व्यवहारमयूख (नीलकण्ठ भट्ट - पश्चिमी भारत की हिन्दू न्याय-संहिता एवं व्यवहार कोष)

S. XVII. 8-10 ] THEFT AND ROBBERY 259
M. p. 144 ll. 8. ]
corn) and shall pay (to the owner) the price (of stolen corn)¹
'A kumbha' is equal to twenty prasthas. The same author (Manu
VIII. 323) says :
For stealing the principal among precious stones (the thief) deserves
corporal punishment.²
Nārada (p. 227 v. 27=Manu VIII. 321) says
For stealing more than one hundred palas of gold, silver and the like
or for stealing the finest clothes or all precious gems corporal punish-
ment (shall be inflicted).
Manu (VIII 321-322) says ·
The cutting of the hand is approved (as the punishment) for the theft
of more than fifty palas of gold, silver and the like or of the finest
clothes; for stealing less (than fifty palas) the king should impose a
fine eleven times as much as the price (of the stolen thing).
Yāj. (II 270) says :
A brāhmaṇa (guilty of theft) should be branded and banished from the
kingdom ³
*Manu (IX. 240) says ·
The first (three) classes, if they undergo (the proper) penance (for
theft), were not to be branded on the forehead by the king but were to be
made to pay the highest amercement ⁴
Yājñavalkya (II 270) also says
The king should make the thief restore the thing stolen (or its price)
and should inflict on him various kinds of corporal punishment.
Nārada (p 205 v. 19) says
Those also who give food and shelter to thieves who run about (to
avoid punishment) and those who being able (to arrest them) allow
them to escape incur the guilt of thieves.⁵
And they are also liable to the same penalty.
Here ends (the section on) theft and robbery

1. Kumbha was a very large measure 'of corn about the exact extent of which there
   was great divergence of opinion Vide notes to V M p 412 The Mit. says that a kumbha
   was equal to 20 droṇas, while Aparārka says it is equal to two droṇas The V R says it is
   equal to twenty prasthas Mayūkha follows this According to some, twelve prasṛtis made
   a kudava, 4 kudavas made a prastha
2. Kullūka explains that 'vadha' may consist in flogging, mutilation or even
   capital punishment according to the status of the person robbed and the robber
   3 The mark to be branded was a dog's foot. Vide Manu IX 237. Vide next verse
   also.
3. For prāyaścittas for theft vide Manu XI 162--168 and Yāj III, 257--258. The text
   of Manu has 'sarvavarṇāḥ' (all classes)
4. Compare Manu IX. 278 and Yāj. II 276.

• P. 238 (text).