3. Property

The Minor Law Books (SBE33), by Julius Jolly, [1889], at sacred-texts.com

3. Property.

43. ⁴³ All transactions depend on wealth. In order to acquire it, exertion is necessary. To preserve it,

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to increase it, and to enjoy it: these are, successively, the three sorts of activity in regard to wealth.

44. ⁴⁴ Again, wealth is of three kinds: white, spotted, and black. Each of these (three) kinds has seven subdivisions.

* 45. ⁴⁵ White wealth is (of the following seven sorts): what is acquired by sacred knowledge, valour in arms, the practice of austerities, with a maiden, through (instructing) a pupil, by sacrificing, and by inheritance. The gain to be derived from exerting oneself to acquire it is of the same description.

* 46. ⁴⁶ Spotted wealth is (of the following seven sorts): what is acquired by lending money at interest, tillage, commerce, in the shape of Sulka, by artistic performances, by servile attendance, or as a return for a benefit conferred on some one.

* 47. ⁴⁷ Black wealth is (of the following seven

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sorts): what is acquired as a bribe, by gambling, by bearing a message, through one afflicted with pain, by forgery, by robbery, or by fraud.

48. ⁴⁸ It is in wealth that purchase, sale, gift, receipt, transactions of every kind, and enjoyment, have their source.

49. ⁴⁹ Of whatever description the property may be, with which a man performs any transaction, of the same description will the fruit be which he derives from it in the next world and in this..

50. Wealth is again declared to be of twelve sorts, according to the caste of the acquirer. Those modes of acquisition, which are common to all castes, are threefold. The others are said to be ninefold.

51. Property obtained by inheritance, gifts made from love, and what has been obtained with a wife (as her dowry), these are the three sorts of pure wealth, for all (castes) without distinction.

52. ⁵² The pure wealth peculiar to a Brahman is

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declared to be threefold: what has been obtained as alms, by sacrificing, and through (instructing) a pupil.

53. The pure wealth peculiar to a Kshatriya is of three sorts likewise: what has been obtained in the shape of taxes, by fighting, and by means of the fines declared in lawsuits.

54. The pure wealth peculiar to a Vaisya is also declared to be threefold: (what has been acquired) by tillage, by tending cows, and by commerce. For a Sûdra it consists of what is given to him by the members of the three higher castes.

55. ⁵⁵ These are the legitimate modes of acquisition of wealth for all the (four) castes severally. If one caste should take to the occupations of another caste, it is a criminal proceeding, except in extreme cases of distress.

Footnotes

52:43 'All transactions,' whether originating in virtue, interest, or love. The rule regarding the acquisition (and enjoyment) of wealth is said to be threefold: protection against bipeds, quadrupeds, p. 53 &c.; increase, through agriculture, lending at interest, trading, and other modes of acquisition; enjoyment of terrestrial and celestial pleasures. A.

53:44 44-54. Vishnu, chapter LVIII.

53:45 'What is acquired by sacred knowledge,' i.e. the gains of sacred study. What is gained by 'the practice of austerities,' i.e. by one who duly performs greater and minor observances, optional and regular rites, and on whom worthy people bestow alms for that reason. What is received 'with a maiden,' i.e. as her marriage portion. The fruit derived from relinquishing white property is of the same kind, i.e. it is pure likewise. Thus A.

53:46 'Commerce,' the sale of merchandise. 'Sulka,' the price obtained for giving a damsel in marriage, whether the transaction be lawful or otherwise. 'Artistic performances,' the art of painting or another art. 'Servile attendance,' waiting upon, and paying homage to, another man. Wealth obtained by one of these seven modes is called spotted, i.e. of a middling kind. A. Others explain the ambiguous term Sulka differently, as denoting tolls, or a fare for crossing a river, &c.

53:47 'Gambling,' with dice or otherwise. 'One afflicted with p. 54 pain,' one pained by an attack of disease. 'Forging,' falsification, of gold, silver, or other metals. 'Robbery,' such as theft. 'Fraud,' deception. What has been acquired by one of these seven kinds is called 'black wealth,' i.e. wealth of the lowest kind. A.

54:48 From these three kinds of wealth, with their twenty-one subdivisions, spring all the various kinds of transactions, and all kinds of enjoyment. A.

54:49 The difference between this and the previous classification of the divers modes of acquisition seems to lie in this, that the one system of classification is solely based on the respective legitimacy or illegitimacy of each mode of acquisition, whereas the diversity of caste represents the principle of classification in the other system. It should be borne in mind that an occupation, according to Indian notions, may be perfectly lawful for one caste, though it is unlawful for all others.

54:52 52-54. Manu I, 88-91, X, 74-80 Yâgñavalkya II, 118-120; Vishnu II, 4-14; Âpastamba I, 1, 1, 5-6; Gautama X, 2, 7, 49, 56; Vasishtha II, 13-20; Baudhâyana I, 18, 1-5.

55:55 Here ends the section of the divers kinds of wealth in the law of debt. A.