7. Usurers

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

7. Usurers.

* 110. ¹¹⁰ Thus has the rule been declared for the interest to be paid on loans offered through friendship. If, however, interest be demanded on grain, at the rate which has been mentioned, it is termed usury.

* 111. ¹¹¹ A Vaisya is at liberty to get over a period of distress by practising usury. A Brahman must never resort to usury, not even in the extremity of distress.

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* 112. ¹¹² If a debt is due to a (dead) Brahman creditor, whose issue is living, (it must be paid to them.) If there be no issue, the king must cause the debt to be paid to his kinsmen; on failure of kinsmen (it must be paid) to his relatives.

* 113. ¹¹³ Where there are neither kinsmen, nor relatives, nor distant connexions, it shall be paid to (other) Brahmans. On failure of such, he must cast it into the waters.

* 114. ¹¹⁴ When a creditor receives payment, he must give a receipt for it to the debtor. If he does not give a receipt, although he has been asked for it, he shall lose the remainder of the sum due to him.

* 115. ¹¹⁵ If, though pressed by the debtor, he does not give an acquittance for the sum paid to him by the debtor, that sum shall yield interest to the debtor (henceforth), as (it had done) to the creditor (previously).

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* 116. ¹¹⁶ On payment of the debt, he must restore the bond. On failure of a bond, he must give a written receipt. Thus the creditor and debtor will be quits.

Footnotes

68:108 The chattels, which have been mentioned in the preceding paragraph, if lent in amicable intercourse, shall not yield any interest before the expiration of six months, without a special stipulation to that effect. Even without a stipulation to that effect, however, they shall yield interest after the lapse of six months. A.

68:109 A loan which is not restored, on demand even, shall yield interest at the rate of 5 per cent. from that day forward, even though six months are not yet over. A.

68:110 The term karman is sometimes used as an equivalent for gold. A. This interpretation has not been followed.

68:111 Agriculture, the tending of cattle, &c., are lawful occupations for a Vaisya. Lending money at interest is also permitted to him. Therefore it is said here that a Vaisya may practise usury in times of distress, whereas a Brahman must not resort to usury even in times of overwhelming distress. A.

69:112 Sakulya, 'kinsman,' is derived from kulya, 'a bone,' and denotes those who have their bones in common (sic), i.e. a father, a paternal uncle, their sons, and other (agnates). Bandhu, 'a relative,' denotes a mother, a sister, a sister's son, and other (agnates). A.

69:113 This paragraph is intended to show the pre-eminence of the Brahman caste. A.

69:114 In Colebrooke's Digest (I, 6, 287) the second half of this paragraph is referred to a refusal on the part of the creditor to restore the money, which the debtor had asked him for, on his refusing to give a receipt. This construction is based on the comment of Gagannâtha, but it is not countenanced by the remarks of Asahâya, and is thoroughly artificial. Yâgñavalkya II, 93; Vishnu VI, 26.

69:115 If the creditor fails to receipt the sum which has been restored to him, on the back of the document, it shall yield interest to the debtor, in the same way as it had yielded interest to the creditor previously. A.

70:116 Where the bond is no longer in existence, because it has been stolen or destroyed, or met with some calamity, the creditor, instead of it, shall give a written receipt to the debtor. Here ends the sixth section of the law of debt, which treats of lending money at interest and of usurers. A.