Hindu Law and Custom (Recht und Sitte) c10.139

c10.139

The forced labour and slavery on account of debts are still in evidence, at least in modified forms ; often negotiations to that effect take place even when the loan is being taken¹. In the Mahratta period the other methods too of compelling the debtor to pay were in vogue. Thus in the south the Takāzā was the usual form, i. e. the house of the debtor was guarded or formally invested by hired servants whom the latter had to pay, or the creditor threatnened to commit suicide, until the debtor paid his debts². The Dharna (dharana), formerly in vogue everywhere in India and even now practised in Nepal, is connected with it. In a Dharna the creditor, particularly if he is a Brahman, fasts before the house of the debtor until the latter yields. The debtor has to fast likewise and give up all his business. If the Brahman dies in this manner, then he brings upon the debtor the sin of the murder of a Brahman³. A similar old custom of realising gambling debts has come down to this day which even according to the Mṛcch. is as follows: the creditor draws a magic circle round the debtor (dyūtaman-dalīṃ kṛtvā), which the latter cannot cross until he has paid his debt⁴.