History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.462

v4.c63.462

6. 10. 1 (quoted in H. of Dh. vol. II. p. 151 n. 346) which states, 'He who threatens a brāhmaṇa should be made to pay a hundred, he who strikes a brāhmaṇa should be made to pay a thousand'. It is rather doubtful whether the figures stated are fines or are meant as *solatium* to the wronged. In Ṛg. II. 32. 4 (which also occurs in Tai. S. III. 3. 11. 5) the poet prays to Rākā⁶¹⁵ (the Full Moon personified) that she may be pleased to grant the boon of a valiant son, who would be 'śatadāya'. Sāyaṇa's rendering of this word as 'possessed of plentiful heritage or wealth' appears to be the right one. The words 'śatadāyaṁ vīram' in the Tai. S. III. 3. 11. 5 are translated by Prof. Keith as 'a hero whose *wergild* is a hundred'. This is incorrect, confounding as it does the ideas of western Germanic tribes with the Ṛgveda composed several millenniums earlier. It would be a strange thing to pray to a goddess for a son and at the same time to have in mind or refer to the price set upon him if he happened to be killed.