Arthashastra — Kantakashodhana, Sutra 50

Devanagari script

रत्नापहार उत्तमो दण्डः ॥ कZ_०४.१.५० ॥

Transliteration

ratnāpahāra uttamo daṇḍaḥ

Translation

ရတနာ (ratna) ကို ခိုးယူခြင်း/မတရားသိမ်းယူခြင်းအတွက် အမြင့်ဆုံးအဆင့် ဒဏ်ခတ်မှုကို သတ်မှတ်ထားသည်။

Word by Word

• रत्नापहारः: the theft/abduction of jewels (precious gems)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अपहृ (apa-hṛ)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा-एकवचनम्; समासः: रत्नानाम् + अपहारः

• उत्तमः: the highest/most severe
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उत्तम (superlative stem from ud-/uttara)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा-एकवचनम्; विशेषणम् (दण्डस्य)

• दण्डः: punishment; penalty
• Type: Noun
• Root: दण्ड
• Form: पुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा-एकवचनम्

Entities Mentioned

• King/State
• offender (ratnāpahartṛ)

More Details

FAQs

Why is ‘ratna’ theft treated more severely than ordinary theft?

Because jewels are treated as regalian/high-value strategic assets; strong deterrence protects state wealth and sovereignty symbols.