Kautilya's Arthashastra 4.7: Chapter 7 (Section 82): Inquest on Sudden Deaths

4.7.1

tailābhyaktam āśumṛtakaṃ parīkṣeta //

IN cases of sudden death, the corpse shall be smeared over with oil and examined.

4.7.2

niṣkīrṇamūtrapurīṣaṃ vātapūrṇakoṣṭhatvakkaṃ śūnapādapāṇimān mīlitākṣaṃ savyañjanakaṇṭhaṃ pīṭananiruddhocchvāsahataṃ vidyāt //

Any person whose corpse is tainted with mucus and urine, with organs inflated with wind, with hands and legs swollen, with eyes open, and with neck marked with ligatures may be regarded as having been killed by suffocation and suppression of breathing.

4.7.3

tam eva saṃkucitabāhusakthim udbandhahataṃ vidyāt //

Any person with contracted arms and thighs may be regarded as having been killed by hanging.

4.7.4

śūnapāṇipādodaram apagatākṣam udvṛttanābhim avaropitaṃ vidyāt //

Any dead person with swollen hands, legs and belly, with sunken eyes and inflated navel may be regarded as having been killed by hanging.

4.7.5

nistabdhagudākṣaṃ saṃdaṣṭajihvam ādhmātodaram udakahataṃ vidyāt //

Any dead person with stiffened rectum and eyes, with tongue bitten between the teeth, and with belly swollen, may be considered as having been killed by drowning.

4.7.6

śoṇitānusiktaṃ bhagnabhinnagātraṃ kāṣṭhair aśmabhir vā hataṃ vidyāt //

Any dead person, wetted with blood and with limb, wounded and broken, may be regarded as having been killed with sticks or ropes.

4.7.7

sambhagnasphuṭitagātram avakṣiptaṃ vidyāt //

Any dead person with fractures and broken limbs, may be regarded as having been thrown down.

4.7.8

śyāvapāṇipādadantanakhaṃ śithilamāṃsaromacarmāṇaṃ phenopadigdhamukhaṃ viṣahataṃ vidyāt //

Any dead person with dark coloured hands, legs, teeth, and nails, with loose skin, hairs fallen, flesh reduced, and with face bedaubed with foam and saliva, may be regarded as having been poisoned.

4.7.9

tam eva sa-śoṇitadaṃśaṃ sarpakīṭahataṃ vidyāt /

Any dead person of similar description with marks of a bleeding bite, may be considered as baving been bitten by serpents and other poisonous creatures.

4.7.10

vikṣiptavastragātram ativantaviriktaṃ madanayogahataṃ vidyāt //

Any dead person, with body spread and dress thrown out after excessive vomitting and purging may be considered as having been killed by the administration of the juice of the madana plant.

4.7.11

ato 'nyatamena kāraṇena hataṃ hatvā vā daṇḍabhayād udbaddhanikṛttakaṇṭhaṃ vidyāt //

Death due to any one of the above causes is, sometimes under the fear of punishment, made to appear as having been brought about by voluntary hanging, by causing marks of ligature round the neck.

4.7.12

viṣahatasya bhojanaśeṣaṃ vayobhiḥ parīkṣeta //

In death due to poison, the undigested portion of meat may be examined in milk. Or the same extracted from the belly and thrown on fire may, if it makes ‘chitchita’ sound and assumes the rainbow colour, be declared as poisoned.

4.7.13

hṛdayād uddhṛtyāgnau prakṣiptaṃ ciṭiciṭāyadindradhanurvarṇaṃ vā viṣayuktaṃ vidyāt, dagdhasya hṛdayam adagdhaṃ dṛṣṭvā vā //

Or when the belly (hridayam) remains unburnt, although the rest of the body is reduced to ashes, the dead man's servants may be examined as to any violent and cruel treatments they may have received at the hands of the dead. Similarly such of the dead man's relatives as a person of miserable life, a woman with affections placed elsewhere or a relative defending some woman that has been deprived of her inheritance by the dead man may also be examined.

