Chapter XVIII. Sambhūya-samutthāna (A joint undertaking, partnership)
Volume III pp. 466–470
Chapter XVIII. Sambhūya-samutthāna (A joint undertaking, partnership)
(A joint undertaking, partnership)
Where traders or others (like actors, musicians or artisans) carry on a business jointly it is termed a partnership (Nār. VI 1 and Kāt. 624).802 Br (SBE vol. 33 p. 336 verses 1–2) says that a man should carry on a joint business with other persons of good family, that are clever, active, intelligent (or educated), familiar with coins, skilled in (controlling) expenditure and income, honest and valiant (or enterprising) and that joint undertakings like trade should not be carried on by prudent men with persons (partners) who are weak or lazy or afflicted with disease or are unlucky or destitute (of money).803 The meaning is not that all the above qualities must exist in all partners, but that according to the nature of the undertaking some of these qualities will be absolutely necessary Nār. VI. 2–3, Yaj. II. 259, Br. (SBE vol' 33 pp. 336-337 verses 3 and 4) prescribe that the expenses, loss, profit or work of those who jointly lend gold, grain or liquids shall be according to the capital put in by each.804 The duty of each is to act honestly towards the others, whether they are present or absent, in sales or purchases of various commoditieṣ5 Br. (SBE vol 33 p 337 verses 5–7 ) provides that whatever 6 property one partner may give (or transfer), being authorised to do so by the rest, or whatever document (or transaction) he may cause to be executed, all that is to be deemed as done by all partners ; the partners themselves are declared to be the judges (the deciding persons) or witnesses among themselves in a doubtful case and in case of fraud, provided they are not already at feud among themselveṣ It follows from this that by entering into an agreement of partnership, each partner agrees that he submits to the decision of the other partners in cases of doubt If any one from them is found out to have practised fraud on the others in sales or purchases he should clear himself by special oaths or ordealṣ Yaj II. 260, Nāṛ. VI. 5,7 Br. (SBE vol. 33 p. 337 verse 9 ) provide that each partner is responsible to make good what has been lost through his negligence or in consequence of his acting against the instructions of the others or of his acting without their authority or consent. If any one of the partners saves partnership property from act of God or the king or thieves (or similar calamity ) by his own exertions he is to be awarded (as his special share) one tenth of the property saved (Yaj II. 260, Kāṭ 631,8 Nār VI. 6 ) If any partner is crooked or fraudulent the rest may expel him without giving him any profit; a partner who is incompetent to work (personally) should get the partnership business done through another (Yaj II. 265) Yaj. II. 264 and Nāṛ VI. 7 and 17–18 state that if one partner goes to a foreign country and dies, his share should be taken by his heirs (son &c.) or by his agnates or cognates; in default of these the other partners may take it and in default of them the king may take it after waiting for ten years to see whether any heir or claimant turns up. Kātyāyana 9 states that in the case of artisans who together carry out some work, those who are adepts in the craft three shares, those who have studied the craft two shares and the apprentices only one share. Whatever is given to strangers by all together (i. e. by the partnership firm) should be claimed back by the firm as such; any single partner should not claim it; if he does so he will lose his share of the profit 10. Some rules are prescribed by Br that among dancers, singers and musicians, the singers get equal shares, while those who beat the tune only get half share each; similarly in the joint construction of a mansion or a temple the head of the artisans gets two shareṣ An artisan 11 (śilpī) is one who manufactures or works upon gold, silver, yarn, wood, stone and hides or one who has mastered one of the (64) artṣ If a king has ordered a band of adventurers from among his subjects to make a plundering expedition in enemy country, Br. (in V. R. p. 125) and Kat. (633-635) 12 prescribe that the king gets one tenth (½ acc. to Br.), the leader gets four shares in the remainder, the valiant among his followers three shares, the more capable two shares and the rest one each and that if any one of them is caught the money -for his ransom should be contributed, by all according to their shareṣ When no agree- ment is made as to shares in property by traders, husbandmen, thieves and artisans similar rules apply 13. III]
It is interesting to note that the ancient Dharmasūtras of Gautama, Āpastamba and Baudhāyana are silent about partnerships, that Manu (VIII. 206-210) lays down rules about the distribution of fees among the priests at a sacrifice and that in one verse (VIII. 211) he remarks that the same principles are to be applied in all matters where men work conjointly (i. e. each is to be paid according to the importance and volume of the work he does). The rules about sacrificial priests in Manu are: If a priest chosen to do work in a sacrifice abandons his work a share only of the fee in proportion to the work (done) shall be given to him by those conjointly working with him; if a priest leaves after the fees are distributed (as at the time of midday extraction of Soma in the great sacrifices like Jyotiṣṭoma) then he keeps the whole of it and shall cause the remaining work to be performed by another (who will be paid by the sacrificer, acc. to Medhātithi) When specific fees are prescribed to be paid to individual priests at the performance of the several parts in a complicated sacrifice, the individual priests are to receive them and all are not to participate; as for example, the adhvaryu takes the chariot, the brahmā priest takes the horse in Agnyādhāna, the hotṛ also takes the horse and the udgātṛ the cart used in purchasing the soma plant. The four chief priests are entitled to one half of the fees, the first group of their assistants will get half of what the chief ones get, the 2nd group ⅓ and the fourth ⅗. Nār. VI. 10 and Br (in V. R. p. 120) state that sacrificial priests are of three kinds viz. one hereditary and honoured by the ancestors of the sacrificer, one appointed by the sacrificer himself and one who performs the functions of his own accord through friendship and that (VI. 9 and 11) if an officiating priest forsakes a sacrificer who is free from any fault and who has caused no harm or if a sacrificer abandons a priest who is faultless, they both shall be punished but this does not apply to the third kind of priest. Śaṅkha-Likhita, as quoted in V. R. pp. 117 and 120-121 and Sṃ C. II. p. 188, give elaborate rules about sacrificial priests dying or leaving work and the fines to be imposed on theṃ Kaut. III. 14 lays down rules for the receipt of fees by priests when they leave off at different stages of such solemn sacrifices as the Agniṣṭoma and also when the sacrificer dies without completing the sacrifice. The Vy. Nir. (pp. 284-285) quotes a few sentences from Kaut. III. 14.
The above shows that in the times of the ancient sūtras, secular partnerships had not attained sufficient importance and