Chapter 2.35 turns the janapada into a continuously audited dataset—via Gopa/Sthānika meshes and covert verification—so revenue, policing, and conquest become administratively possible. Replace occasional tours with permanent local registers of land, households, and obligations. Standardize what is owed (produce, livestock, bullion, goods, labor) and what is compensated. Map boundaries and classify land-use; separate taxable from exempt holdings. Profile households by capacity and conduct to predict compliance and risk. Log arrivals/departures and flag suspicious persons to prevent infiltration. Quantify and price local/foreign trade to curb leakage and improve assessment. Use disguised informants to corroborate records and test officials’ integrity. Watch routes and liminal spaces to suppress theft and enemy agents. Core claim: without legible territory, kośa and daṇḍa cannot be effectively deployed.
Sutra 1
धान्यपशुहिरण्यकुप्यविष्टिप्रतिकरमिदमेतावदिति निबन्धयेत् ॥ कZ_०२.३५.०१ ॥
He shall record in a fixed schedule: ‘this much is the due in grain, livestock, gold/cash, commodities, and corvée/service (or its commutation).’
Sutra 2
तत्प्रदिष्टः पञ्चग्रामीं दशग्रामीं वा गोपश्चिन्तयेत् ॥ कZ_०२.३५.०२ ॥
As assigned (by superior order), the gopa shall administer and keep accounts for a unit of five villages or ten villages.
Sutra 3
सीमावरोधेन ग्रामाग्रं कृष्टाकृष्टस्थलकेदारारामषण्डवाटवनवास्तुचैत्यदेवगृहसेतुबन्धश्मशानसत्त्रप्रपापुण्यस्थानविवीतपथिसङ्ख्यानेन क्षेत्राग्रम् तेन सीम्नां क्षेत्राणां च करदाकरदसङ्ख्यानेन ॥ कZ_०२.३५.०३ ॥
By securing and marking boundaries, he shall determine the village’s total extent; and by counting cultivated and uncultivated lands—fields, irrigated plots, orchards, groves, gardens, forests, house-sites, shrines, temples, embankments/bridges, cremation grounds, charitable kitchens, water-sheds, sacred places, and protected/regulated routes—he shall determine the total land measure; and thereby enumerate taxable and tax-exempt holdings within boundaries and fields.
Sutra 4
तेषु चैतावच्चातुर्वार्ण्यमेतावन्तः कर्षकगोरक्षकवैदेहककारुकर्मकरदासाश्च एतावच्च द्विपदचतुष्पदमिदं चैषु हिरण्यल्विष्टिशुल्कदण्डं समुत्तिष्ठतीति ॥ कZ_०२.३५.०४ ॥
Within them he shall record: ‘this many belong to the four varṇas; this many are cultivators, cowherds, traders (vaidehaka), artisans, wage-labourers, and slaves; this many are bipeds and quadrupeds; and from these arise so much in cash revenue, corvée/service, tolls/customs, and fines.’
Sutra 5
कुलानां च स्त्रीपुरुषाणां बालवृद्धकर्मचरित्राजीवव्ययपरिमाणं विद्यात् ॥ कZ_०२.३५.०५ ॥
He shall know, for families/lineages: the numbers of women and men, children and the elderly, their work, conduct, means of livelihood, and scale of expenditure.
Sutra 6
एवं च जनपदचतुर्भागं स्थानिकश्चिन्तयेत् ॥ कZ_०२.३५.०६ ॥
In this manner the sthānika shall supervise and account for a quarter-division of the countryside (janapada).
Sutra 7
गोपस्थानिकस्थानेषु प्रदेष्टारः कार्यकरणं बलिप्रग्रहं च कुर्युः ॥ कZ_०२.३५.०७ ॥
At the gopa and sthānika stations, the pradeṣṭṛs shall carry out administrative duties and collect bali (dues/tribute).
