Chapter 8: On Judicature; and on Law, Private and Criminal
1. A KING, desirous of inspecting judicial proceedings, must enter his court of justice, composed and sedate in his demeanour, together with Brahmens and counsellors, who know how to give him advice :
2. * There, either sitting or standing, holding forth his right arm, without ostentation in his dress and ornaments, let him examine the affairs of litigant parties.
3. 4 Each day let him decide causes, one after another, under the eighteen principal titles of law, by arguments and rules drawn from local usages, and from written codes :
4. * Of those titles , the first is debt, on loans for consumption ; the second \ deposits, and loans for use ; the third , sale without ownership ; the fourth , concerns among partners \ the fifthy subtraction of what has been given ;
5. 4 The sixth , nonpayment of wages or hire ; the seventh, nonperformance of agreements ; the eighth , rescission of sale and purchase ; the ninth , disputes between master and servant ;
6. 4 The tenth , contests on boundaries ; the eleventh and twelfth^ assault and slander ; the thirteenth , larceny ; the fourteenth , robbery and other violence ; the fifteenth , adultery ;
7. 4 The sixteenth , altercation between man and wife, and their several duties ; the seventeenth , the law of inheritance ; the eighteenth , gaming with dice and with living creatures : these eighteen titles of law ar$ settled as the groundwork of all judicial procedure in this world.
8. 4 Among men, who contend for the most part on the titles just mentioned, and on a few miscellaneous heads not comprised under themy let the* king decide causes justly, observing primeval law ; 1 46 ON JUDICATURE AND; ON LAW,
9. ‘ But, when he cannot inspect such affairs in person, let him appoint, for the inspection of them , a Brdhmen of eminent learning :
10. * Let that chief judge, accompanied by three assessors, fully consider all causes brought before the king, and, having entered the courtroom, let him sit or stand, but not move backwards and forwards.
11. ‘ In whatever country three Brdh mens, particularly skilled in the three several Vddas , sit together with the very learned Brdhmen appointed by the king, the wise call that assembly the court of Brahma' with four faces .
12. ‘WHEN justice, having been wounded by iniquity, approaches the court, and the judges extract not the dart, they also shall be wounded by it.
13. ‘ Either the court must not be entered by judges, parlies, and witnesses , or law and truth must be openly declared : that man is criminal, who cither says nothing, or says what is false or unjust.
14. 1 Where justice is destroyed by iniquity, and truth by false evidence, the judges, who basely look on without giving redress, shall also be destroyed.
15. ‘Justice, being destroyed, will destroy ; being preserved, will preserve : it must never, therefore, be violated. “ Beware, 0 judge , lest justice, being overturned, overturn both us and thyself"
16. ‘The divine form of justice is represented as Vrlsha , or a bull, and the gods consider him, who violates justice, as a Vrishala , or one who slays a bull : let the king, therefore, and his judges beware of violating justice.
17. ‘ The only firm friend, who follows men even after death, is justice : all others arc extinct with the body.
18. ‘Of injustice in decisions , one quarter falls on the party in the cause ; one quarter, on his witnesses ; one quarter, on all the judges ; and one quarter, on the king ; L
19. ‘ But where he, who deserves condemnation, shall be condemned, the king is guiltless, and the judges free from blame : an evil deed shall recoil on hims who committed it.
20. ‘ A Brdhmen sup*ported only by his class, and one barely PRIVATE AND CRIMINAL. M7 reputed a Brdhmen , but without performing any sacerdotal acts, may, at the king’s pleasure, interpret the law to him : so may the middle classes ; but a Sudra) in no case whatever.
21. ‘Of that king, who stupidly looks on, while a Sudra decides causes, the kingdom itself shall be embarrassed, like a cow in deep mire.
22. ‘The whole territory, which is inhabited by a number of Stidras , overwhelmed with atheists, and deprived of Brdmens , must speedily perish afflicted with dearth and disease,
23. * LET the king or his judge , having seated himself on the bench, his body properly clothed and his mind attentively fixed, begin with doing reverence to the deities, who guard the world ; and then let him enter on the trial of causes :
24. ‘Understanding what is expedient or inexpedient, but considering only what is law or not law, let him examine all disputes between parties, in the order of their several classes.
25. ‘ By external signs let him see through the thoughts of men ; by their voice, colour, countenance, limbs, eyes, and action :
26. 1 From the limbs, the look, the motion of the body, the gesticulation, the speech, the changes of the eye and the face, arc discovered the internal workings of the mind.
27. ‘The property of a student and of an infant, whether by descent or otherwise, let the king hold in his custody, until the owner shall have ended his studentship, or until his infancy shall have ceased in his sixteenth year :
28. ‘ Equal care must be taken of barren women, of women without kindred, or whose husbands are in distant places, of widows true to their lords, and of women afflicted with illness.
29. ‘ Such kinsnlen, as, by any pretence , appropriate the fortunes of women during their lives, a just king must punish with the severity due to thieves.
30. ‘ Three years let the king detain the property of which no owner appears, after a distinct proclamation : the owner, appearing within the three years, may take it ; but, after that term, the king may confiscate it, ON JUDICATURE ; AND ON LAW,
31. ‘ He, who says “ This is mitle,” must be duly examined ; and if, before ke inspect it , he declare its form, number, and other circumstances, the owner must have his property ;
32. * But, if he show not at what place and time it was lost, and specify not its colour, shape, and dimensions, he ought to be amerced :
33. * The king may take a sixth part of the property so detained by him, or a tenth, or a twelfth, remembering the duty of good kings.
34. * Property lost by one man , and found by another \ let the king secure, by committing it to the care of trustworthy men ; and those, whom he shall convict of stealing it, let him cause to be trampled on. by an elephant.
35. ‘ From the man, who shall say with truth, “This property, which has been kept, belongs to me,” the king may take a sixth or twelfth part, for having secured it ;
36. ‘ But he, who shall say so falsely, may be fined cither an eighth part of his own property, or else in some small proportion to the value of the goods falsely claimed, a just calculation having been made.
37. ‘A learned Brdhmen , having found a treasure formerly hidden, may take it without any deduction ; since he is the lord of all ;
38. 4 But of a treasure anciently reposited under ground, which any other subject or the king has discovered, the king may lay up half in his treasury, having given half to the Brdhmejis .
39. ‘Of old hoards, and precious minerals in the earth, the king is entitled to half by reason of his general protection, and because he is the lord paramount of the soil.
40. ‘To men of all classes, the king must restore th^ir property, which robbers have seized ; since a king, who takes it for himself, incurs the guilt of a robber.
41. * A king, who knows* the revealed law, must enquire into the particular laws of qlas^es, the laws or tisages of districts, the PRIVATE AND CRIMINAL. 1 49 customs of traders, and Che rules of certain families, and establish their peculiar laws, if they be not repugnant to the law of God ;
42. ‘ Since all men, who mind their own customary ways of proceeding, and are fixed in the discharge of their several duties, become united by affection with the people at large, even though they dwell far asunder.
43. 4 Neither the king himself nor his officers must ever promote litigation ; nor ever neglect a lawsuit instituted by others.
44. ‘As a hunter traces the lair of a wounded beast by the drops of blood ; thus let a king investigate the true point of justice by deliberate arguments :
45. * Let him fully consider the nature of truth, the state of the case, and his own person ; and, next, the witnesses* the place, the mode, and the time ; firmly adhering to all the rules of practice :
46. * What has been practised by good men and by virtuous Brdhmens , if it be not inconsistent with the legal customs of provinces or districts, of classes and families, let him establish.
47. * When a creditor sues before him for the recovery of his right from a debtor, let him cause the debtor to pay what the creditor shall prove due.
48. * By whatever lawful means a creditor may have gotten possession of his own property, let the king ratify such payment by the debtor, though obtained even by compulsory means :
49. ‘ By the mediation of friends, by suit in court, by artful management, or by distress, a creditor may recover the property lent ; and, fifthly, by legal force.
50. 4 That creditor, who recovers his right from his debtor, must not be rebuked by the king for retaking his own property.
51. 1 In a suit for a debt, which the defendant denies, let him award payment to the creditor of what, by good evidence, he shall prove due, and exact a small fine, according to the circumstances of the* debtor.
52. ‘ On the denial of a debt, which the defendant has in court been required to pay, the plaintiff must call a witness who was present at the place of the l&an, or produce other evidence, as a note and the like . > 1 5o ON JUDICATURE ; AND ON LAW,
53. ‘The plaintiff, who calls a witness not present at the place , where the contract was made , or, having knowingly called him, disclaims him as witness ; or who perceives not, that he asserts confused and contradictory facts ;
54. ‘ Or who, having stated what he designs to prove, varies afterwards from his case ; or who, being questioned on a fact which he had before admitted, refuses to acknowledge that very fact ;
55. ‘Or who has conversed with the witnesses in a place unfit for such conversation ; or who declines answering a question properly put ; or who departs from the court ;
56. ‘ Or who, being ordered to speak, stands mute ; or who proves not what he has alledged ; or who knows not what is capable or'“incapable of proof ; such a plaintiff shall fail in that suit. *’ 57. ‘ Him, who has said, “ I have witnesses,” and, being told to produce them, produces them not, the judge must on this account declare nonsuited.
