Chapter 9: On the Same; and on the Commercial and Servile Classes

1. « NOW will propound the immemorial duties of man and ® woman, who must both remain firm in the legal path, whether united or separated.

2. ‘ Day and night must women be held by their protectors in a state of dependence j but in lawful and innocent recreations, though rather addicted to them, they may be left at their own disposal.

3. # * Their fathers protect them in childhood ; their husbands protect them in youth ; their sons protect them in age : a woman is never fit for independence.

4. ‘ Reprehensible is the father, who gives not his daughter in marriage at the proper time ; and the husband, who approaches not his wife in due season ; reprehensible also is the son, who protects not his mother after the death of her lord.

5. * Women must, above all, be restrained from the smallest illicit gratification ; for, not being thus restrained, they bring sorrow on both families :

6. 1 Let husbands consider this as the supreme law, ordained for all classes ; and let them, how weak soever, diligently keep their wives under lawful restrictions ;

7. * For he, who preserves his wife from vice , preserves his offspring from suspicion of bastardy , his ancient usages from neglect, his family from disgrace , himself from anguish , and his duty from violation .

8. ‘ The husband, after conception by his wife, becomes himself an embryo, and is born a second time here below; for which reason the wife is called jaya , *since by her (jay ate) he is born again : i88 ON THE SAME ; AND ON THE

9. ‘Now the wife brings forth a ‘son endued with similar qualities to those of the father ; so that, with a view to an excellent offspring, he must vigilantly guard his wife.

10. * No man, indeed, can wholly restrain women by violent measures ; but, by these expedients, they may be restrained :

11. ‘Let the husband keep his wife employed in the collection and expenditure of wealth, in purification and female duty, in the preparation of daily food, and the superintendence of household utensils.

12. ‘ By confinement at home, even under affectionate and observant guardians, they are not secure ; but those women are * truly secure, who are guarded by their own inclinations.

13. 4 Drinking spirituous liquor^ associating with evil persons, absence from her husband, rambling abroad, unseasonable sleep, and dwelling in the house of another, are six faults which bring infamy on a married woman :

14. ‘ Such women examine not beauty, nor pay attention to age ; whether their lover be handsome or ugly, they think it is enough that he is a man, and pursue their pleasures.

15. * Through their passion for men, their mutable temper, their want of settled affection, and their perverse nature (let them be guarded in this world ever so well) they soon become alienated from their husbands.

16. ‘ Yet should their husbands be diligently careful in guarding them ; though they well know the. disposition, with which the lord of creation formed them :

17. 4 Menu allotted to such women a love of their bed, of their seat, and of ornament, impure appetites, wrath, weak flexibility, desire of mischief, and bad conduct. '

18. * Women have no business With the texts of the Vida; thus is the law fully settled : having, therefore, no evidence ofdaiv> and no knowledge of expiatory texts, sinful women must be as foul as falsehood itself; and this is a fixed rule.

19. 4 To this effect many texts, which may show their true disposition, arc chanted in' the Vc'daj hear now theirf expiation for sin. COMMERCIAL AND SERVILE CLASSES. ,89

20. 11 That pure blooS, which my mother defiled by adulterous desire, frequenting the houses of other men, and violating her duty to her lord, that blood may my father purify !” Such is the tenor of the holy text, which her son , who knows her guilt \ must pronounce for her ; , 21. ‘ And this expiation has been declared for every unbecoming thought, which enters her mind, concerning infidelity to her husband ; since that is the beginning of adultery.

22. ‘ Whatever be the qualities of the man, with whom a woman is united by lawful marriage, such qualities even she assumes ; like a river united with the sea.

23. ‘ AcsHAMa'la', a woman of the lowest birth, being thus united to VASISHT’iiA and Sa'rangi', being united to MANbAPA'LA, were entitled to very high honour :

24. ‘ These, and other females of low birth, have attained eminence in this world by the respective good qualities of their lords.

25. ‘Thus has the law, ever pure, been propounded for the civil conduct of men and women : hear, next, the laws concerning children, by obedience to which may happiness be attained in this and the future life.

26. ‘ WHEN good women, united with husbands in expectation of progeny, eminently fortunate and worthy of reverence, irradiate the houses of their lords, between them and goddesses of abundance there is no diversity whatever.

27. ‘ The production of children, the nurture of them, when produced, and the daily superintendence of domestic affairs are peculiar to the wife :

28. ‘ From thc^ wife alone proceed offspring, good household management, solicitous attention, most exquisite caresses, and that heavenly beatitude, which she obtains for the manes of ance?tors, and for the husband himself.

