Arthashastra

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समाहर्ता चतुर्धा जन अप्दं विभज्य ज्येष्ठ मध्यम कनिष्ठ विभागेन ग्राम अग्रं परिहारकम् आयुधीयं धान्य पशु हिरण्य कुप्य विष्टि प्रतिकरम् इदम् एतावद् इति निबन्धयेत् ॥

HAVING divided the kingdom (janapada) into four districts, and having also subdivided the villages (gráma) as of first, middle and lowest rank, he shall bring them under one or another of the following heads:---Villages that are exempted from taxation (pariháraka); those that supply soldiers (áyudhíya); those that pay their taxes in the form of grains, cattle, gold (hiranya), or raw material (kupya); and those that supply free labour (vishti), and dairy produce in lieu of taxes (karapratikara).

english translation

samAhartA caturdhA jana apdaM vibhajya jyeSTha madhyama kaniSTha vibhAgena grAma agraM parihArakam AyudhIyaM dhAnya pazu hiraNya kupya viSTi pratikaram idam etAvad iti nibandhayet ॥

hk transliteration by Sanscript

तत् प्रदिष्टः पञ्च ग्रामीं दश ग्रामीं वा गोपश् चिन्तयेत् ॥

It is the duty of Gopa, village accountant, to attend to the accounts of five or ten villages as ordered by the Collector-General.

english translation

tat pradiSTaH paJca grAmIM daza grAmIM vA gopaz cintayet ॥

hk transliteration by Sanscript

सीम अवरोधेन ग्राम अग्रम्, कृष्ट अकृष्ट स्थल केदार आराम षण्ड वाट वन वास्तु चैत्य देव गृह सेतु बन्ध श्मशान सत्त्र प्रपा पुण्य स्थान विवीत पथि सङ्ख्यानेन क्षेत्र अग्रम्, तेन सीम्नां क्षेत्राणां च करद अकरद सङ्ख्यानेन ॥

By setting up boundaries to villages, by numbering plots of grounds as cultivated, uncultivated, plains, wet lands, gardens, vegetable gardens, fences (váta), forests, altars, temples of gods, irrigation works, cremation grounds, feeding houses (sattra), places where water is freely supplied to travellers (prapá), places of pilgrimage, pasture grounds and roads, and thereby fixing the boundaries of various villages, of fields, of forests, and of roads, he shall register gifts, sales, charities, and remission of taxes regarding fields.

english translation

sIma avarodhena grAma agram, kRSTa akRSTa sthala kedAra ArAma SaNDa vATa vana vAstu caitya deva gRha setu bandha zmazAna sattra prapA puNya sthAna vivIta pathi saGkhyAnena kSetra agram, tena sImnAM kSetrANAM ca karada akarada saGkhyAnena ॥

hk transliteration by Sanscript

तेषु च एतावच् चातुर् वार्ण्यम्, एतावन्तः कर्षक गो रक्षक वैदेहक कारु कर्म कर दासाश् च, एतावच् च द्वि पद चतुष् पदम्, इदं च एषु हिरण्यल्विष्टि शुल्क दण्डं समुत्तिष्ठति इति ॥

Also having numbered the houses as taxpaying or non-taxpaying, he shall not only register the total number of the inhabitants of all the four castes in each village, but also keep an account of the exact number of cultivators, cow-herds, merchants, artizans, labourers, slaves, and biped and quadruped animals, fixing at the same time the amount of gold, free labour, toll, and fines that can be collected from it (each house).

english translation

teSu ca etAvac cAtur vArNyam, etAvantaH karSaka go rakSaka vaidehaka kAru karma kara dAsAz ca, etAvac ca dvi pada catuS padam, idaM ca eSu hiraNyalviSTi zulka daNDaM samuttiSThati iti ॥

hk transliteration by Sanscript

कुलानां च स्त्री पुरुषाणां बाल वृद्ध कर्म चरित्र आजीव व्यय परिमाणं विद्यात् ॥

He shall also keep an account of the number of young and old men that reside in each house, their history (charitra), occupation (ájíva), income (áya), and expenditure (vyaya).

english translation

kulAnAM ca strI puruSANAM bAla vRddha karma caritra AjIva vyaya parimANaM vidyAt ॥

hk transliteration by Sanscript