Kautilya's Arthashastra 3.13: Chapter 13 (Section 65): Law Concerning Slaves and Labourers

3.13.1

udaradāsavarjam āryaprāṇam aprāptavyavahāraṃ śūdraṃ vikrayādhānaṃ nayataḥ svajanasya dvādaśapaṇo daṇḍaḥ, vaiśyaṃ dviguṇaḥ, kṣatriyaṃ triguṇaḥ, brāhmaṇaṃ caturguṇaḥ //

THE selling or mortgaging by kinsmen of the life of a Súdra who is not a born slave, and has not attained majority, but is an Arya in birth shall be punished with a fine of 12 panas; of a Vaisya, 24 panas; of a Kshatriya, 36 panas; and of a Bráhman, 48 panas. If persons other than kinsmen do the same, they shall be liable to the three amercements and capital punishment respectively: purchasers and abettors shall likewise be punished. It is no crime for Mlechchhas to sell or mortgage the life of their own offspring. But never shall an Arya be subjected to slavery.

3.13.2

parajanasya pūrvamadhyamottamavadhā daṇḍāḥ, kretṛśrotṛṛṇāṃ ca //

3.13.3

mlecchānām adoṣaḥ prajāṃ vikretum ādhātuṃ vā //

3.13.4

na tv evāryasya dāsabhāvaḥ //

3.13.5

athavāryam ādhāya kulabandhana āryāṇām āpadi, niṣkrayaṃ cādhigamya bālaṃ sāhāyyadātāraṃ vā pūrvaṃ niṣkrīṇīran //

But if in order to tide over family troubles, to find money for fines or court decrees, or to recover the (confiscated) household implements, the life of an Arya is mortgaged, they (his kinsmen) shall as soon as possible redeem him (from bondage); and more so if he is a youth or an adult capable of giving help.

3.13.6

sakṛdātmādhātā niṣpatitaḥ sīdet, dvir anyenāhitakaḥ, sakṛd ubhau paraviṣayābhimukhau //

Any person who has once voluntarily enslaved himself shall, if guilty of an offence (nishpatitah), be a slave for life. Similarly, any person whose life has been twice mortgaged by others shall, if guilty of an offence, be a slave for life. Both of these two sorts of men shall, if they are once found desirous to run away to foreign countries, be slaves for life.

3.13.7

vittāpahāriṇo vā dāsasyāryabhāvam apaharato 'rdhadaṇḍaḥ //

Deceiving a slave of his money or depriving him of the privileges he can exercise as an Arya (Aryabhava), shall be punished with half the fine (levied for enslaving the life of an Arya).

3.13.8

niṣpatitapretavyasaninām ādhātā mūlyaṃ bhajeta //

A man who happens to have taken in mortgage the life of a convict, or of a dead or an afflicted man shall be entitled to receive back (from the mortgager) the value he paid for the slave.

3.13.9

pretaviṇmūtrocchiṣṭagrāhaṇam āhitasya nagnasnāpanaṃ daṇḍapreṣaṇam atikramaṇaṃ ca strīṇāṃ mūlyanāśakaraṃ, dhātrīparicārikārdhasītikopacārikāṇāṃ ca mokṣakaram //

Employing a slave to carry the dead or to sweep ordure, urine, or the leavings of food; keeping a slave naked; or hurting or abusing him; or violating (the chastity of) a female slave shall cause the forfeiture of the value paid for him or her. Violation (of the chastity) of nurses, female cooks, or female servants of the class of joint cultivators or of any other description shall at once earn their liberty for them. Violence towards an attendant of high birth shall entitle him to run away. When a master has connection with a nurse or pledged female slave against her will, he shall be punished with the first amercement; a stranger doing the same shall be punished with the middlemost amercement. When a man commits or helps another to commit rape with a girl or a female slave pledged to him, he shall not only forfeit the purchase value, but also pay a certain amount of money (sulka) to her and a fine of twice the amount (of sulka to the Government).

3.13.10

siddham upacārakasyābhiprajātasyāpakramaṇam //

3.13.11

dhātrīm āhitikāṃ vākāmāṃ svavaśāṃ gacchataḥ pūrvaḥ sāhasadaṇḍaḥ, paravaśāṃ madhyamaḥ //

3.13.12

kanyām āhitikāṃ vā svayam anyena vā duṣayato mūlyanāśaḥ śulkaṃ taddvuguṇaś ca daṇḍaḥ //

3.13.13

ātmavikrayiṇaḥ prajām āryāṃ vidyāt //

The offspring of a man who has sold off himself as a slave shall be an Arya. A slave shall be entitled to enjoy not only whatever he has earned without prejudice to his master’s work, but also the inheritance he has received from his father.

3.13.14

ātmādhigataṃ svāmikarmāviruddhaṃ labheta, pitryaṃ ca dāyam //

3.13.15

mūlyena cāryatvaṃ gacchet //

On paying the value (for which one is enslaved), a slave shall regain his Aryahood. The same rule shall apply either to born or pledged slaves.

3.13.16

tenodaradāsāhitakau vyākhyātau //

3.13.17

prakṣepānurūpaś cāsya niṣkrayaḥ //

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.

