Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c13.s5.47

v1.c13.s5.47

figure among the different kinds of daṇḍa mentioned by Kauṭilya and Śukra.¹ Instead of promulgating such kind of punishment, Kauṭilya seems rather to commend death under an elephant as a happy end. "A man who is hurt to death by an elephant under provocation (caused by himself) shall supply not only a kumbha of liquor (less by a droṇa), garlands, and scents, but also as much cloth as is necessary to wash the tusks; for death caused by an elephant is as meritorious as the sacred bath taken at the end of a horse sacrifice".²