40b: The Last Days 2, In Vajji – 1461 

 

Where rulers do not revoke traditional taxes and fines their revenues in 
kind and in money are flowing in every day. The armed forces and civil 
servants enjoy their usual remuneration as they are properly provided for 
and made happy. Their services remain as trustworthy and dependable as 
in the olden days. 

In the Vajjian system of justice, there were stages of careful scrutiny in the 
administration of criminal justice. When a man was brought before the 
authorities and was accused of theft, he was not put into custody but was 
properly examined. If there was no proof of theft, he was allowed to go. If 
someone was suspected of a crime, he was handed to the officials of the 
justice department where he was given a proper hearing, and if found not 
guilty, he was released. If the judges suspected him of the crime, he was 
referred to a panel of learned persons who were well versed in social 
ethics. If the panel of learned persons found him not guilty he was released. 
If they considered him not free of fault, he was then referred to a review 
board of eight jurors who belonged to the eight categories of families with 
an honourable tradition and who were free from the four kinds of 
improper official conduct. If the review board found him not guilty, he 
was released, but if he was not free from blame, he was committed to the 
king through the commander-in chief and the heir-apparent. If the king 
found him not guilty, he was released. If he was not free from blame, the 
traditional criminal code was read in his presence. The code contained 
specific descriptions of acts of crimes with specific punishments attached 
to them. The king ascertained the nature of the crime the man had 
committed that answered the description in the list of crimes in the code, 
and the prescribed punishment was meted out to him. 

The observance of the Vajjian tradition described above was very 
reassuring to the people. When one of their kith and kin was punished for 
a crime the people did not blame the Vajjian princes. They knew the king 
had dispensed justice and that the fault lay with the perpetrator only. 
Being satisfied that they had full protection of the law, they went about 
their normal business honestly. This adherence to the time-honoured 
system of justice is thus a factor of progress for rulers. 

The Fourth Factor of Growth and Non-Decline 

“Ānanda, do Vajjian princes treat their elders with courteous regard, deference, 
esteem and veneration, and do they consider that the advice of elderly people is 
worth listening to? What have you heard?” – “Venerable sir, I have heard that 
the Vajjian princes do treat their elders with regard, deference, esteem and