The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c18.147

c18.147

The Science of Government, we are told, may be defined as the science of punishment (*daṇḍa nīti*). The penal code, in consequence, was ferociously severe. The details in the treatise amply support the Greek references to the subject. As an illustration of the severity of punishment, it may suffice to note that theft by a government servant to the value of from 8 to 10 *paṇas* was punishable with death, as was theft of a value of from 40 to 50 *paṇas* by a non-official person.³