State and Government in Ancient India c11.17

c11.17

Equality of all citizens before the law is one of the fundamental features of a good state according to the modern notions. It has to be admitted that it did not exist in ancient India. Lighter punishments were recommended to the Brāhamaṇas in comparison to the other castes for the same offence. Smṛitis no doubt say that the sin of a guilty Brāhmaṇa is greater than that of a Śūdra and so its spiritual punishment in the other world would be heavier. Our respect for them, however, would have become greater, if they had laid down a heavier punishment for the Brāhmaṇa also in this life, proportionate to his higher sin. In fairness, however, it has to be admitted that this is too much to expect. Everywhere in the world till quite modern times, status determined the punishment of the culprit, if not in theory at least in practice. Only a nominal punishment was imposed on the citizen in ancient Greece and Rome for the murder of a slave. In the Anglo-Saxon times the *wergeld* for the murder of a serf was very small, as compared to that prescribed for the murder of a freeman or a knight. The legal inequalities in France down to the end of the 18th century were very glaring. It is, therefore, rather unreasonable to expect that equality of all before the law should have existed in ancient India in the full measure. Smṛitis have further exaggerated the picture to a great extent ; we know, for instance, that Brāhmaṇas were not in actual practice, exempt from the capital punishment, as Smṛiti-writers would like us to believe. The *Arthaśāstra* shows that they were executed by drowning, if found guilty of treason.