58. ‘ If the plaintiff delay to put in his plaint, he may, according to the nature of the case , be corporally punished or justly amerced ; and, if the defendant plead not within three fortnights, he is by law condemned.
59. ‘ In the double of that sum, which the defendant falsely denies, or on which the complainant falsely declares, shall those two men, wilfully offending against justice, be fined by the king.
60. * When a man has been brought into court by a suitor for property, and, being called on to answer, denies the debt, the cause should be decided by the Brdhmen who represents the king, having heard three witnesses at least.
61. ‘What sort of witnesses must be produced by creditors and others on the trial of causes, I will comprehensively declare ; and in what manner those witnesses must give true evidence.
62. ‘ Married housekeepers, men with male issue, inhabitants of the same district, cither of the military, the commercial, or the servile class, are competent, when called by the party, to give their evidence ; not any persons indiscriminately, except in such cases of urgency as will soon he mentioned \ .PRIVATE AND CRIMINAL
63. *Just and sensible men of all the four classes may be witnesses on trials ; men, who know their whole duty, and arc free from covetousness ; but men of an opposite character the judge must reject.
64. c Those must not be admitted who have a pecuniary interest ; nor familiar friends ; nor menial servants ; nor enemies ; nor men formerly perjured; nor persons grievously diseased; nor those, who have committed heinous offences.
65. ‘The king cannot be made a witness ; nor cooks, and the like mean artificers ; nor public dancers and singers ; nor a priest of deep learning in scripture ; nor a student in theology ; nor an anchoret secluded from all worldly connexions ;
66. * Nor one wholly dependent ; nor one of bad Came ; nor one, who follows a cruel occupation ; nor one, who acts openly against the law ; nor a decrepit old man ; nor a child ; nor one man only, unless he he distinguished for virtue ; nor a wretch of 'the lowest mixed class; nor one, who has lost the organs of sense ;
67. ‘ Nor one extremely grieved ; nor one intoxicated ; nor a madman ; nor one tormented with hunger or thirst ; nor one oppressed by fatigue ; nor one excited by lust ; nor one inflamed by wrath ; nor one who has been convicted of theft.
68. * Women should regularly be witnesses for women ; twiceborn men, for men alike twice-born ; good servants and mechanics, for servants and mechanics ; and those of the lowest race, for those of the lowest ;
69. * But any person whatever, who has positive knowledge of transactions in the private apartments of a house, or in a forest, or at a time of death, may give evidence between the parties :
70. * On failure of witnesses duly qualified, evidence may in stick cases be given by a woman, by a child, or by an aged man, by a pupil, by a kinsman, by a slave, or by a hired servant :
71. ‘Yet of children, of old men, and of the diseased, who are all apt to speak untruly, the judge must consider the testimony as weak ; and, much more , that of men with disordered minds :
72. ‘ In all cases of violence, of theft and adultery, of defamation and assault, he must not Examine too strictly the competence of witnesses. ON JUDICATURE ; AND ON LAW,
73. ‘If there be contradictory evidence, let the king decide by the plurality of credible witnesses ; if equality in number, by superiority in virtue ; if parity in virtue, by the testimony of such twiceborn men, as have best performed public duties.
74. ‘Evidence of what has been seen, or of what has been heard, as slander and the like , given by those who saw or heard it, is admissible ; and a witness, who speaks truth in those cases, neither deviates from virtue nor loses his wealth :
75. * But a witness, who knowingly says any thing, before an assembly of good men, different from what he had seen or heard shall fall headlong, after death, into a region of horror, and be debarred from heaven.
76. “When a man sees or hears any thing, without being then called upon to attest it, yet, if he be afterwards examined as a witness, he must declare it, exactly as it was seen, and as it was heal'd.
77. ‘ One man, untainted with covetousness and other vices , may in some cases be the sole witness, and will have more weight than many women, because female understandings are apt to waver ; or than many other men, who have been tarnished with crimes.
78. ‘ What witnesses declare naturally, or zvithout bias, must be received on trials ; but what they improperly say, from some unnatural bent, is inapplicable to the purposes of justice.
79. ‘ The witnesses being assembled in the middle of the courtroom, in the presence of the plaintiff and the defendant, let the judge examine them, after having addressed them all together in the following manner :
80. “ What ye know to have been transacted in the matter before us, between the parties reciprocally, declare at large and with truth ; for your evidence in this cause is required/*
81. ‘ A witness, who gives testimony with truth, shall attain exalted seats of beatitude above, and the highest fame here below : such testimony is revered by BrahMa' himself.
82. ‘ The witness, who speaks falsely, shall be fast bound under water, in the snaky . cords of VARUNA,and be wholly deprived PRIVATE AND CRIMINAL. *53 of power to escape torment during a hundred transmigrations : let mankind, therefore, give no false testimony.
83. i By truth is a witness cleared from sin ; by truth is justice advanced : truth must, therefore, be spoken by witnesses of every class.
84. * The soul itself is its own witness ; the soul itself is its own refuge : offend nor thy conscious soul, the supreme internal witness of men !
85. 1 The sinful have said in their hearts : “ None sees us.” Yes ; the gods distinctly see them ; and so does the spirit within their breasts.
86. * The guardian deities of the firmament, of the earth, of the waters, of the human heart, of the moon, of the sun, and of fire, of punishment after d^ath, of the winds, of night,ofboth twilights, and of justice, perfectly know the state of all spirits clothed with bodies.
87. ‘ In the forenoon let the judge, being purified, severally call on the twice-born, being purified also, to declare the truth, in the presence of some image a symbol of the divinity, and of Brdhmens , while the witnesses turn their faces either to the north or to the east.
88. 4 To a Brdhmen he must begin with saying, “ Declare to a Cshatriyay with saying, “ Declare the truth to a Vaisya, with comparing perjury to the crime of stealing kine, grain, or gold ; to a Siidra, with comparing it in some or all of the following sentences^ to every crime, that men can commit.
89. “ Whatever places of torture have been prepared for the slayer of a priest, for the murderer of a woman or of a child, for the injurer of a friend, and for an ungrateful man, those places are ordained for a witness, who gives false evidence.
90. “ The fruit* of every virtuous act, which thou hast done, O good man, since thy birth, shall depart from thee to dogs, if thou deviate in speech from the truth.
91. “O friend to virtue, that supreme spirit, which thou believest one and the same with thyself, resides in thy bosom perpetually, and is an all-knowing inspector of thy goodness or of thy wickedness. *54 ON JUDICATURE ; AND ON LAW,
92. “ If thou beest not at variance, by speaking falsely , with Yama, or the subduer of all, with VAIVASWATA, or the punisher, with that great divinity, who dwells in thy breast, go not on a pilgrimage to the river Gangd, nor to the plains of CURU, for thou hast no need of expiation .
93. “Naked and shorn, tormented with hunger and thirst, and deprived of sight, shall the man, who gives false evidence, go with a potsherd to beg food at the door of his enemy.
94. “ Headlong, in utter darkness, shall the impious wretch tumble into hell, who, being interrogated in a judicial inquiry, answers one question falsely.
95. “ He, who in a court of justice gives an imperfect account of any transaction, or asserts a fact of which he was no eyewitness, shall receive pain instead of pleasure, and resemble a man, who eats fish with eagerness and swallows the sharp bones.
96. “ The gods are acquainted with no better mortal in this world, than the man, of whom the intelligent spirit, which pervades his body, has no distrust, when he prepares to give evidence.
97. “ Hear, honest man, from a just enumeration in order, how many kinsmen, in evidence of different sorts, a false witness kills, or incurs the guilt of killing :
98. “ He kills five by false testimony concerning cattle in general ; he kills ten by false testimony concerning kine ; he kills a hundred by false evidence concerning horses, and a thousand by false evidence concerning the human race :
99. “ By speaking falsely in a cause concerning gold, he kills the born and the unborn ; by speaking falsely concerning land, he kills every thing animated : beware then of speaking falsely in a cause concerning land !
100. “ The sages have held false evidence concerning water, and the possession or enjoyment of women, equal to false evidence concerning land ; and it is equally criminal in causes concerning pearls and other precious things formed in water, and concerning all things made of stone. •
101. “ Marking weliall the murders, which are comprehended 9 1 PRIVATE AND CRIMINAL. 55 in the crime of perjury, declare thou the whole truth with precision, as it was heard, and as it was seen by thee.”
102. * BrdhmenSy who tend herds of cattle, who trade, who practise mechanical arts, who profess dancing and singing, who are hired servants or usurers, let the judge exhort and examine as if they were Sudras.
103. * In some cases, a giver of false evidence from a pious motive, even though he know the truth, shall not lose a seat in heaven : such evidence wise men call the speech of the gods.
104. ‘Whenever the death of a man, who had not been a grievous offender , either of the servile, the commercial, the military, or the sacerdotal class, would be occasioned by true evidence, from the known rigour of the king ; even though the fault arose from inadvertence or errory falsehood may be spoken : it is even preferable to truth.
