(Sale of bipeds, etc.)

A person who attempts to return an article purchased by him shall if the article is other than what is naturally bad, or is dangerous, or is intolerable, be punished with a fine of 12 panas. The same rescission rules that apply to a seller shall apply to the purchaser also.

That which has inherent defects is termed naturally bad; whatever is liable to be confiscated by the king, or is subject to destruction by thieves, fire, or floods is termed as being dangerous; and whatever is devoid of all good qualities, or is manufactured by the deceased is called intolerable.

[Thus ends Chapter XV, “Rescission of purchase and sale” in Book III, “Concerning Law” of the Arthasástra of Kautilya. End of the seventy-second chapter from the beginning.]

Merchandise which is likely to perish sooner may, if there is no loss to others, be shown the favour of early disposal by prohibiting the sale elsewhere of similar merchandise which is not likely to perish so soon. Violation of this rule shall be punished with a fine of 24 panas or 1/10th of the value of the merchandise sold against this rule.

Sale of bipeds and quadrupeds as strong, healthy, and clean though they are either unclean or actually suffering from leprosy and other diseases, shall be punished with a fine of 12 panas. The time of rescission of sale is three fortnights for quadrupeds and one year for men; for it is possible to know by that time their good or bad condition.

A merchant refusing to give his merchandise that he has sold shall be punished with a fine of 12 panas, unless the merchandise is naturally bad, or is dangerous, or is intolerable.

Time for rescission of a sale is one night for merchants; 3 nights for cultivators; 5 nights for herdsmen; and with regard to the sale or barter of precious things and articles of mixed qualities (vivrittivikraye), 7 nights.

(Marriage Contracts)

[As regards marriages among the three higher castes, rejection of a bride before the rite of pánigrahana, clasping of hands, is valid; likewise among the Súdras, observing religious rites. Even in the case of a couple that has gone through the rite of pánigrahana,] rejection of a bride whose guilt of having lain with another man has been afterwards detected is valid. But never so in the case of brides and bridegrooms of pure character and high family. Any person who has given a girl in marriage without announcing her guilt of having lain with another shall not only be punished with a fine of 96 panas, but also be made to return the sulka and strídhana. Any person receiving a girl in marriage without announcing the blemishes of the bridegroom shall not only pay double the above fine, but also forfeit the sulka and strídhana (he paid for the bride).