Kantakashodhana Adhyaya 9 Sutra 17 - Arthashastra | Malay | Vedapath

Kautilya

Sutra 17

Devanagari script

लेखकश्चेदुक्तं न लिखति अनुक्तं लिखति दुरुक्तमुपलिखति सूक्तमुल्लिखति अर्थोत्पत्तिं वा विकल्पयति इति पूर्वमस्मै साहसदण्डं कुर्याद् यथापराधं वा ॥ कZ_०४.९.१७ ॥

Transliteration

lekhakaśceduktaṃ na likhati anuktaṃ likhati duruktamupalikhati sūktamullikhati arthotpattiṃ vā vikalpayati iti pūrvamasmai sāhasadaṇḍaṃ kuryād yathāparādhaṃ vā

Translation

Jika seorang jurutulis tidak menulis apa yang telah diucapkan, menulis apa yang tidak diucapkan, menyelitkan apa yang diucapkan secara salah, memadam apa yang diucapkan dengan betul, atau memanipulasi hasil kewangan yang dinyatakan, maka dia hendaklah dihukum dengan denda sāhasa gred pertama—atau mengikut kesesuaian dengan kesalahan itu.

Word by Word

लेखकःscribe, clerk

चेत्if

उक्तम्what is said/dictated

नnot

लिखतिwrites

अनुक्तम्what is not said/dictated

लिखतिwrites

दुरुक्तम्what is wrongly said/ill-worded

उपलिखतिadds in writing, writes additionally

सूक्तम्what is well/ correctly said

उल्लिखतिscratches out, deletes, omits

अर्थोत्पत्तिम्the arising/production of value (financial outcome)

वाor

विकल्पयतिalters, manipulates, makes a (false) variation

इतिthus

पूर्वम्at first, in the first instance

अस्मैto him

साहसदण्डम्a sāhasa-type fine/penalty

कुर्यात्should impose/do

यथापराधम्according to the offence

वाor

Entities Mentioned

lekhaka (scribe)

FAQs

Why does Kautilya regulate scribes so explicitly?

Because administrative truth is mediated by records; controlling record-tampering protects taxation, adjudication, and orders from silent corruption.