Sutra 3

Devanagari script

फल्गुद्रव्यकर्मान्तेभ्यः फल्गु द्रव्यमुपस्करं वा पूर्वः साहसदण्डः ॥ कZ_०४.९.०३ ॥

Transliteration

phalgudravyakarmāntebhyaḥ phalgu dravyam upaskaraṃ vā pūrvaḥ sāhasadaṇḍaḥ

Translation

Pour quiconque vole des matériaux de faible valeur ou du matériel dans des ateliers traitant des biens de faible valeur, la peine est la première (la plus basse) amende de sāhasa.

Word by Word

• फल्गु-द्रव्य-कर्मान्तेभ्यः: from (cases involving) trifling property and workshops/industrial establishments (i.e., trifling matters connected with goods or workshops)
• Type: Noun
• Root: फल्गु/द्रव्य/कर्मान्त
• Form: बहुवचनम्, पञ्चमी-विभक्तिः (ablative plural); compound in ablative plural: फल्गु (adj. ‘trifling’) qualifying each member; द्रव्य (n. ‘property/thing’), कर्मान्त (m. ‘workshop/industrial establishment; place of manufacture’)

• फल्गु: trifling; of small value
• Type: Adjective
• Root: फल्गु
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गम्, प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचनम्; used predicatively with द्रव्यम्/उपस्करम्

• द्रव्यम्: property; goods; substance
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्रव्य
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गम्, प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचनम्

• उपस्करम्: equipment; implements; tools
• Type: Noun
• Root: उपस्कर
• Form: पुंलिङ्गम्, प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचनम्; coordinated with द्रव्यम् by वा

• वा: or
• Type: Particle
• Root: वा
• Form: अव्ययम्; disjunctive ‘or’

• पूर्वः: the first; the lowest (grade)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पूर्व
• Form: पुंलिङ्गम्, प्रथमा एकवचनम्; qualifies साहसदण्डः (‘the first/lowest grade’)

• साहस-दण्डः: the sāhasa-penalty (fine for forcible/violent offence)
• Type: Noun
• Root: साहस/दण्ड
• Form: पुंलिङ्गम्, प्रथमा एकवचनम्; साहसस्य दण्डः = penalty for ‘sāhasa’ (violent/forcible offence)

Entities Mentioned

• karmānta
• upaskara
• sāhasa-daṇḍa

More Details

FAQs

What principle of punishment is reflected here?

Proportionality: lower-value theft attracts a lower graded penalty rather than automatic capital punishment.

Why mention tools (upaskara) explicitly?

Because tools are critical to continuous production; protecting them is an administrative priority even when individually low-value.