105. ‘ Such witnesses must offer, as oblations to SaraswatT, cakes of rice and milk addressed to the goddess of speech ; and thus will they fully expiate that venial sin of benevolent falsehood :
106. ‘Or such a witness may pour clarified butter into the holy fire, according to the sacred rule, hallowing it with the text called czishmdnddy or with those which relate to Varuna, beginning with ud ; or with the three texts appropriated to the water-gods.
107. ‘ A MAN, who labours not under illness, yet comes not to give evidence in cases of loans and the like, within three fortnights after due summons y shall take upon himself the whole debt, and pay a tenth part of it as a fine to the king.
108. ‘ The witness, who has given evidence, and to whom, within seven days after, a misfortune happens from disease, fire, or the death of a kinsman, shall be condemned to pay the debt and a fine.
109. ‘ In cases, where no witness can be had, between two parties opposing each other, the judge may acquire a knowledge of the truth by the oath of the parties ; or if he cannot otherzvise perfectly ascertain it. no. ‘By the seven great Rishis} ahd.by the deities themselves, r 56 ON JUDICATURE ; AND ON JLAW, have oaths been taken for the purpose of judicial proof ; and even Vasisht’ha, being accused by Viswa'mitra of murder \ took an oath . before the king Suda'man, son of PlYAVANA.
111. ‘ Let no man of sense take an oath in vain, that is, not in a court of justice , on a trifling occasion ; for the man, who takes an oath in vain, shall be punished in this life and in the next : H2. ‘To women, however, at a time of dalliance, or on a proposal of marriage, in the case of grass or fruit eaten by a cow, of wood taken for a sacrifice, or of a promise made for the preservation of a Brdkmen, it is no deadly sin to take a Light oath.
113. ‘ Let the judge cause a priest to swear by his veracity ; a soldier, by his horse, or elephant, and his weapons ; a merchant, by his tine, grain, and gold ; a mechanic or servile man, by imprecating on his own head \ if he speak falsely , all possible crimes ;
114. * Or, on great occasions , let him cause the party to hold fire, or to dive under water, or severally to touch the heads of his children and wife :
115. ‘ He, whom the blazing fire burns not, whom the water soon forces not up, or who meets with no speedy misfortune, must be held veracious in his testimony on oath.
116. ‘Of the sage Vatsa, whom his younger half brother formerly attacked, as the son of a servile woman , the fire, which pervades the world, burned not even a hair, by reason of his perfect veracity.
117. ‘Whenever false evidence has been given in any suit, the king must reverse the judgement; and whatever has been done, must be considered as undone.
118. ‘Evidence, given from covetousness, from distraction of mind, from terror, from friendship, from lust, from wrath, from ignorance, and from inattention, must be held invalid. 1 IQ. ‘ The distinctions of punishment for a false witness, $ from either of those motives, I will now propound fully and in order :
120. ‘ If he speak falsely through covetousness, he shall be fined a thousand panas; if through distraction of mind, two hundred and fifty , or the*' lowest amercement ; if through terror, PRIVATE AND CRIMINAL. ,57 two mean amercements ; if through friendship, four times the lowest ;
121. ‘If through, lust, ten times the lowest amercement ; if through wrath, three times the next, or micLUemost ; if through ignorance, two hundred complete ; if, through inattention, a hundred only. 122* 4 Learned men have specified these punishments, which were ordained by sage legislators for perjured witnesses, with a view to prevent a failure of justice and to restrain iniquity.
123. ‘ Let a just prince banish men of the three lower classes, if they give false evidence, having first levied the fine ; but a Brdhinetiy let him only banish.
124. ‘ Menu, son of the Selfexistent,has named ten 'places of punishment,, which' are appropriated to the three lower classes ; but a Brdhmen must depart from the realm unhurt in any one of them :
125. ‘The part of generation, the belly, the tongue, the two hands, and, fifthly, the two feet, the eye, the nose, both ears, the property, and, in a capital case , the whole body.
126. ‘ Let the king, having considered and ascertained the frequency of a similar offence, the place and time, the ability of the criminal to pay or suffer \ and the crime itself, cause punishment to fall on those alone, who deserve it.
127. ‘ Unjust punishment destroys reputation during life, and fame after death ; it even obstructs, in the next life, the path to heaven : unjust punishment, therefore, let the king by all means avoid. 128-. ‘A king who inflicts punishment on such as deserve it not, and inflicts no punishment on such as deserve it, brings infamy on himself, while he lives, and shall sink, when he dies, to a region of torment.
129. ‘ First, let him punish by gentle admonition ; afterwards, by harsh reproof \ thirdly, by deprivation of property ; after that, by corporal pain :
130. ‘But, when even by corporal punishment he cannot 158 ON JUDICATURE ; AND ON LAW, restrain such offenders, let him apply to’ them all the four modes with rigour.
131. ‘ Those names of copper, silver, and gold weights, which are commonly used among men, for the purpose of worldly business, I will now comprehensively explain.
132. ‘The very small mote, which may be discerned in a sunbeam passing through a lattice, is the least visible quantity, and men call it a trasartnu :
133. ‘Eight of those trasartnus are supposed equal in weight to one minute poppyseed, three of those are equal to one black mustardseed ; and three of those, last to a white mustardseed :
134. ‘Six white mustardseeds are equal to a middle sized barleycorn ; three such barleycorns to one racticd , or seed of the Gunjd ; five racticas of gold are one masha , ' and sixteen such tndshas , one suverna ;
135. ‘ Four suvernas make a pala ; ten palas , a dharana ; but two racticas of silver, weighed together, are considered as one mdshaca ;
136. ‘ Sixteen of those mdshacas are a silver dharana , or purdna ; but a carsha , or eighty racticas , of copper, is called a pana or cdrshdpana .
137. ‘Ten dharanas of silver arc known by the name of a satamdna ; and the weight of four suvernas has also the appellation of a niskca.
138. ‘Now two hundred and fifty panas are declared to be the first or lowest amercement ; five hundred of them are considered as the mean ; and a thousand, as the highest.
139. ‘A DEBT being admitted by the defendant, he must pay five in the hundred, as a fine to the king ; bift if it be denied and proved , twice as much : this law was enacted by Menu.
140. ‘A LENDER of money may take, in addition to his capital, the interest allowed by Vasisht’ha, that is > an eightieth part of a hundred, or one and a quarter , by the month, if he have a pledge ;
141. ‘ Or, if he havejio'pledgey he may take two in the hunPRIVATE AND CRIMINAL. *59 dred by the month, remembering the duty of good men : for, by thus taking two in the hundred, he becomes not a sinner for gain.
142. ‘ He may thus take, in proportion to the risk, and in the direct order of the classes, two in the hundred from a priest , three from a soldier , four from a merchant , and five from a mechanickno servile man , but never more, as interest by the month.
143. ‘ If he take a beneficial pledge, or a pledge to be used for his profit, he must have no other interest on the loan ; nor, after a great length of time, or when the profits have amounted to the debt, can he give or sell such a pledge, though he may assign it in pledge to another .
144. ‘A pledge to be kept only must not be used by force, that is against consent : the pawnee so using it must girc up his whole interest, or must satisfy the pawner, if it be spoiled or worn out, by paying him the original price of it ; otherwise, he commits a theft of the pawn.
145. ‘ Neither a pledge ivithout limit, nor a deposit, are lost to the owner by lapse of time : they are both recoverable though they have long remained with the bailee.
146. ‘ A milch cow, a camel, a riding horse, a bull or other beast, which has been sent to be tamed for labour, and other things used with friendly assent, are not lost, by length of time to the owner.
147. ‘ In general, whatever chattel the owner sees enjoyed by others for ten years, while, though present, he says nothing, that chattel he shall not recover :
148. * If he be neither an idiot, nor an infant under the full age of fifteen years, and if the chattel be adversely possessed in a place, where he may see it, his property in it is extinct by law, and the adverse possessor shall keep it. J49. ‘ A pledge, a boundary of land, the property of an infant, a deposit either open or in a chest sealed, female slaves, the wealth of a king, and of a learned Brdhmen, are not lost in consequence of adverse enjoyment.
150. ‘The fool, who secretly uses, a pledge without, though ON JUDICATURE ; AND ON LAW, not against, the assent of the owner, 5 hail give up half of his interest, as a compensation for such use.
151. * Interest on money, received at once, not month by month , or day by day , as it ought , must neVer be more than enough to double the debt, that is more than the amount of the principal paid at the same time : on grain, on fruit, on wool or hair, on beast of burden, lent to be paid in the same kind of equal value , it must not be more than enough to make the debt quintuple.
152. ‘ Stipulated interest beyond the legal rate, and different from the preceding rule, is invalid ; and the wise call it an usurous way of lending : the lender is entitled at most to five in the hundred. 1 53* ‘ Let no lender for a month , or for two or three months , at a certain interest ', receive such interest beyond the year ; nor any interest, which is unapproved ; nor interest upon interest by previous agreement ; nor monthly interest exceeding in time the amount of the principal ; nor interest exacted from a debtor as the price of the risk , when there is no public danger or distress ; nor immoderate profits from a pledge to be used by way of interest.
