Hindu Law and Custom (Recht und Sitte) c8.73

c8.73

As usury cannot be altogether stopped, it had to be limited as far as possible, and this the Smṛtis attempt to do particularly by rules about the limit of the permissible rate of interest and the length of the period for the accumulation of interest. It is a general opinion that where gold has been lent the interests in arrear cannot exceed the amount of the principal and that the interest stops as soon as this maximum is reached. Opinions are divergent regarding the maximum in the loan of other things which may be the result of the differences in local usages emphasised by Nār. 1, 105 f. The interest is paid in kind. According to the particularly detailed rules of Bṛh. 11, 13—16 the accumulated interest in the case of clothes and base metals may make the debt treble, in the case of corns, fruits, beasts of burden and wool quadruple, in the case of vegetables quintuple, in the case of seeds and sugarcane sextuple, in the case of salt, oil, intoxicating drinks, sugar and honey the interest may make the debt octuple, while in the case of grass, wood, brick, thread, stuffs from which spirituous liquor can be extracted, leaves, bones, leather, weopon, flowers, fruits either (according to one reading) the interest may increase unlimitedly, or (according to another reading) no interest should be charged.