4.7.14

tasya paricārakajanaṃ vāgdaṇḍapāruṣyātilabdhaṃ mārgeta, duḥkhopahatam anyaprasaktaṃ vā strījanaṃ, dāyavṛttistrījanābhimantāraṃ vā bandhum //

4.7.15

tad eva hatodbaddhasya parīkṣeta //

The same kind of examination shall be conducted concerning the hanging of the body of an already dead man.

4.7.16

svayam udbaddhasya vā viprakāram ayuktaṃ mārgeta //

Causes such as past evils or harm done to others by a dead man, shall be inquired into regarding any death due to voluntary hanging.

4.7.17

sarveṣāṃ vā strīdāyādyadoṣaḥ karmaspardhā pratipakṣadveṣaḥ paṇyasaṃsthāsamavāyo vā vivādapadānām anyatamad vā roṣasthānam //

All kinds of sudden death, centre round one or the other of the following causes:--

Offence to women or kinsmen, claiming inheritance, professional competition, hatred against rivals, commerce, guilds and any one of the legal disputes, is the cause of anger: anger is the cause of death.

4.7.18

roṣanimitto ghātaḥ //

4.7.19

svayaṃādiṣṭapuruṣair vā, corair arthanimittaṃ, sādṛśyād anyavairibhir vā hatasya ghātam āsannebhyaḥ parīkṣeta //

When, owing to false resemblance, one's own hirelings, or thieves for money, or the enemies of a third person murder one, the relatives of the deceased shall be inquired as follows:--

4.7.20

yenāhūtaḥ saha sthitaḥ prasthito hatabhūmim ānīto vā tam anuyuñjīta //

Who called the deceased; who was with him; who accompanied him on his journey; and who took him to the scene of death?

4.7.21

ye cāsya hatabhūmāv āsannacarās tān ekaikaśaḥ pṛcchet "kenāyam ihānīto hato vā, kaḥ saśastraḥ saṃgūhamāna udvigno vā yuṣmābhir dṛṣṭaḥ" iti //

Those who happened to be at the locality of murder shall be severally asked as follows:--

By whom the deceased was brought there; whether they (the witnesses) saw any armed person lurking in the place and showing signs of troubled appearance?

4.7.22

te yathā brūyus tathānuyuñjīta //

Any clue afforded by them shall be followed in further enquiry.

4.7.23

anāthasya śarīrastham upabhogaṃ paricchadam /
vastraṃ veṣaṃ vibhūṣāṃ vā dṛṣṭvā tadvyavahāriṇaḥ //

After examining the personal property such as travelling requisites, dress, jewels, or other things which the deceased had on his body while murdered, such persons as supplied or had something to do with those things shall be examined as to the associates, residence, causes of journey, profession, and other calls of the deceased.

4.7.24

anuyuñjīta saṃyogaṃ nivāsaṃ vāsakāraṇam /
karma ca vyavahāraṃ ca tato mārgaṇam ācaret //

4.7.25

rajjuśastraviṣair vāpi kāmakrodhavaśena yaḥ /
ghātayet svayam ātmānaṃ strī vā pāpena mohitā //

If a man or woman under the infatuation of love, anger, or other sinful passions commits or causes to commit suicide by means of ropes, arms, or poison, he or she shall be dragged by means of a rope along the public road by the hands of a Chandála.

4.7.26

rajjunā rājamārge tāṃś caṇḍālenāpakarṣayet /
na śmaśānavidhis teṣāṃ na sambandhikriyās tathā //

For such murderers as the above, neither cremation rites nor any obsequies usually performed by relatives shall be observed.

4.7.27

bandhus teṣāṃ tu yaḥ kuryāt pretakāryakriyāvidhim /
tadgatiṃ sa caret paścāt svajanād vā pramucyate //

Any relative who performs funeral rites to such wretches, shall either himself be deprived of his own funerals or be abandoned by his kith and kin.

4.7.28

saṃvatsareṇa patati patitena samācaran /
yājanādhyāpanād yaunāt taiś cānyo 'pi samācaran //E

Whoever associates himself with such persons as perform forbidden rites, shall with his other associates, if any, forfeit within a year the privileges of conducting or superintending a sacrifice, of teaching, and of giving or receiving gifts.