Book 3 Chapter X Paragraph 7
Wikisource / R. Shamasastry (1915) · Book 3 - Concerning Law / Chapter X · Verse Paragraph 7
Sanskrit Original
Taxpayers shall sell or mortgage their fields to taxpayers alone; Bráhmans shall sell or mortgage their Brahmadaya or gifted lands only to those who are endowed with such lands; otherwise they shall be punished with the first amercement. The same punishment shall be meted out to a taxpayer who settles in a village not inhabited by taxpayers. If a taxpayer takes the place of another taxpayer, he shall enjoy all the holdings but the house of the latter. Even the house may be given to the new settler. If a person cultivates an inalienable land of another person who does not cultivate it, such a person shall restore the same after five years enjoyment on taking a certain amount of compensation equivalent to the improvement he made on the lands. Persons who are not taxpayers and who sojourn abroad shall retain the right of ownership (bhogam) of their lands.