Sutra 8
समाहर्तृप्रदिष्टाश्च गृहपतिकव्यञ्जना येषु ग्रामेषु प्रणिहितास्तेषां ग्रामाणां क्षेत्रगृहकुलाग्रं विद्युः मानसंजाताभ्यां क्षेत्राणि भोगपरिहाराभ्यां गृहाणि वर्णकर्मभ्यां कुलानि च ॥ कZ_०२.३५.०८ ॥
Agents planted in villages—disguised as householders and traders, as directed by the samāhartṛ—shall know the totals of fields, houses, and households of those villages: fields by measurement and produce; houses by occupancy/use and exemptions/remissions; and households by social category and occupation.
Sutra 9
तेषां जङ्घाग्रमायव्ययौ च विद्युः ॥ कZ_०२.३५.०९ ॥
They shall also know the total number of able-bodied persons and their income and expenditure.
Sutra 10
प्रस्थितागतानां च प्रवासावासकारणमनर्थ्यानां च स्त्रीपुरुषाणां चारप्रचारं च विद्युः ॥ कZ_०२.३५.१० ॥
They shall know the reasons for departure and arrival—whether for travel or residence—and shall also track the movements of spies and of suspicious/undesirable men and women.
Sutra 11
एवं वैदेहकव्यञ्जनाः स्वभूमिजानां राजपण्यानां खनिसेतुवनकर्मान्तक्षेत्रजानां प्रमाणमर्घं च विद्युः ॥ कZ_०२.३५.११ ॥
Thus, the Vaidehaka agents (commercial/market informants) should know the standard measures and the fair prices of royal goods produced within the realm—those from mines, irrigation works, forests, state workshops, and agricultural lands.
Sutra 12
परभूमिजातानां वारिस्थलपथोपयातानां सारफल्गुपुण्यानां कर्मसु च शुल्कवर्तन्यातिवाहिकगुल्मतरदेयभागभक्तपण्यागारप्रमाणं विद्युः ॥ कZ_०२.३५.१२ ॥
They should also know, for goods originating outside the realm and arriving by waterway, land route, or road, what is substantial or inferior, and the applicable schedules/standards for operations: customs duties, road/route charges, ferry or transit charges, levies at military posts (garrisons), crossing/ford dues, shares (apportionments), rations, and the standard measures for warehouses and merchandise.
Sutra 13
एवं समाहर्तृप्रदिष्टास्तापसव्यञ्जनाः कर्षकगोरक्षकवैदेहकानामध्यक्षाणां च शौचाशौचं विद्युः ॥ कZ_०२.३५.१३ ॥
Likewise, the ascetic-disguised informants appointed by the Samāhartṛ should ascertain the integrity or corruption (purity/impurity of conduct) of the superintendents over farmers, cowherds/cattle-keepers, and the Vaidehakas.
Sutra 14
पुराण चोरव्यञ्जनाश्चान्तेवासिनश्चैत्यचतुष्पथशून्यपदोदपाननदीनिपानतीर्थायतनाश्रमारण्यशैलवनगहनेषु स्तेनामित्रप्रवीरपुरुषाणां च प्रवेशनस्थानगमनप्रयोजनान्युपलभेरन् ॥ कZ_०२.३५.१४ ॥
Old thief-informants and resident pupils/attendants should discover, at shrines, crossroads, deserted settlements, wells, rivers, watering-places, fords, temples, hermitages, forests, mountains, and dense woods, the points of entry, movements, and purposes of thieves and enemy agents/elite operatives.
Sutra 15
चिन्तयेयुश्च संस्थास्ताः संस्थाश्चान्याः स्वयोनयः ॥ कZ_०२.३५.१५च्द् ॥
And those established intelligence ‘stations’ should also keep assessing; and other stations too—self-originating (i.e., locally generated, organically embedded) cells—should do the same.
Predictable and proportionate extraction (tax/corvée) based on real capacity; reduced theft and hostile infiltration; improved planning for public works and provisioning—stabilizing livelihoods while strengthening state solvency.
This chapter implies enforcement through audit and exposure: concealment of fields/households, falsified counts, bribery, or collusion by local officers triggers punitive action under general Arthashastra standards—fines, dismissal, confiscation, and proportionate corporal penalties where fraud or security harm is proven.