Daṇḍa
idea · 4 works · 4 mentions · 7 anchored passages
punishment · capital punishment · chastisement of the sinful · corporal punishment · daṇḍa · fine · the rod of punishment
spoken of as
1 expressionroyal duty of punishment“daṇḍa”1 mention
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa (Sanskrit)
Of the rare gift of dharma and of auspicious life, O foremost of monkeys, kings are the givers — there is no doubt.
in the texts
Bṛhaspati Smṛti
The system of penalties, including fines and capital punishment, applied under royal authority for legal offenses and judicial misconduct.
For a minor offense, the fine is fifty;
fines and capital punishment are both declared to be under the authority of the king.
A king who punishes the unpunishable and fails to punish the punishable, incurs great infamy and goes to hell. // Brh_1,1.77 //
Manusmṛti
The personified rod of punishment/coercive force, identified with Dharma itself, that maintains cosmic and social order.
He is the king, the man, `Daṇḍa`;
What is not obtained, he should seek with `Daṇḍa`;
`Daṇḍa` rules all subjects, `Daṇḍa` alone protects them;
Yājñavalkya Smṛti
The doctrine and practice of royal punishment (daṇḍa), treated as both a sacred instrument of dharma and a graded, situationally-calibrated legal tool.
Unjust punishment destroys heaven, fame, and worldly prospects.
For `*dharma*` was created of old by Brahmā in the form of punishment.
When wielded according to scripture, it delights the entire world of gods, demons, and men;
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa
The doctrine that kings must punish those who transgress dharma, and that such punishment purifies rather than merely harms the wrongdoer.
Of the rare gift of dharma and of auspicious life, O foremost of monkeys, kings are the givers — there is no doubt.
For one who has acted contrary to dharma and strayed from worldly convention, I see no restraint other than punishment, O lord of monkey hosts.
Men who have committed sins and been punished by kings come forth purified and reach heaven, like the virtuous who have performed meritorious deeds.