154. ‘He, who cannot pay the debt at the fixed time, and wishes to renew the contract, may renew it in writing, with the creditors assent , if he pay all the interest then due ;
155. ‘But if, by some unavoidable accident, he cannnot pay the whole interest, he may insert as principal in the renewed contract so much of the interest accrued as he ought to pay.
156. ‘A lender at interest on the risk of safe carriage, who has agreed on the place and time, shall not receive such interest, if by accident the goods are not carried to the place, or within the time :
157. ‘Whatever interest, or price of the risk, shall be settled between the parties , by men well acquainted with sea voyages or joumies by land, with times and with places, such interest c shall have legal force.
158. ‘The man, who becomes surety for the appearance of a debtor in this world, and produoes him not, shall pay the debt out of his own property ; PRIVATE AND CRIMINAL. i6i •
159. ‘Hut money, due by a surety, or idly promised to mu - skians and actresses , or lost at play, or due for spirituous liquors, or what remains unpaid of a fine or toll, the son of the surety or debtor shall not in general be obliged to pay :
160. ‘ Such is the rule in cases of a surety for appearance or good behaviour ; but, if a surety for payment should die, the judge may compel even his heirs to discharge the debt.
161. ‘On what account then is it, that, after the death of a surety other than for payment, the creditor may in one case demand the debt of the heir> all the affairs of the deceased being known and proved ?
162. ‘If the surety had received money from the debtor, and had enough to pay the debt, the son of him, who so received it, shall discharge the debt but of his inherited property : this is a sacred ordinance.
163. ‘A contract made by a person intoxicated or insane, or grievously disordered, or wholly dependent, by an infant or a decrepit old man, or in the name of another by a person without authority, is utterly null.
164. ‘That plaint can have no effect, though it may be supported by evidence, which contains a cause of action inconsistent with positive law or with settled usage.
165. ‘When the judge discovers a fraudulent pledge or sale, a fraudulent gift and acceptance, or in whatever other case he detects fraud, let him annul the whole transaction.
166. ‘ If the debtor be dead, and if the money borrowed was expended *for the use of his family, it must be paid by that family, divided or undivided, out of their own estate.
167. ‘ Should even a slave make a contract in the name of his absent master for the behoof of the family, that master whether in his own country or abroad, shall not rescind it.
168. ‘What is given by force to a man who cannot accept it legally , what is by force enjoyed, by force caused to be written, and all other things done by force or against free consent , Menu has pronounced void.
169. ‘Three* are troubled by means of others, namely witness21 1 62 ON JUDICATURE ; AND ON LAW, es, sureties, and inspectors of causes, and four collect wealth slowly, with benefit to others, a Brdhmen, a moneylender, a merchant, and a king.
170. ‘Let no king, how indigent soever, take any thing, tvhich ought not to be taken ; nor let him, how wealthy soever, decline taking that, which he ought to take, be it ever so small :
171. ‘By taking what ought not to be taken, and by refusing what ought to be received, the king betrays his own weakness, and is lost both in this world and in the next ;
172. ‘Bi^by taking his due by administering justice, and by protecting the weak, the king augments his own force, and is exalted in the next world and in this.
173. ‘Therefore, let the king, like Yama, resigning what may be pleasing or unpleasing to himself, live by the strict Yama, his anger being repressed, and his organs kept in rules of subjection.
174. * That evilminded king, who, through infatuation, decides causes with injustice, his enemies through the disaffection of his people , quickly reduce to a state of dependence ;
175. ‘ But him, who subduing both lust and wrath, examines causes with justice, his people naturally seek, as rivers the ocean.
176. ‘The debtor, who complains before the king, that his creditor has recovered the debt by his own legal act, as before men - tioned, shall be compelled by the king to pay a quarter of the sum as a fine , and the creditor shall be left in possession of his own.
177. ‘ Even by personal labour shall the debtor pay what is adjudged, if he be of the same class with the creditor, or of a lower ; but a debtor of a higher class must pay it according to his income by little and little. « •
178. 1 By this system of rules let the king decide, with equal justice, all disputes between men opposing each other, having ascertained the truth by evidence or the oaths of the parties.
179. ‘A SENSIBLE man should make a deposit with some person of high birth, and of good morals, well acquainted with law, habitually veracious, having p large family, wealthy and venerable.
180. ‘Whatever thing, and in whatever manlier, a person shall PRIVATE AND CRIMINAL. ,63 deposit In the hands of anoflier, the same thing, and in the same manner, ought to be received back by the owner : as the delivery was, so must be the receipt.
181. ‘ He who restores not to depositor, on his request, what has been deposited, may first be tried by the judge in the following manner , the depositor himself being absent.
182. « On failure of witnesses, let the judge actually deposit gold, or precious things with the defendant by the artful contrivance of spies, who have passed the age of childhood, and whose persons are engaging:
183. ‘ Should the defendant restore that deposit in the manner and shape, in which it was bailed by the spies , there is nothing in his hands, for which others can justly accuse him ;
184. ‘ But if he restore not the gold, or precious things, as he ought, to those emissaries, let him be apprehended and compelled to pay the value of both deposits: this is a settled rule.
185. ‘A deposit, whether sealed up or not, should never be redelivered, while the depositor is alive, to his heir apparent or presumptive : both sorts of deposits, indeed, are extinct, or ccmnot be demanded by the heir, if the depositor die, in that case ; but not, unless he die, for, should the heir apparent keep them, the depositor himself may sue the bailee :
186. 1 But, if a depositary by his own free act shall deliver a deposit to the heir of a deceased bailor, he must not be harassed with claims of a similar kind \ either by the king, or by that heir ;
187. ‘ And, if similar claims be made, the king must decide the questjpns after friendly admonition, without having recourse to artifice ; for, the honest disposition of the man being proved, the judge must proceed with mildness.
188. * Such is the mode of ascertaining the right in all these casefc of a deposit : in the case of a deposit sealed up, the bailee shall incur no censure on the redelivery unless he have altered the seal or taken out something.
189. ‘ If a deposit be seized by thieves, or destroyed by vermine , or washed away ,by water, or consume*d by fire, the bailee shall not 164 ON JUDICATURE ; AND ON LAW, be obliged to make it good, unless he took part of it for himself.
190. ‘The defendant, who denies a deposit, and the plaintiff, who asserts it, let the king try by all sorts of expedients, and by the modes of ordeal prescribed in the V/da.
191. * He, who restores not a thing really deposited, and he, who demands what he never bailed, shall both, for a second offence , be punished as thieves, if gold, pearls, or the like be demanded ; or, in the case of a trifling demand, shall pay a fine equal to the value of the thing claimed :
192. ‘ For the first offence, the king should compel a fraudulent ■ depositary, without any distinction between a deposit under seal or open, to'pay a fine equal to its value.
193. ‘ That man, who, by false pretences, gets into his hands the goods of another, shall, together with his accomplices, be punished by various degrees of whipping or mutilation, or even by death.
194. ‘ Regularly, a deposit should be produced, the same in kind and quantity as it was bailed, by the same and to the same person, by whom and from whom it was received, and before the same company, who were witnesses to the deposit : he who produces it in a different manner, ought to be fined ;
195. * But a thing, privately deposited, should be privately restored by and to the person, by and from whom it was received : as the bailment was, so should be the delivery, according to a rule in theV6ddL .
196. * Thus let the king decide causes concerning a deposit or a friendly loan for use, without showing rigour to the depositary.
197. * Him, who sells the property of another man, without the assent of the owner, the judge shall not admit as a competent witness, but shall treat as a thief, who preteqjds that he has committed no theft : *
198. * If, indeed, he be a near kinsman of the owner, he shall be fined six hundred panas ; but, if he be neither his kinsman nor a claimant under him, he commits an offence equal to larceny. * c
199. ‘A gift or sale, thus made by any oth^r than the true PRIVATE AND CRIMINAL. l65 owner, must, by a settled rule, be considered, in. judicial proceedIn gs, as not made. • 200* ‘ Where occupation for a time shall be proved, but no sort of title shall appear, the sale cannot be supported; title, not occupation, is essential to its support ; and this rule also is fixed.
201. ‘ He, who has received a chattel, by purchase in open market, before a number of men, justly acquires the absolute property, by having paid the price of it, if he can produce the vendor ;
202. * But if the vendor be not producible, and the vendee prove the public sale, the latter must be dismissed by the king * without punishment ; and the former owner, who lost the chattel, may take it back on paying the vendee half its value .
203. ‘One commodity, mixed with another, shall never be sold as tmmixed; nor a bad commodity, as good ; nor less than agreed on ; nor any thing kept at a distance or concealed, lest some defect in it should be discovered.
204. ‘ If, after one damsel has been shown, another be offered to the bridegroom, who had purchased leave to marry her from her next hinsman , he may become the husband of both for the same price : this law Menu ordained.
