Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c7.42

c7.42

In all Hindu political theory, justice forms an essential part of the protection which sums up the function of the state. "Justice, being violated, destroys; Justice, being preserved, preserves; therefore justice must not be violated, lest violated justice should destroy us." If a thief escapes punishment, the guilt falls on the king. Those who provide thieves with fire, food, or places for their weapons or who help them in concealing their crime should be executed as thieves. The murder of Brāhmaṇas, women or children must be punished capitally. Those who seduced ministers from their loyalty, made false proclamations or served the interests of the king's enemies deserved the same fate. Mutilation figures occasionally in the criminal code of Manu. A cut-purse, for instance, had two of his fingers cut off on his first offence. If he repeated the crime he should lose a hand and a foot, while for the third offence, he should be punished capitally. Robbers who cut the walls and committed thefts should be deprived of their hands and fastened on sharp stakes. All who obstructed popular well-being in any manner must be severely dealt with. For example, the destruction of the wall or gate of a town or the filling up of the ditch should be punished by instantaneous banishment. If any one destroyed a bridge or the flag, a pole or images of a temple or a royal palace, he must repay the damage and pay a fine of five hundred paṇas. Any one who stole the rope or water-pot from a well or damaged a hut where water was distributed must repay the loss and pay a fine of a māṣa. If the breaker of the dam of a tank does not repay the damage and pay the first amercement, he should be drowned into the tank or otherwise put to death. Those who defiled the sanitation of the king's high road must remove the filth and pay a fine.¹ Manu has his own ideas of social morality and wants them to be enforced by the state. For example, he stigmatises as adulterous such acts as offering presents to a woman, romping with her, touching her dress or ornaments or sitting with her on the same bed. Adultery was to be punished with a terrible physical mutilation and