History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.686.1

v4.c63.686.1

*Nikṣepa* or *upanidhi* was a bailment made in trust and differed from an *ādhi* in this that the former was not given by way of security for a debt or for collecting interest but in confidence for safe custody.⁷⁷¹ Bṛ. (SBE vol. 33 p. 332 verse 2) says that such a deposit is made with another when one is leaving one's home, or through fear of the king or for depriving one's kinsmen.⁷⁷² Manu VIII. 179 (= Nār. V. 2) says that one should entrust a deposit to a person who is born of a good family, is well-conducted, knows *dharma*, speaks the truth, has a large family, is wealthy and straightforward. The person with whom a deposit is made generally receives no personal benefit from it; hence the smṛtis (such as Bṛ. in SBE 33 p. 333 verses 6-8) extol the holder⁷⁷³ of a deposit made in trust to be as meritorious as one who makes gifts of gold or other inferior metals or clothes and condemn the misappropriation of a deposit or the losing of it through negligence as very sinful. The idea is that no one is bound to accept a deposit, but when a person accepts it, his primary duty is to preserve it with care and the next duty is to return it at the time agreed or on demand. The obligation arises from the trust reposed in a person. The rights of the bailee are limited as compared to those of the mortgagee or pledgee, but the very fact of his custody in trust clothes him with certain rights. The amount of care required of the depositee is the same as in the case of an *ādhi*, viz.