205. 1 The kinsman, who gives a damsel in marriage, having first openly told her blemishes, whether she be insane, or disordered with elephantiasis, or defiled by connexion with a man, shall suffer no punishment.
206. * If an officiating priest, actually engaged in a sacrifice, abandoned his work, a share only, in proportion to his work done, shall be given to him by his partners in the business, out of their common pay:
207. ‘ But, if he discontinue his work without frauds after the time of giving the sacrificial fees, he may take his full share, and causfc what remains to be^performed by another priest.
208. ‘ Where, on the performance of solemn rites, a specific fee is ordained for each part of them, shall he alone, who performs that part, receive the fee, or shall all the priests take the perquisites jointly ? 1 66 ON JUDICATURE ; AND ON LAW,
209. i At some holy rites , let the reader of the Yajurvida take the car, and the Brakmd> or superintending priest, the horse ; or, on another occasiony let the reader of the Rigvfda take the horse, and the chanter of the Sdmavfda receive the carriage, in which the purchased materials of the Sacrifice had been brought.
210. ‘ A hundred cows being distributable among sixteen priests , the four chief, or first sety are entitled to near half, or forty-eight ; the next four, to half of that number ; the third set, to a third part of it ; and the fourth set, to a quarter :
211. 4 According to this rule, or in proportion to the work , must allotments of shares be given to men here below, who though in conjunction, perform their several parts of the business. 212* 4 SHOULD money or goods be given, or promised as a gif ty by one man to another, who asks it for some religious act, the gift shall be void, if that act be not afterwards performed :
213. 4 If the money be delivered, and the receiver, through pride or avarice, refuse in that case to return it, he shall be fined one suverna by the king, as a punishment for his theft.
214. 4 Such, as here declared, is the rule ordained for withdrawing what has been given : I will, next, propound the law for nonpayment of wages.
215. ‘That hired servant or workman, who, not from any disorder but from indolence, fails to perform his work according to his agreement, shall be fined eight racticas , and his wages or hire shall not be paid.
216. 4 But, if he be really ill, and, when restored to health, shall perform his work according to his original bargainee shall receive his pay even for a very long time :
217. 4 Yet, whether he be sick or well, if the work stipulated be not performed by another for him or by himself his whole wages arc forfeited, though the work want but a little of being complete.
218. ‘This is the general rule concerning work undertaken for wages or hire : next, I will fully declare the law concerning such men as break their promises.
219. ‘Tiie man, among the traders and o0icr inhabitants of PRIVATE AND CRIMINAL. a town or district, who breaks a promise through avarice, though he had taken an oath to perform it, let the king banish from his realm :
220. ‘Or, according to circumstances , let the judge, having arrested the promisebreaker, condemn him to pay six nishcas , or four suvernas, or one satamana of silver, or all three if he deserve such a fine .
221. ‘Among all citizens and in all classes, let a just king observe this rule for imposing fines on men, who shall break their engagements.
222. ‘A MAN, who has bought or sold any thing in this world, that has a fixed price and is not perishable, as la?id o}r metals , and wishes to rescind the contract, may give or take back such a thing within ten days ;
223. ‘ But, after ten days, he shall neither give nor take it back : the giver or the taker, except by consent , shall be fined by the king six hundred panas .
224. ‘The king himself shall take a fine of ninety-six panas from him, who gives a blemished girl in marriage for a reward, without avowing her blemish ;
225. ‘ But the man, who, through malignity, says of a damsel, that she is no virgin, shall be fined a hundred panas , if he cannot prove her defilement.
226. ‘ The holy nuptial texts are applied solely to virgins, and no where on earth to girls, who have lost their virginity ; since those women are in general excluded from legal ceremonies :
227. ‘ The nuptial texts are a certain rule in regard to wedlock ; and the bridal contract is known by the learned to be complete and irrevocable ,on the seventh step of the married pair , hand in hand \ after those teJcts have been pronounced ’
228. ‘ By this law, in all business whatever here below, must f the judge confine, within the path of rectitude, a person inclined to rescind his contract of sale and purchase.
229. * I NOW will decide exactly, according to principles of law, the contests usually arising from *the fault of such as own herds of cattle, and of such as are hired to keep them. 1 68 ON JUDICATURE ; AND ON LAW,
230. ‘ By day the blame falls on the herdsman ; by night on the owner, if the cattle be fed and kept in his own house ; but if the place of their food and custody be different, the keeper incurs the blame.
231. ‘ That hired servant, whose wages are paid with milk, may, with the assent of the owner, milk the best cow out of ten : such are the wages of herdsmen, unless they be paid in a different mode.
232. * The herdsman himself shall make good the loss of a beast, which through his want of due care has been destroyed by reptiles, or killed by dogs, or has died by falling into a pit ;
233. * But he shall not be compelled to make it good, when robbers have carried it away, if after fresh proclamation and pursuit, he give notice to his master in a proper place and season.
234. ‘When cattle die, let him carry to his master their ears,' their hides, their tails, the skin below their navels, their tendons, and the liquor exuding from their foreheads : let him also point out their limbs.
235. ‘A flock of goats or of sheep being attacked by wolves, and the keeper not going to repel the attack , he shall be responsible for every one of them, which a wolf shall violently kill ;
236. ‘ But, if any one of them, while, they graze together near a wood, and the shepherd keeps them in order, shall be suddenly killed by a wolf springing on it, he shall not in that case be responsible.
237. ‘ On all sides of a village or small town, let a space be left for pasture, in breadth either four hundred cubits, or three casts of a large stick ; and thrice that space round a city or considerable town : /
238. * Within that pasture ground, if cattle do any damage to grain in a field uninclosed with a hedge, the king shall not ptinish the herdsman.
239. ‘ Let the owner of the field enclose it with a hedge of thorny plants , over which a jamel could not look ; and let him stop every gap, through which*a dog or a boar could thrust his head. PRIVATE AND CRIMINAL.
240. ‘ Should cattle, attended by a herdsman, do mischief near a highway, in an enclosed field or near the village, he shall be fined a hundred panas ; but against cattle, which have no keeper, let the owner of the field secure it.
241. * In other fields, the owner of cattle doing mischief shall be fined one pana and a quarter ; but, in all places, the value of the damaged grain must be paid : such is the fixed rule concerning a husbandman.
242. ‘ For damage by a cow before ten days have passed since her calving, by bulls kept for impregnation, and by cattle consecrated to the deity, whether attended or unattended, MENU has ordained no fine.
243. ‘ If land be injured, by the fault of the farmer himself, as if he fails to sow it in due tune , shall be fined ten times as the kings share of the crop , that might otherwise have been rMsed ; but only five times as much, if it was the fault of his servants without his knowledge.
244. ‘These rules let a just prince observe in all cases of transgression by masters, their cattle, and their herdsmen.
245. * IF a contest arise between two villages, or landholders, concerning a boundary, let the king, or his judge, ascertain the limits in the month of Jyaishtha when the landmarks are seen more distinctly.
246. 9 When boundaries first are established, let strong trees be planted on them, Vat as, Pippalas , P aids as, Sdlmalis, Sdlas or Tdlas or such trees ( like the Udumbara or Valradru) as abound in milk ;
247. ‘ Or clustering shrubs, or Vdnus of different sorts, or Sami- trees, and creepers, or Saras , and clumps of Cubjacas : and mounds of earth should be raised on them ; so that the landmark may $ot easily perish :
248. * Lakes and wells, pools and streams, ought also to be made on the common limits, and temples dedicated to the gods.
249. ‘The persons concerned, reflecting on the perpetual trespasses committed by mfcn here beloto through ignorance of i7o ON JUDICATURE ; AND ON LAW, « boundaries, should cause other landmarks to be concealed under ground :
250. ' Large pieces of stone, bones, tails of cows, bran, ashes, potsherds, dried cowdung, bricks and tiles, charcoal, pebbles, and sand,
251. ‘And substances of all sorts, which the earth corrodes not even in a long time, should be placed in jars not appearing above ground on the common boundary.
252. ‘By such marks, or by the course of a stream, and long continued possession, the judge may ascertain the limit between the lands of two parties in litigation : 253* ‘ Should there be a doubt, even on the inspection of those marks, recourse must be had, for the .decision of such a conte^, to the declarations of witnesses.
254. ‘ Those witnesses must be examined concerning the landmarks, in the presence of all the townsmen or villagers, or of both the contending parties :
255. ‘What the witnesses, thus assembled and interrogated, shall positively declare concerning the limits, must be recorded in writing, together with all their names.
256. ‘ Let them, putting earth on their heads, wearing chaplets of red flowers and clad in red mantles, be sworn by the reivard of all their several good actions, to give correct evidence concerning the metes and bounds.
257. ‘Veracious witnesses, who give evidence as the law requires, are absolved from their sins ; but such, as give it unjustly, shall each be fined two hundred fianas.
