History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.513

v4.c63.513

Manu IX. 243 enjoins upon the king not to appropriate to himself the property of a man guilty of the mahāpātakas (by way of fine or confiscation) and warns that if he takes it out of greed he is tainted by the guilt of the offender. Manu (IX. 244–45) recommends that such fine may be cast into water as an offering to Varuṇa (the Lord of waters) who wields sceptre even over kings or may be bestowed on learned and virtuous brāhmaṇas, that are lords of the whole world. Manu (IX. 246-247) further states that in the country where the king avoids taking the property of very wicked sinners men become long-lived, crops spring up, there is no infant mortality &c.