History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.808
History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.808
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to Mit. ‘an assemblage of armed persons subsisting by following one occupation’, while Kāt. (680) says it is a corporation of brāhmaṇas. In the Rājat. II. 132 reference is made to corporations of purohitas at temples and tīrthas (sacred places). The Sm. C. states that among pūgas and vrātas there is a convention that they must go to battle all together and not separately. Among gaṇas there is a usage that the lobes of the ear (of a child) are to be pierced on the 5th day or in the fifth year from birth. Among *mahājanas* in a settlement of brāhmaṇas there is a convention that a brāhmaṇa repairing to them for collecting fees to be paid to his teacher (at the close of Vedic study) should be honoured (i. e. should be paid some contribution). In certain districts there is a usage that either the seller or the buyer should keep in his hand 1/10 of the price (probably for finding out whether the article is useful for the purpose in hand and resiling from the bargain if it is not). In forts or capitals there is a rule that corn taken out of it by a person with him when going out elsewhere should not be sold by him. In villages there is a rule that in pastures no digging would be allowed. In the hamlets inhabited by ābhīras there is a convention that for adultery by a male or female there is to be no fine.
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It does credit to the ancient writers on dharmaśāstra that they were tolerant enough to require the king, whatever his own religious persuasion might be, to honour and enforce the usages of even heretics among themselves. The only requirement was that the enforcement of their usages must not be opposed to the interest of the country or the capital and must not cause commotion and must not be plainly immoral⁸⁵⁶ (Nār. XIII. 4-5 and 7 and Medhātithi on Manu VIII. 220). Yāj. (II. 188-192) lays down the following rules: there should be a committee (of two, three or five, acc. to Bṛ.)⁸⁵⁷ to look after the business of the guilds &c. (called *kāryacintaka*) who should be religious, pure, not covetous and all members should carry out what they decide upon; when the committee members approach the king on some business of their guild he should bestow on them gifts and honour them. Whatever is obtained by any one sent on the business of the group must be handed over by him to the heads of the group (also Bṛ. in S. B. E. vol. 33 p. 349 verse 22)⁸⁵⁸ and if he does not do so he should be fined eleven times as much. Whoever goes against the heads of the group that are working for its benefit should be punished in the first amercement (by the group itself, acc. to Sm. C. II. p. 224). Kāt.
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(677) states the general rule that whatever is obtained (by the committee or advisers of the group) or is saved by them or whatever debts are incurred by them for their group and whatever they obtain through the king's favour should be shared equally by all (members of the group). Kāt. (674-675) provides that whatever debt was professedly incurred by the committee for the group but was misappropriated by them or applied to their individual purposes must be paid by them and that those who subsequently join the groups already formed become equally entitled to the property and liable for the debts previously acquired or incurred. Manu VIII. 220 and Bṛ. (S. B. E. vol. 33 p. 348 v. 14) provide a fine of six *niṣkas* of four suvarṇas each (or six niṣkas and four suvarṇas) for him who falls out with his associates. Kāt. (671) provides that that member (of a group) who opposes what is reasonable, who gives no scope to (i. e. obstructs or persistently interrupts) a speaker (in a meeting of the group) or who speaks absurdly should be made to pay the first amercement. Yāj. II. 187 prescribes forfeiture of all property and banishment for him who misappropriates the property of the group or corporation or who violates the conventions made by the group (or the king). As stated by the Mit. this and other sentences depended upon the nature and gravity of the offence and the capacity of the offender⁸⁵⁹.