258. * If there be no witnesses, let four njen who dwell on all the four sides of the two villages, make a decision concerning the boundary, being duly prepared, like the witnesses , in the presence of the king. 1
259. ‘ If there be no such neighbours on all sides, nor any men, whose ancestors had lived there since the villages were built, nor other inhabitants of towns, who can give evidence on the limits, the judge must examine'the following men, who inhabit the woods; PRIVATE AND CRIMINAL. ,y, 26°. ‘Hunters, fowled, herdsmen, fishers, diggers for roots, catchers of snakes, gleaners, and other foresters :
261. ‘ According to their declaration, when they are duly examined, let the king with precision order landmarks to be fixed on the boundary line between the two villages.
262. ‘As to the bounds of arable fields, wells or pools, gardens and houses, the testimony of next neighbours on every side must be considered as the best means of best means of decision :
263. - Should the neighbours say any thing untrue, when two . men dispute about a landmark, the king shall make each of those witnesses pay the middlemost of the three usual amercements.
264. ‘He, who, by means of intimidation, shall possess himself of a house, a pool, a field, or garden, shall be fined five hundred panas ; but only two hundred, if he trespassed through ignorance of the right.
265. ‘ If the boundary cannot be otherwise ascertained, let the king, knowing what is just, that is , without partiality, and consulting the future benefit of both parties, mark a boundlinc between their , lands : this is a settled law.
266. ‘Thus has the rule been propounded for decisions concerning landmarks : I, next, will declare the law concerning defamatory words.
267. ‘ A SOLDIER, defaming a priest,, shall be fined a hundred panas; a merchant, thus offending, one hundred and fifty, or two hundred: but, for such an offence, a mechanic or servile man shall be whipped.
268. ‘ A priest shall be fined five hundred, if he slander a soldier ; twenty-five, if a merchant ; and twelve, if he slander a man of the servile class. *
269. ‘ For abusing one of the same class, a twice-born man shall be fined only twelve ; but for ribaldry not to be uttered, even that and every fine shall be doubled.
270. * A onceborn man, who insults the twice-born with gross invectives, ought to have his tongue slit ; for he sprang from the lowest part of Brahma': ON JUDICATURE ; AND ON LAW,
271. ‘ If he mention their names and classes with contumely, as if he say “ Oh / De'VADATTA, thou refuse ofBra'hmens,” an iron style , ten fingers long, shall be thrust redhot into his mouth.
272. 4 Should he, through pride give instruction to priests concerning their duty, let the king order some hot oil to be dropped into his mouth and his ear.
273. ‘He, who falsely denies, through insolence, the sacred knowledge, the country, the class, or the corporeal investiture of a man equal in rank> shall be compelled to pay a fine of two hundred panas .
274. 4 If a man call another blind with one eye, or lame, or • defective in any similar way, he shall pay the small fine of one pana even thdugh he speak truth.
275. ‘He shall be fined a hundred, who defames his mother, his father, his wife, his brother, his son, or his preceptor ; and he, who gives not his preceptor the way.
276. ‘ For mutual abuse by a priest and a soldier, this fine must be imposed by a learned king ; the lowest amercement on the priest, and the middlemost on the soldier.
277. ‘ Such exactly as before mentioned , must be the punishment of a merchant and a mechanic, in respect of their several classes, except the flitting of the tongue ; this is a fixed rule of punishment
278. ‘ THUS fully has the law been declared for the punishment of defamatory speech : I will, next,, propound the established law concerning assault and battery.
279. ‘ With whatever member a lowborn man shall assault or hurt a superior, even that member of his must be slit, or cut more or less in proportion to the injury : this Is an ordinance of Menu.
280. ‘ He, who raises his hand or a staff against another ishall have his hand cut ; and he, who kicks another in wrath, shall have an incision made in his foot.
281. ‘A man of the lowcst«class, who shall insolently place himself on the same scat witfo one of the highest, shall either be PRIVATE AND CRIMINAL. n banished with a mark onhis hinder parts, or the king shall cause a gash to be made on his buttock :
282. ‘ Should he spit on him through pride, the king shall order both of his lips to be gashed ; should he urine on him, his penis; should be break wind against him, his anus.
283. * If he seize the Brdhmen by the locks, or by the feet, or by the beard, or by the throat, or by the scrotum, let the king without hesitation cause incisions to be made in his hands.
284. 1 If any man scratch the skin of his equal in class , or fetch blood from him , he shall be fined a hundred panas ; if he wound a muscle, six nishcas : but, if he break a bone, let him be instantly banished.
285. ‘ACCORDING to the use and value of all great trees, must a fine be set* for injuring them : this is an established rule.
286. * If a blow, attended with much pain, be given cither to human creatures or cattle, the king shall inflict on the striker a punishment as heavy as the presumed suffering.
287. 1 In all cases of hurting a limb, wounding, or fetching blood, the assailant shall pay the expence of a perfect cure ; or, on his failure , both full damages and a fine to the same amount.
288. 1 He, who injures the goods of another, whether acquainted or unacquainted with the owner of them, shall give satisfaction to the owner, and pay a fine to the king equal to the damage.
289. ‘ If injury be done to leather or to leathern bags, or to utensils made of wood or clay, the fine shall be five times their value.
290. ‘ The wise reckon ten occasions, in regard to a carriage, its driver, and its owner, on which the fine is remitted ; on other occasions a fine is ordained by law:
291. ‘The nosecord or bridle being cut, by some accident zuithout negligence , or the yoke being snapped, on a sudden overturn, or running against any thing without faulty the axle being broken, or the wheel cracked ;
292. ‘ On the breaking of the thongs, of the halter, or of the reins, and when the driver has callfed aloud to make way, on these occasions has Menu declared that no tine shall be set: 74 ON JUDICATURE ; AND ON LAW,
293. 4 But, where a carriage has been overturned by the unskilfulness of the driver, there, in the case of any hurt, the master shall be fined two hundred panas,
294. * If the driver be skilful, but negligent , the driver alone shall be fined ; and those in the carriage shall be fined each a hundred, if the driver be clearly unskilful.
295. 1 Should a driver, being met in the way by another carriage or by cattle, kill any animal by his negligence , a fine shall, without doubt, be imposed by the follozving rule :
296. * For killing a man, a fine, equal to that for theft, shall be instantly set; half that amount, for large brute animals, as for a bull or cqw, an elephant, a camel, or a horse ;
297. ‘ For killing very young cattle, thcb fine shall be two hundred panas; and fifty, for elegant quadrupeds or beautiful birds, as antelopes, parrots and the like ;
298. ‘ For an ass, a goat, or a sheep, the fine must be five silver mdshas ; and one indsha , for killing a dog or a boar.
299. ' A WIFE, a son, a servant, a pupil, and a younger whole brother, may be corrected, when they commit faults, with a rope or the small shoot of a cane ;
300. ‘ But on the back part only of their bodies, and not on a noble part by any means : he, who strikes them otherwise than by this rule, incurs the guilt, or shall pay the fine , of a thief.
301. ‘This law of assault and battery has been completely declared : I proceed to declare the rule for the settled punishment* of theft.
302. ‘ In restraining thieves and robbers, let the king use extreme diligence ; since, by restraining thieves and robbers, his fame and his domain are increased.
303. ‘ Constantly, no doubt, is that king to be honoured, who bestows exemption from fear ; since he performs, as it were , a perpetual sacrifice, giving exemption from fear as a constant sacrificial present.
304. * A sixth part o.f {he reward for virtuous deeds, performed by the whole people', belongs to the king, w,ho protects them ; PRIVATE And CRIMINAL. 175 but, if he protect them not, a sixth part of their iniquity lights on him.
305. ‘ Of the reward for what every subject reads in the VJda> for what he sacrifices, for what he gives in charity, for what he performs in worship, the king justly takes a sixth part in consequence of protection.
306. 4 A king, who acts with justice in defending all creatures, and sla^s only those, who ought to be slain, performs, as it weret each day a sacrifice with a hundred thousand gifts ;
307. 4 But a king, who gives no such protection, yet receives taxes in kind or in value, market duties and tolls, the small daily presents for his household, and fines for offences, falls directly on his death to a region of horror.
308. ‘That king, who gives no protection, yet takes a sixth part of the grain as his revenue, wise men have considered as a prince, who draws to him the foulness of all his people.
309. 4 Be it known, that a monarch, who pays no regard to the scriptures, who denies a future state, who acts with rapacity, who protects not his people, yet swallows up their possessions, will sink low indeed after death.
310. With great care and by three methods let him restrain the unjust; by imprisonment, by confinement in fetters, and by various kinds of corporal punishment ;
311. 4 Since, by restraining the bad, and by encouraging the good, kings are perpetually made pure, as the twice-born are purified by sacrificing.
312. 4 A KING, who seeks benefit to his own soul, must always forgive parties litigant, children, old men, and sick persons, who inveigh against him#:
313. ‘He, who forgives persons in pain, when they abuse him, shall on that account Be exalted in heaven ; but he, who excifbes them not, through the pride of dominion, shall for that reason sink into hell.
