Arthashastra 3.11.2: Dharmasthiya, Adhyaya 11, Sutra 2

Devanagari script

ततः परं कर्तुः कारयितुश्च पूर्वः साहसदण्डः श्रोतृऋणामेकैकं प्रत्यर्धदण्डः ॥ कZ_०३.११.०२ ॥

Recitation with translationArthashastra 3.11.2

Transliteration

tataḥ paraṃ kartuḥ kārayituś ca pūrvaḥ sāhasadaṇḍaḥ śrotṛṛṇām ekaikaṃ pratyardhadaṇḍaḥ

Translation

Über diesen (zulässigen) Satz hinaus haften sowohl derjenige, der (den Überschuss) begeht, als auch derjenige, der ihn begehen lässt, mit der Sāhasa-Strafe ersten (niedrigsten) Grades; und für jeden beteiligten Zeugen-Schuldner wird zusätzlich eine halbe Strafe verhängt.

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Word by Word

• ततः: thereafter; then
• Type: Pronoun (used adverbially)
• Root: तद्
• Form: ablative singular neuter of pronoun तद्; used as indeclinable adverb = 'thereafter/then'

• परम्: further; next
• Type: Adjective (used adverbially)
• Root: पर
• Form: accusative singular neuter; used adverbially = 'further/next'

• कर्तुः: of the doer (principal offender)
• Type: Noun (agent noun)
• Root: कृ
• Form: genitive singular masculine of कर्तृ (agent/doer)

• कारयितुः: of the instigator/one who causes (another) to do
• Type: Noun (causative agent noun)
• Root: कृ (णिच्)
• Form: genitive singular masculine of कारयितृ (one who causes/instigates to do)

• च: and
• Type: Particle
• Root: च
• Form: indeclinable conjunction

• पूर्वः: the former/earlier (penalty)
• Type: Adjective (used substantively)
• Root: पूर्व
• Form: nominative singular masculine; agrees with साहसदण्डः

• साहसदण्डः: the sāhasa-penalty (fine for forcible/violent offence)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दण्ड
• Form: nominative singular masculine; subject/predicate-noun of the sentence

• श्रोतृऋणाम्: of the debts/dues of the hearers (listeners)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ऋण
• Form: genitive plural neuter; 'of the debts of the hearers/listeners'

• एकैकम्: each (one) individually
• Type: Numeral/Adjective (distributive)
• Root: एक
• Form: accusative singular neuter; distributive sense = 'each one (separately)'

• प्रति: per; with respect to; for each
• Type: Preverb/Preposition
• Root: प्रति
• Form: indeclinable; governs accusative; here with एकैकम् in distributive sense

• अर्धदण्डः: half-penalty; half the fine
• Type: Noun
• Root: दण्ड
• Form: nominative singular masculine; predicate-noun (understood: भवति/स्यात्)

Entities Mentioned

• lender
• instigator/agent
• debtor
• witnesses
• court

More Details

FAQs

Why punish both the actor and the instigator?

To deter principal–agent abuse: lenders often operate through collectors; vicarious liability closes enforcement gaps.

What administrative goal is served by graded fines?

Predictable sanctions improve compliance and ease adjudication, reducing discretionary corruption in financial disputes.