3.13.18

daṇḍapraṇītaḥ karmaṇā daṇḍam upanayet //

3.13.19

āryaprāṇo dhvajāhṛtaḥ karmakālānurūpeṇa mūlyārdhena vā vimucyeta //

3.13.20

gṛhejātadāyāgatalabdhakrītānām anyatamaṃ dāsam ūnāṣṭavarṣaṃ vibandhum akāmaṃ nīce karmaṇi videśe dāsīṃ vā sagarbhām aprativihitagarbhabharmaṇyāṃ vikrayādhānaṃ nayataḥ pūrvaḥ sāhasadaṇḍaḥ, kretṛśrotṛṛṇāṃ ca //

If a slave who is less than eight years old and has no relatives, no matter whether he is born a slave in his master's house, or fell to his master's share of inheritance, or has been purchased or obtained by his master in any other way, is employed in mean avocations against his will or is sold or mortgaged in a foreign land; or if a pregnant female slave is sold or pledged without any provision for her confinement, his or her master shall be punished with the first amercement. The purchaser and abettors shall likewise be punished.

3.13.21

dāsam anurūpeṇa niṣkrayeṇāryam akurvato dvādaśapaṇo daṇḍaḥ, saṃrodhaś cākaraṇāt //

Failure to set a slave at liberty on the receipt of a required amount of ransom shall be punished with a fine of 12 panas; putting a slave under confinement for no reason (samrodhaschákaranát) shall likewise be punished.

3.13.22

dāsadravyasya jñātayo dāyādāḥ, teṣām abhāve svāmī //

The property of a slave shall pass into the hands of his kinsmen; in the absence of any kinsmen, his master shall take it.

3.13.23

svāminaḥ svasyāṃ dāsyāṃ jātaṃ samātṛkam adāsaṃ vidyāt //

When a child is begotten on a female slave by her master, both the child and its mother shall at once be recognised as free. If for the sake of subsistence, the mother has to remain in her bondage, her brother and sister shall be liberated.

3.13.24

gṛhyā cet kuṭumbārthacintanī mātā bhrātā bhaginī cāsyā adāsāḥ syuḥ //

3.13.25

dāsaṃ dāsīṃ vā niṣkrīya punar vikrayādhānaṃ nayato dvādaśapaṇo daṇḍaḥ, anyatra svayaṃvādibhyaḥ // iti dāsakalpaḥ /

Selling or mortgaging the life of a male or a female slave once liberated shall be punished with a fine of 12 panas with the exception of those who enslave themselves. Thus the rules regarding slaves.

3.13.26

karmakarasya karmasambandham āsannā vidyuḥ //

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.

3.13.27

yathāsambhāṣitaṃ vetanaṃ labheta, karmakālānurūpam asambhāṣitavetanaḥ //

3.13.28

karṣakaḥ sasyānāṃ gopālakaḥ sarpiṣāṃ vaidehakaḥ paṇyānām ātmanā vyavahṛtānāṃ daśabhāgam asambhāṣitavetano labheta //

3.13.29

sambhāṣitavetanas tu yathāsambhāṣitam //

3.13.30

kāruśilpikuśīlavacikitsakavāgjīvanaparicārakādir āśākārikavargas tu yathānyas tadvidhaḥ kuryād yathā vā kuśalāḥ kalpayeyus tathā vetanaṃ labheta //

Artisans, musicians, physicians, buffoons, cooks, and other workmen, serving of their own accord, shall obtain as much wages as similar persons employed elsewhere usually get or as much as experts (kusaláh) shall fix.

3.13.31

sākṣipratyayam eva syāt //

Disputes regarding wages shall be decided on the strength of evidences furnished by witnesses. In the absence of witnesses, the master who has provided his servant with work shall be examined. Failure to pay wages shall be punished with a fine of ten times the amount of wages (dasabandhah), or 6 panas; misappropriation of wages shall be punished with a fine of 12 panas or of five times the amount of the wages (panchabandho vá).

3.13.32

sākṣiṇām abhāve yataḥ karma tato 'nuyuñjīta //

3.13.33

vetanādāne daśabandho daṇḍaḥ, ṣaṭpaṇo vā //

3.13.34

apavyayamāne dvādaśapaṇo daṇḍaḥ, pañcabandho vā //

3.13.35

nadīvegajvālāstenavyāloparuddhaḥ sarvasvaputradārātmadānenārtas trātāram āhūya niṣtīrṇaḥ kuśalapradiṣṭaṃ vetanaṃ dadyāt //

Any person who, while he is being carried away by floods, or is caught in a fire, or is in danger from elephants or tigers, is rescued on his promise to offer to his rescuer not only the whole of his property, but also his sons, wife, and himself as slaves, shall pay only as much as will be fixed by experts. This rule shall apply to all cases where help of any kind is rendered to the afflicted.

3.13.36

tena sarvatrārtadānānuśayā vyākhyātāḥ //

3.13.37

labheta puṃścalī bhogaṃ saṃgamasyopaliṅganāt /
atiyācnā tu jīyeta daurmatyāvinayena vā //E

A public woman shall surrender her person as agreed upon; but insistence on the observance of any agreement which is ill-considered and improper shall not succeed.