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The Minor Law Books (SBE33), by Julius Jolly, [1889], at sacred-texts.com
* 1. When merchandise has been sold for a (certain) price and is not delivered to the purchaser, it is termed Non-delivery of a Sold Chattel, a title of law.
* 2. Property in this world is of two kinds, movable and immovable. All that is termed merchandise in the laws regarding purchase and sale.
* 3. 3 The rule regarding the gift and receipt of
merchandise is declared sixfold by the learned: (what is sold) by tale, by weight, by measure, according to work, according to its beauty, and according to its splendour.
* 4. 4 If a man sells property for a certain price, and does not hand it over to the purchaser, he shall have to pay its produce, if it is immovable, and the profits arising on it, if it is movable property.
* 5. 5 If there has been a fall in the market value of the article in question (in the interval, the purchaser) shall receive both the article itself, and together with it the difference (in point of value). This law applies to those who are inhabitants of the same place; but to those who travel abroad, the
profit arising from (dealing in) foreign countries shall be made over (as well).
* 6. 6 If the article (sold) should have been injured, or destroyed by fire, or carried off, the loss shall be charged to the seller, because he did not deliver it after it had been sold by him.
* 7. When a man shows one thing, which is faultless (to the intending purchaser), and (afterwards) delivers another thing to him, which has a blemish, he shall be compelled to pay twice its value (to the purchaser), and an equal amount as a fine.
* 8. 8 So when a man sells something to one person, and (afterwards) delivers it to another person, he shall be compelled to pay twice its value (to the purchaser), and a fine to the king.
* 9. 9 When a purchaser does not accept an article purchased by himself, which is delivered to him (by the vendor), the vendor commits no wrong by selling it to a different person.
* 10. 10 Thus has the rule been declared with regard
to that merchandise for which the price has been tendered. When the price has not been tendered, there is no offence to be imputed to the vendor, except in the case of a special agreement.
* 11. It is for the sake of gain that merchants are in the habit of buying and selling merchandise of every sort. That gain is, in proportion to the price, either great or the reverse.
* 12. Therefore shall merchants fix a just price for their merchandise, according to the locality and season, and let them refrain from dishonest dealings. Thus (by adhering to these principles) traffic becomes an honest profession.
146:3 VIII, 3. 'Gift' means sale. 'Receipt' means purchase. What p. 147 is counted before selling it is said to be sold 'by tale.' Betel-nuts may be mentioned as an instance. 'What is sold by weight,' such as gold or sandal-wood and the like substances, which are weighed on a pair of scales. 'What is sold by measure,' such as rice or the like. 'By work,' such as animals giving milk or used for draught or burden. 'According to its beauty,' something handsome, as e.g. a handsome prostitute. 'According to its splendour,' or lustre, as e.g. rubies. Vîramitrodaya, p. 437. A similar exposition is delivered in the Ratnâkara, as quoted in Colebrooke's Digest, III, 3, 3.
147:4 'The profits arising on it,' such as e.g. the milk of a cow. Vîramitrodaya, p. 437. The Vivâdakintâmani (p. 55) and the Ratnâkara, as quoted in Colebrooke's Digest (III, 3, 18), take the term kriyâphalam as a Dvandva compound, denoting 'the work, such as the carrying of burdens and the like, and the profits, such as milk and the like.' Vishnu V, 127; Yâgñavalkya II, 254.
147:5 The previous paragraph contains the rule for those cases where the value of the property has increased after its sale. The present rule refers to. those cases where the value of the property has diminished after the sale. Vîramitrodaya, p. 437. Those who travel abroad, i.e. who are in the habit of visiting other countries (for trading purposes), may claim the profit which might have accrued to them from travelling abroad. Vivâdakintâmani, pp. 55, 56. Vishnu V, 129; Yâgñavalkya II, 254.
148:6 According to Gagannâtha, this rule has reference to those cases only where the purchaser has not formally asked for the delivery of the property purchased by himself. He infers from a text of Yâgñavalkya that after a demand the loss shall fall on the vendor, even though the property was injured in one of the modes mentioned by that authority, i.e. by force majeure. See Colebrooke's Digest, III, 3, 27. It is quite doubtful, however, whether the compiler of the Nârada-smriti had this distinction in view. Yâgñavalkya II, 256.
148:8 8, 9. Both he who shows unblemished goods, and sells blemished goods afterwards, and he who sells property to one man and afterwards sells the same property to another man, though the first sale has not been rescinded by the purchaser, shall pay twice the value of the property sold as a fine. Vîramitrodaya, p. 440. Yâgñavalkya II, 257.
148:9 Yâgñavalkya II, 255.
148:10 Consequently, where there is no agreement as to the time of p. 149 delivery, the vendor commits no wrong by retaining a commodity sold, on purpose to obtain payment. Thus according to the gloss in Colebrooke's Digest, III, 3, 20. The Vîramitrodaya (p. 441) has a slightly different explanation. 'Where the price for a sold chattel has not been paid, and the purchase concluded through a verbal engagement merely, there is no offence whether it be ratified or not, unless there should be an agreement in this form, "This purchase cannot be rescinded."'