Dear Madhav, Johannes, et al.
Fire is indeed included (alongside flood/water) as a disaster or (from the point of view of property loss) an “act of God” or “force majeure.” Thus the
Arthaśāstra 4.3.1–2: [1] daivāny aṣṭau mahābhayāni: agnir udakaṃ vyādhir durbhikṣaṃ mūṣikā vyālāḥ sarpā rakṣāṃsi, iti. [2] tebhyo janapadaṃ rakṣet.
“1. There are eight great dangers arising from fate: fire, water, disease, famine, rats, vicious animals, snakes, and demons. 2 He [the king? or his Collector (samāhartṛ]?] should protect the countryside from these.” (trans. Olivelle
2013: 228; see his note on p. 629).”
I seem to recall similar lists in the Nīti literature, though I cannot lay my hand on a particular passage at the moment.
But this sort of list has been received in the Javanese tradition. For example, a manuscript entitled
Aṣṭādaśa Vyavahāra (Perpustakaan Nasional, Jakarta, L. 882) quotes a Sanskrit stanza:
deśabhaṅgabhāyāt tyaktaṃ kr̥taṃ [read: hr̥taṃ] taskarapārthivai[ḥ] |
agnidagdhaṃ jalanodaṁ pañcasadaraṇaṃ smr̥taṃ || ff. 2v2–3 [read: …
pañcasādhāraṇaṃ…]
What is abandoned from fear of destruction of the country, what is seized by thief or prince, what is burnt by fire, [or] what is carried off by water — this is known as “the five common [perils].”
This is glossed in Old Javanese prose (ff. 2v3–3r1):
ka[liṅanya], dr̥vya ikaṅ saṅkeṅ rundahniṅ deśa, kanimitan praṅ katiṅgal ikaṅ deśadr̥vya, tinitipakən salviranya, paśu kunaṁ, dr̥vya pinet iṅ taskāra maliṅ, dr̥vya pinet de saṅ prabhū, katunv iṅ apūy, dr̥vya keli riṅ ve, kahələm kunaṅ,
ika ta sahacihna, tan yogya katəmpuhanā riṁ panaṅgapi, titipan kaləbu riṅ pañcasadharaṇa, ṅa[ranya].
This means: Property that, on account of disorder in the locality, because of war, is abandoned, property of the locality of all types that is placed in trust, or cattle; property taken by a robber [or] thief, property taken by the king,
[property] burnt by fire, property carried off by water or sunken — for things with these characteristics the receiver should not be liable; it is called “a deposit sunk in the five common [perils].”
This classification gets applied in Old Javanese prose format to entrusted goods at various points in the famous lawbook (14th c.-ish?) edited by Jonker (1885):
Kuṭāra Mānava 8 :
adṛve titipan, yen pinet denira saṅ amava bhūmi, yen coloṅən deniṅ maliṅ, yen bahakən deniṅ voṅ, yen katunon, yen keliya riṅ bañu, yen hilaṅa katahurag deniṅ guṅiṅ praṅ, tan vənaṅ iku palakunən denikaṅ atitip, apan kapañcasādhāraṇa arane.
[In the case of] property that has been put on deposit — if it is taken by the ruler, if it be stolen by a thief, if it be robbed by someone, if it is burnt up (katunon) [or] if it be carried away by water, if it disappear by being
scattered in the heat of war — if the depositor asks for it back, he or she has no entitlement [to it], for these are known as “the five common [perils]”
KM 211: riṅ titipan katiṅgal, akāraṇa deniṅ deśa rusak binabak deniṅ voṅ, geger deniṅ ratu apraṅ paḍa ratu, iṅalap iṅ maliṅ, katunon , keli riṅ bañu, tan paṅəlenana kaṅ tinitipan yen maṅkana, pan kapañcasādhāraṇa arane, liṅira
saṅ paṇḍita vruh iṅ āgama.
Regarding a deposit abandoned because of a village destroyed [and] plundered by men, [lost] in tumult on account of a king at war with a king, taken by a thief, burnt up, carried off by water, what was deposited need not be replaced if
it is so, for these are known as “the five common [perils]” according to scholars knowledgeable in scripture.
Likewise KM 95. Cf. Kātyāyana Smṛti 178, 601 and Bṛhaspati Sm. 11.4 for other Sanskrit parallels.
Best,
Tim
Timothy Lubin
Jessie Ball duPont Professor of Religion and Adjunct Professor of Law
204 Tucker Hall
Washington and Lee University
Lexington, Virginia 24450
American Council of Learned Societies fellow, 2020–21
National Endowment for the Humanities fellow, 2020–21
https://lubin.academic.wlu.edu/
http://wlu.academia.edu/TimothyLubin
https://ssrn.com/author=930949
https://dharma.hypotheses.org/people/lubin-timothy
From: INDOLOGY <indology-bounces@list.indology.info> on behalf of INDOLOGY <indology@list.indology.info>
Reply-To: Johannes Bronkhorst <johannes.bronkhorst@unil.ch>
Date: Wednesday, October 14, 2020 at 3:09 PM
To: Madhav Deshpande <mmdesh@umich.edu>
Cc: INDOLOGY <indology@list.indology.info>
Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] Six calamities
I raise a similar question about the sparsity of epidemics in early literature, in “Plagues and Brahmins” (Zysk felicitation volume, Brill 2021; has just come out).
Johannes Bronkhorst