314. ‘ The stealer of gold from a priest must run hastily to the king, with loosened hair, proclaiming the theft, and adding; “Thus have I sirred ; punish me.” 1 76 ON JUDICATURE ; AND ON LAW, •
315. ‘He must bear on his shoulder a pestle of stone, or a club of Jhadira- wood, or a javelin pointed at both ends, or an iron mace :
316. ‘Whether the king strike him with it, or dismiss him unhurt, the thief is then absolved from the crime ; but the king, if he punish him not, shall incur the guilt of the thief.
317. ‘ The killer of a priest, or destroyer of an embryo , casts his guilt on the willing eater of his provisions ; an adulterous wife, on her negligent husband ; a bad scholar and sacrifices on their ignorant preceptor ; and a thief, on the forgiving prince :
318. ‘But men, who have committed offences, and have received ‘from kings the punishment due to them, go pure to heaven, and become as clear as those, who have done well.
319. ‘He, who steals the rope or the waterpot from a well, and he, who breaks down a cistern, shall be fined a mdsha of gold ; and that, which he has taken or injured , he must restore to its former condition.
320. ‘ Corporal punishment shall be inflicted on him, who steals more than ten cumbhas of grain (a cumbha is twenty drdnas, and a drdna , two hundred palas ) : for less he must be fined eleven times as much, and shall pay to the owner the amount of his property.
321. ‘ So shall corporal punishment be inflicted for stealing commodities usually sold by weight, or more than a hundred head of cattle, or gold, or silver, or costly apparel' :
322. * For stealing more than fifty pals, it is enacted that a hand shall be amputated ; for less, the king shall set a fine eleven times as much as the value.
323. ‘For stealing men of high birth, and women above all, and the most precious gems, as diamonds or rubies , the thief® deserves capital punishment.
324. ‘ For stealing large beasts, weapons, or medicines, let the king inflict adequate punishment, considering the time and the act
325. ‘ For taking kine belonging to priests, and boring their PP&VATE AND CRIMINAL. 1?7 nostrils or for stealing their other cattle, the offender shall instantly lose half of one foot.
326. ‘ For stealing thread, raw cotton, materials to make spirituous liquor, cowdung, molasses, curds, milk, buttermilk, water or grass,
327. ‘ Large canes, baskets of canes, salt of every kind, earthenpots, clay or ashes,
328. Fish, birds, oil, or clarified butter, fleshmeat, honey, or any thing, as leather, horn , or ivory, that came from a beast,
329. ‘ Or other things not precious, or spirituous liquors, rice 'dressed with clarified butter, or other messes of boiled rice, the fine must be twice the value of the commodity stolen.
330. ‘For stealing as much as a man can carry of flowers, green corn, shrubs, creepers, small trees, or other vegetables, enclosed by a hedge, the fine shall be five racticas of gold or silver ;
331. 4 But for corn, potherbs, roots, and fruit, unenclosed by a fence, the fine is a hundred panas, if there be no sort of relation between the taker and owner ; or half a hundred, if there ’be such relation. 332- * If the taking be violent, and in the sight of the owner, it is robbery ; if privately in his absence, it is only theft ; and it is considered as theft , when a man, having received any thing, refuses to give it back. 333* 1 On him, who steals the beforementioned things, when they are prepared for use, let the king set the lowest Amercement of the three ; and the same on him, who steals only fire from the temple.
334. 4 With whatever limb a thief commits the offence by any means in this World, as if he break a wall with his hand or his foot, even that limb shall the Jcing amputate, for the prevention of a similar crime.
335. ‘ Neither a father, nor a preceptor, nor a friend, nor a mother, nor a wife, nor a son, nor a domestic priest, must be left unpunished by the king, if they adhere not with firmness to their duty. 1 7* ON JUDICATURE ; AND ON 'LAW,
336. * Where another man of lower birth would be fined one pana, the king shall be fined a thousand, and he shall give the fine to the priests, or cast it into the river ; this is a sacred rule.
337. 4 Buf the fine of a Stidra for theft shall be eightfold ; that of a Vaisya% sixteenfold ; that of a Cshatriya , two and thirtyfold.
338. * That of a Brdhtnen , four and sixtyfold, or a hundredfold complete, or even twice four and * sixtyfold ; each of them knowing the nature of his offence.
339. 4 The taking of roots, and fruit from a large tree, in a field or a forest unenclosed, or of wood for a sacrificial fire, or of grass to he eaten by cows, Menu has pronounced no theft.
340. 1 A PRIEST who willingly receives any thing, either for sacrificing or for instructing, from the hand of a man, who had taken what the owner had not given, shall be punished even as the thief. 341/ 4 A twice-born man, who is travelling, and whosc'provisions are scanty, shall not be fined, for taking only two sugar canes, or two esculent roots, from the field of another man.
342. 4 He, who ties the unbound, or looses the bound, cattle of another ; and he, who takes a slave, a horse, or a carriage without permission , shall be punished as for theft. 343* ‘ A king, who, by enforcing these laws, restrains men from commuting theft, acquires in this world fame, and, in the next, beatitude.
344. 4 Let not the king, who ardently desires a seat with INDRA, and wishes for glory, which nothing can change or diminish, endure for a moment the man, who has committed atrocious violence, as by robbery, arson, or homicide.
345. 1 He, who commits great violence, must be considered as more grievous offender than a defamer, a thief, or a striker with a staff ; 346 4 That king, who endures a man convicted of such atrocity, quickly goes to perdition and incurs public hate. PRIVATE AND CRIMINAL.
347. * Neither on account of friendship, nor for the sake of great lucre, shall the king dismiss the perpetrators of violent acts, who spread terror among all creatures.
348. ‘ The twice-born may take arms, when their duty is obstructed by force ; and when, in some evil time, a disaster has befallen the twice-born classes ;
349. ‘And in their own defence ; and in war for just cause ; and in defence of a. woman or a priest : he, who kills justly, commits no crime.
350. * Let a man, without hesitation, slay another, if he cannot 9 other-wise escape, who assails him with intent to murder whether young or old, or his preceptor, or a Brdhmen deeply versed in the scripture.
351. ‘By killing an assassin, who attempts to kill, whether in public or in private, no crime is committed by the slayer : fury recoils upon fury.
352. ‘ Men, who commit overt acts of adulterous inclinations for the wives of others, let the king banish from his realm, having punished them with such bodily marks, as excite aversion ;
353. 'Since adultery causes, to the general ruin, a mixture of classes among men : thence arises violation of duties; and thence is the root of felicity quite destroyed.
354. ‘A man, before noted for such an ottence who converses in secret with the wife of another shall pay the first of the three usual amercements ;
355. ‘But a man, not before noted, who thus converses with her for some reasonable cause, shall pay no fine ; since in him there is no transgression.
356. ‘ He, who* talks with the wife of another man at a place of pilgrimage, in a forest or 3 grove, or at the confluence of rivers, incui$ the guilt of an adulterous inclination ;
357. ‘ To send her flowers or perfumes, to sport and jest with her, to touch her apparel and ornaments, to sit with her on the same couch, are all held adulterous acts on his part.
358. ‘To touch a married womaif co her breasts or any other iSo ON JUDICATURE ; AND ON* LAW, place, which ought not to be touched, or, being touched unbecomingly by her, to. bear it complacently, are adulterous acts with mutual assent.
359. * A man of the servile class, who commits actual adultery with the wife of a priest, ought to suffer death : the wives, indeed, of all the four classes must ever be most especially guarded.
360. * Mendicants, encomiasts, men prepared for a sacrifice, and cooks and other artisans, are not prohibited from speaking to married women.
361. ‘ Let no man converse, after he has been forbidden, with the wives of others ; he, who thus converses, after a husband or a father has forbidden him shall pay a fine of one suverna. *
362. ‘ These laws relate not to the wives of public dancers or singers, or of such base men, as live by intrigues of their wives ; men, who either carry women to others, or, lying concealed at home, permit them to hold a culpable intercourse :
363. 4 Yet he who has a private connexion with such women, or with servant girls kept by one master, or with female anchorets of a?i heretical religion shall be compelled to pay a small fine.
364. * He, who vitiates a damsel without her consent, shall suffer corporal punishment instantly ; but he, who enjoys a willing damsel, shall not be corporally punished, if his class be the same with hers.
365. 4 From a girl, who makes advances to a man of a high class, let iA the king take the smallest fine ; but her, who first addresses a low man, let him constrain to live in her house well guarded.
366. 4 A low man, who makes love to a damsel of high birth, ought to be punished corporally ; but he, who 'addresses a maid of equal rank, shall give the nuptial ^present and marry her , if her father please. t367. 4 Of the man, who through insolence forcibly contaminates a damsel, let the king instantly order two fingers to be amputated, and condemn him to pay .a fine of six hundred panas :
368. 4 A man of equefi^rank, who defiles a consenting damsel, Private and criminal. ,8t shall not have his fingers amputated, but shall pay a fine of two hundred panas , to restrain him from a repetition of his offence. 3^9* A damsel, polluting another damsel, must be fined two hundred panas , pay the double value of her nuptial present, and receive ten lashes with a whip ; . 370. 1 But a woman, polluting a damsel, shall have her head instantly shaved, and two of her fingers chopped off ; and shall ride, mounted on an ass through the public street
371. * Should a wife, proud of her family and the great qualities of her kinsmen, actually violate the duty, which sfie owes to her lord, let the king condemn her to be devoured by dogs in a place much frequented ;
372. ‘And let him place the adulterer on an iron bed well heated, under which the executioners shall throw logs continually, till the sinful wretch be there burned to death .
