Pre-Buddhist India: A Political, Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey of Ancient India Based Mainly on the Jataka Stories c4.t3.100

c4.t3.100

All unclaimed property, whether lost or stolen, movable or immovable, lapsed to the king. A purohita and his wife renounce their worldly possessions and turn ascetics. The king is informed about this, and sends men to fetch the money, for "masterless money comes to me," says he.⁸ The Gandhāra king sees a lovely lady—a Yakkhinī—and is enamoured of her. On finding that she has no real husband, he tries to capture her, because "treasure trove is a royal perquisite."⁹ Similarly another king, who finds a girl abandoned by her husband, rejoices to get her, because "treasure trove belongs to the crown."¹⁰ However, the rule about the treasure troves is not clear. Contrary to the above instances, we see a farmer appropriating the whole treasure, a bar of gold, which he discovers in the field.¹¹ Perhaps the law was not so strictly observed, though this royal privilege with conditions is also to be found in the Dharmasūtras,¹² and in an elaborate form in Kauṭilya's Arthaśāstra.¹³ There is a remarkable statement in a Jātaka¹⁴ that "horses are king's property," which may only mean, however, that only the kings could keep horses.