History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.558

v4.c63.558

Nār. IV. 1. states that the principal topics under the title of *ṛṇādāna* are seven: what debts must be paid and what not; by whom,'where and in what manner (they are to be paid); and the rules about advancing the loan and receiving it back. The first five of these relate to the debtor and the last two to the creditor. Bṛhaspati (S. B. E. 33 p. 320 v. 4) says that interest (*vṛddhi*) is described to be of four kinds by some, of five kinds by others and of six kinds by still others. Nār. (IV. 102–104) names four kinds and defines them, viz. *kāritā* (interest that is stipulated by the debtor himself), *kālikā* (interest accruing and payable every month), *kāyikā* (interest of a *paṇa* or quarter *paṇa* to be paid every day without the principal being liable to be reduced, whatever interest may have been recovered), *cakravṛddhi* (interest on interest called compound interest). Manu VIII. 153 mentions these four and commentators thereon give varying interpretations. Bṛhaspati (S. B. E. 33 p. 321 verse 6) and Vyāsa (q. by Sm. C. II. p. 154) define *kāyikā* as interest received from the body i. e. milk received from a cow pledged or the work put in by a slave or by a bull pledged. Bṛ (S. B. E. vol. 33 p. 321 verses 7–8)