373. ‘ Of a man once convicted, and a year after guilty of the same crime , the fine must be doubled ; so it must if he be connected with the daughter of an outcast or with a Chdridali woman.
374. ‘ A mechanic or servile man, having an adulterous connexion with a woman of a twice-born class, whether guarded at home or unguarded, shall thus be punished : if she was unguarded, he shall lose the part offending , and his whole substance ; if guarded, and a priestess , every thing, even his life .
375. * For adultery with a guarded priestess , a merchant shall forfeit all his wealth after imprisonment for a year ; afsoldier shall be fined a thousand panas , and be shaved with the urine of an ass ;
376. 1 But, if a merchant or soldier commit adultery with a woman of the sacerdotal class, whom her husband guards not at home, the king sfiall only fine the merchant five hundred, and the soldier a thousand :
377. ‘ Both of them, however, if they commit that offence wih a priestess not only guarded but eminent for good qualities , shall be punished like men of the servile class, or be burned in a fire of dry grass or reeds.
378. ‘A Brahmen , who carnally 'knows a guarded woman l8 2 ON JUDICATURE ; AND ON lAW, without her free will, must be fined a* thousand panas; but only five hundred if he knew her with her free consent. 379- 1 Ignominious tonsure is ordained, instead of capital punishment, for an adulterer of the priestly class, where the punishment of other classes may extend to loss of life.
380. ‘ Never shall the king slay a Brdhmen though convicted of all possible crimes : let him banish the offender from his realm, but with all his property secure and his body unhurt : 38 1; ‘No greater crime is known on earth than slaying a Brdhmen ; and the king, therefore, must not even form in his mind an idea of killing a priest.
382. * If a merchant converse criminally with a guarded woman of the military, or a soldier with one of the mercantile class, they both deserve the same punishment as in the case of a priestess unguarded :
383. * But a Brdhmen , who shall commit adultery with a guarded woman of those two classes, must be fined a thousand panas ; and, for the like offence with a guarded woman of the servile class, the fine of a soldier or a merchant shall be also one thousand.
384. ‘ For adultery with a woman of the military class, if unguarded, the fine of a merchant is five hundred ; but a soldier, for the converse of that offence , must be shaved with urine, or pay the fine just mentioned .
385. ' priest shall pay five hundred p anas, if he connect himself criminally with an unguarded woman of the military, commercial, or servile class ; and a thousand, for such a connexion with a woman of a vile mixed breed.
386. ‘ That king, in whose realm lives no «thief, no adulterer, no defamer, no man guilty of atrocious violence, and no committer of assaults, attains the mansion of Sacra. t
387. ‘By suppressing those five in his dominion, he gains royalty paramount over men of the same kingly rank, and spreads his fame through the world. •
388. ‘The sacrifice^ wfb forsakes the officiating priest, and PfclVATE AND CRIMINAL. the officiating priest, who Abandons the sacrifice^ each being able to do his work, and guilty of no grievous offence, must each be fined a hundred panas .
389. * A mother, a father, a wife, and a son shall not be forsaken : he, who forsakes either of them, unless guilty of a deadly sin, shall pay six hundred panas as a fine to the king.
390. * Let not a prince, who seeks the good of his own soul, hastily and alone pronounce the law, on a dispute concerning any legal observance, among twice-born men in their several orders ;
391. ‘ But let him, after giving them due honour according to their merit, and, at first, having soothed them by mildness, apprise them of their duty with the assistance of Brdhmens . t
392. 1 The priest, who, gives an entertainment to twenty men of the three first classes, without inviting his next neighbour, and his neighbour next but one, if both be worthy of an invitation, shall be fined one mdsha of silver.
393. * A Brdhmen> of deep learning in the Vtda , who invites not another Brdhmen , both learned and virtuous, to an entertainment given on some occasion relating to his wealth, as the marriage of his childy and the likiy shall be made to pay him twice the value of the repast, and be filled & mdsha of gold.
394. * Neither a blind man, nor an idiot, nor a cripple, nor a man full seventy years old, nor who confers great benefits on priests of eminent learning, shall be compelled by any king to pay taxes.
395. * Let the king always do honour to a learned the ologian, to a man. either sick or grieved, to a little child, to an aged or indigent man, to a man of exalted birth, and to a man of distinguished virtue.
396. c Let a washerman wash the clothes of his employers by little and little, or piece by piece y and not hastily , on a smooth board of £dlmali-w ood : let him never mix the clothes of one person with the clothes of another , nor suffer any but the owner to wear them.
397. * Let a weaver, who has , received ten palas of cotton thread, give them, back increased to eleven by the rice-water and ON JUDICATURE; AND ON liAW, the like used in weaving: he, who does otherwise, shall pay a fine of twelve Janas,
398. * As men versed in cases of tolls, and acquainted with all marketable commodities, shall establish the price of saleable things, let the king take a twentieth part of the profit on sales at that price. *
399. ‘ Of the trader, who, through avarice, exports commodities, of which the king justly claims the preemption, or on which he has laid an embargo, let the sovereign confiscate the whole property.
400. 1 Any seller or buyer, who fraudulently passes by the toll office at night or any other improper time, or who makes a false enumeration of the articles bought , shall be fined eight times as much as their value.
401. ‘Let the king establish rules for the sale and purchase of all marketable things, having duly considered whence they come, if imported ; and, if exported \ whither they must be sent ; how long they have been kept ; what may be gained by them ; and what has been expended on them.
402. 4 Once in five nights, or at the close of every half month, according to the nature of the commodities , let the king make a regulation for market prices in the presence of those experienced men :
403. ‘ Let all weights and measures be well ascertained by him ; and once in six months let him re-examine them.
404. ‘ The toll at a ferry is one pana for an empty cart ; half a pana for a man with a load ; a quarter, for a beast used in agriculture, or for a woman ; and an eighth, for an unloaded man.
405. ‘ Waggons, filled with goods packed up, shall pay toll in proportion to their value; but for empty vessels and bags, and for poor men ill-apparelled, a 'very small toll shall be demanded. %
406. ‘ For a long passage, the freight must be proportioned to places and times ; but this must be understood of passages up and down rivers : at sea there can be no settled freight.
407. ‘A woman, who has been two months pregnant, a' PRIVATE AND CRIMINAL. religious beggar, a forester fti the third order, and Brdhmens , who dre students in theology, shall not be obliged to pay toll for their passage.
408. * Whatever shall be broken in a boat, by the fault of the boatmen, shall be made good by those men collectively, each paying his portion.
409. * This rule, ordained for such as pass rivers in boats, relates to the culpable neglect of boatmen on the water : in the case of inevitable accident, there can be no damages recovered.
410. ‘The king should order each man of the mercantile •class to practise trade, or moneylending, or agriculture and attendance on cattle ; and each man of the servile class to act in the service of the twicc-born.
411. ‘Both him of the military, and him of the commercial class, if distressed for a livelihood, let some wealthy Brdhmen support, obliging them without harshness to discharge their several duties.
412. ‘A Brdhmen , who, by his power and through avarice, shall cause twice-born men, girt with the sacrificial thread, to perform servile acts, such as washing his feet , without their consent, shall be fined by the king six hundred panas ;
413. ‘But a man of the servile class, whether bought or unbought, he may compel to perform servile duty ; because such a man was created by the Self-existent for the purpose of serving Brdhmens :
414. ‘ A Sudra, though emancipated by his master, is not released from a state of servitude ; for of a state, which is natural to him, by whom can he be divested ?
415. ‘ There are servants of seven sorts; one made captive under a standard or in battle one maintained in consideration of service, one born of a female slave in the house, one sold, or given, inherited from ancestors, and one enslaved by way of punishment on his inability to pay a large fine .
416. ‘Three persons, a wife, a»son, and a slave, arc declared by law to have in general no wealth* exclusively their own : the t 86 ON JUDICATURE ; AND ON LAW, wealth, which they may earn, is regularlf acquired for the man, to whom they belong.
417. ‘ A Brdhnien may seize without hesitation, if he be distressed for a subsistence , the goods of his Stidra slave ; for, as that slave can have no property, his master may take his goods.
418. ‘With vigilant care should the king exert himself in compelling merchants and mechanics to perform their respective duties ; for, when such men swerve from their duty, they throw this world into confusion.
419. ‘ Day by day must the king, though engaged in forensick business , consider the great objects of public measures, and inquire into the state of his carriages, elephants, horses, and cars, his constant revenues'and necessary expenses, his mines of precious metals or gems, and his treasury :
420. ‘ Thus, bringing to a conclusion all these weighty affairs, and removing from his realm and from himself every taint of sin, a king reaches the supreme path of beatitude.
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