of the neighbourhood. If, on crying aloud thrice ‘Who will purchase this at such and such a price’? no opposition is offered, the purchaser may proceed to purchase the holding in question. ”

“ Neighbours shall know the nature of agreement between a master and his servant. The servant shall get the promised wages. As to wages not previously settled the amount shall be fixed in proportion to the work done and the time spent in doing it (karmakálánurúpam = at the rate prevailing at the time.) Wages being previously unsettled, a cultivator shall obtain 1/10th of the crops grown, a herdsman 1/10th of the butter clarified, a trader 1/10th of the sale proceeds. Wages previously settled shall be paid and received as agreed upon. ”

“ But owing to consideration of changes that have occurred in time and place or owing to bad workmanship of the labourer, the employer may not be pleased with what has already been turned out by the labourer. Also the workman may, if unrestrained, do more than agreed upon and thereby cause loss to the employer. ”