Dear Jonathan,

Charles Malamoud's classic articles on debt also appear in his Cooking the

World (Oxford, 1996). I will send the "Theology of Debt" piece to you.  For

the Dharmasastra view, as always, one should begin with Kane, History of

Dharmasastra, Vol. 3, pp.411ff.  The most thorough Indological treatment of

debt, however, is Heramba Chatterjee Sastri, The Law of Debt in Ancient

India (1971).  For what it's worth, I have a chapter on debt in the Spirit

of Hindu Law (Cambridge, 2010).  Finally, I can't help but mention David

Graeber's sprawling and wonderfully provocative Debt: A History of the First

5,000 Years, which includes ruminations on debt in ancient and medieval

India.  In all of this, I, like Patrick, have not seen a general forgiveness

of debt as an act of state or other authority.

Best, Don

On 5/21/2013 8:25 AM, Patrick Olivelle wrote:

Jonathan:

Debt (ṛṇādāna) is the first of the so-called Title of Law (vyavahārapada) --

found in Kauṭilya's Arthaśāstra and Manu -- this is taken as the standard

(prakṛti) legal dispute, and it is within this subject that most early

authors (Manu, Yājñavalkya) present legal procedure (evidence etc.). So debt

was a BIG DEAL in Indian thought, and it is from this that the theology of

innate debts (Taittirīya Saṃhitā etc.) arose. But I do not see anywhere a

concept of forgiving debts -- such as Jubilee. The only comparable thing is

the rule that the interest cannot be reach a level more than the original

sum: thus what is ever payable is double what was borrowed. Once the

interest reaches that level, the principal ceases to accrue interest. There

are ways around this, but that is a whole other story.

Best,

Patrick

On May 21, 2013, at 5:15 AM, Jonathan Silk wrote:

dear Colleagues,

I've been asked whether (tout court) Buddhism or Hinduism have any clear

attitudes toward debt. I understand the question not to refer to spiritual

debt, but to monetary debt, and the origins of the questions to probably be

whether we find things comparable to the idea of the Jubilee, or the

Biblical necessity to release Hebrew slaves after 7 years of service (the

origin of the Sabbatical, by the way!), and the like (at least as far as I

know, there is no such provision in pre-modern India for manumission).

Any advice would be most welcome, thanks!

Jonathan

--

J. Silk

Instituut Kern / Universiteit Leiden

Leiden University Institute for Area Studies, LIAS

Johan Huizinga Building, Room 1.37

Doelensteeg 16

2311 VL Leiden

The Netherlands

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