History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.490

v4.c63.490

The Śāntiparva chap. 268 contains an interesting dialogue between king Dyumatsena and his son prince Satyavat on the subject of the punishment of death, which contains some of the arguments forcibly urged in these days by those that are opposed to capital punishment altogether. The prince pleads that punishment should be light even for grave offences, that when the sentence of death is carried out in the case of robbers,636a several innocent persons (such as the wife, the mother, the son of the condemned man) suffer great loss (and they may die also), that if offenders give themselves up to priests, swear before them that they will never commit sin, they may be let off after undergoing penance, that if great men go astray their punishment should be proportionate to their greatness. The king replies that in former ages when people were most truthful, soft-hearted, and not hot-tempered the punishment of saying 'fie on you' sufficed, then vocal remonstrances and upbraidings sufficed, but in the later ages (of Kali) corporal punishment and death sentence have to be resorted to and that some people are not deterred even by the fear of death sentence.