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170
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
[VOL. XXX We know of an achara-vyavastha embodied in the Lakshmeshwar Kannada inscription1 (circa 725 A.D.) of Yuvaraja Vikramaditya II of the Chalukya house of Badami; but that record is small and damaged and is not of any help in the elucidation of the text of the acharas quoted in the inscription under discussion. We propose to quote below the text of the seventytwo achāras and make an attempt to explain them one by one."
1. Aputrakam na grähyam. Aputraka means the property belonging to a person who died without leaving a son. This seems to say that such property should not be confiscated by royal officials disregarding the claim of any legal heir other than the son.
2. Unmara-bhedō na karaniyo raja-purushena. This is probably connected with No. 1 above. The royal officials are asked not to break open or violate the unmara, the meaning of which is unknown. It may be related to the word umbara (Pali ummāra; Prakrit ummara; Gujarati umbro, umro, 'threshold'). The reference may be to the threshold or door of a house. Vishnu (V, 116) prescribes a fine of 100 panas for a sa-mudra-griha-bhedaka (one who breaks open the sealed door of a house); but Kautilya speaks of 48 panas as the fine for the same offence (Arthaśāstra, III,.20).
3. Udbhavaka-vyavahāro na grähyaḥ. The word vyavahāra here may be taken in the sense of 'a law-suit'; but the real meaning of udbhavaka is uncertain. It may, however, refer to a case carelessly put before the court (cf. udbhavana, 'neglect') or to one based on fabrication or false allegation.
4. Sankaya grahanam n-āsti. This is apparently related to No. 3 above. The royal officials should not go in for the apprehension of persons or for taking up a case against one or for seizing one's things through mere suspicion (sanka) of a crime.
5. Purush-äparādhe stri na grähyä. This means to say that the wife should not be apprehended for her husband's guilt.
6. Kshëm-agni-samutthāne chhalo na grähyaḥ. The word chhala ordinarily means 'a pretext'. But, in the Smriti literature, it is used in the sense of 'careless declaration', while bhuta means 'a solemn statement of truth': The word occurs in Nos. 7, 9 and 31 below. Although the technical meaning seems to be preferable, the ordinary meaning of the word may be applied to all the cases, especially to No. 31. Kshëmagni seems to mean 'sacred fire' such as is kindled on the occasion of marriage, etc. If we follow the technical sense of chhala, the achära may mean that no half-hazard allegation should be entertained against one's neighbour for the burning of one's house when, according to the accused, the conflagration resulted from the sacred fire kindled in his house. But, if the ordinary meaning of the word is preferred, this may refer to a case involving the burning of a neighbour's house, in which the plea that the conflagration was due to the sacred fire kindled in the house of the accused would not be acceptable.
7. Svayam hrasite karnne chhalo na grähyaḥ. This means either that (1) there was no pretext for a man who was himself responsible for cutting a bit from a neighbour's ear, or that (2) no careless accusation was acceptable from a man in regard to the cutting of a bit from his own ears. Cf. karnṇa-trotana in No. 37 below. If hrasita may here be taken in the sense of sounded', the
1 Ibid., Vol. XIV, pp. 190-91.
In interpreting some of the words and in bringing out the significance of some of the acharae, I have received help from V. Raghavan, P. V. Kane, G. S. Gai, P. B. Desai, H. C. Bhayani, N. M. Sen and V. S. Agrawala, to all of whom my sincere thanks are due. The list reminds us of Katyayana's view quoted in Devanna-bhatta's Smritichandrika, Vol. III, part i, p. 58: débasy-anumalin-aiva vyavastha ya nirüpità | likhita tu sada dhäryä mudritä raja-mudraya || sastra-vad-yatnato rakshya tam nirikshya vinirnayet. It seems to recognise raja-basana among the sources of law.
See above, Vol. XXVIII, p. 291 and n. 13.
Cf. Yajnavalkya Smriti, N. S. Press ed., p. 130: chhalam nirasya bhutēna vyavahärän nayên-nripah, where the Mitakshara explains chhala as pramäd-abhihita and bhuta as tatto-artha-samyukta.