29. ‘She, who deserts not her lord, but keeps in subjection to him her heart, her speech, and her body, shall attain her mansion in heaven, and, by the virfuous in this world, ‘be called Sd dhwi or good and faithful ; NO THE SAME ; AND ON THE t

30. 4 But a wife, by disloyalty to her husband, shall incur disgrace in this life, and be born in the next from the womb of a shakal, or be tormented with horrible diseases, which punish vice.

31. ‘Learn now that excellent law, universally salutary, which was declared, concerning issue, by great and good sages formerly born.

32. ‘ They consider the male issue of a woman as the son of the lord ; but, on the subject of that lord, a difference of opinion is mentioned in the Veda ; some giving that name to the real procreator of the child, and others applying it to the married * possessor of the woman.

33. ‘The woman is considered in law as the field, and the man as the grain : now vegetable bodies are formed by the united operation of the seed and the field.

34. ‘In some cases the prolific power of the male is chiefly distinguished ; in others, the receptacle of the female ; but, when both are equal in dignity, the offspring is most highly esteemed :

35. ‘ In general, as between the male and female powers of procreation, the male is held superior ; since the offspring of all procreant beings is distinguished by marks of the male power.

36. ‘ Whatever be the quality of seed, scattered in a field prepared in due season, a plant of the same quality springs in that field, with peculiar visible properties.

37. ‘Certainly this earth is called the primeval womb of many beings ; but the seed exhibits not in its vegetation any properties of the womb. *

38. ‘ On earth here below, even in the same ploughed field, seeds of many different forms, having been sown by husbandmen in the proper season, vegetate according to their nature : •'

39. ‘Riceplants, mature in sixty days, and those, which require transplantation, mudga , tila} mdsha , barley, leaks, and sugarcanes, all spring up according to the seeds.

40. ‘ That one plant should be sown, and another produced, COMMERCIAL AND SERVILE CLASSES. ,9i cannot happen i whatever steed may be sown, even that produces its proper stem. -

41. * Never must it be sown in another man’s field by him, who has natural good sense, who has been well instructed, who knows the Vdda and its Angas , who desires long life : , 42. * They, who are acquainted with past times, have preserved, on this subject, holy strains chanted by every breeze, declaring , that seed must not be sown in the field of another man.

43. ‘As the arrow of that hunter is vain, who shoots it into the wound, which another had made just before in the antelope, • thus instantly perishes the seed, which a man throws into the soil of another :

44. * Sages, who know former times, consider this earth (Prit'hivi) as the Wffc of king PRITIIU ; and thus they pronounce cultivated land to be the property of him, who cut away the wood, or who cleared and tilled it ; and the antelope, of the first hunter, who mortally wounded it.

45. ‘ Then only is a man perfect, when he consists of three persons united, his wife, himself, and his son ; and thus have learned Brdkmens announced this maxim: “The husband is even one person with his wife,” for all domestic and religious , not for all civil , purposes .

46. ‘ Neither by sale nor desertion can a wife be released from her husband : thus we fully ackovvledge the law enacted of old by the lord of creatures.

47. ‘ Once is the partition of an inheritance made ; once is a damsel given in marriage ; and once does a man say “ I give these three are, by good men, done once for all and irrevocably .

48. 1 As with cows, mares, female camels, slave-girls, milchbuffalos, shegoats, and ewes, It is not the owner of the bull or other » father, who owns the offspring, even thus is it with the wives of others.

49. ‘ They, who have no property in the field, but, having grain in their possession, sow it in soil owned by another, receive no advantage whatever from the corn, Which may be produced : ON THE SAME ; AND ON THE

50. ‘Should a bull beget a hundred calves on' cows not owned by his master, those calves belong solely to the proprietors of the cows ; and the strength of the bull was wasted : 5 1. 1 Thus men, who have no marital property in women, but sow in the fields owned by others, may raise up fruit to the husbands ; but the procreator can have no advantage from it.

52. ‘Unless there be a special agreement between the owners of the land and of the seed, the fruit belongs clearly to the landowner ; for the receptacle is more important than the seed :

53. , ‘ But the owners of the seed and of the soil may be considered in this world as joint owners of the crop, which they agree, by special compact in consideration of the seed, to divide between them. 4 *

54. ‘ Whatever man owns a field, if sefcd, conveyed into it by water or wind, should germinate, the plant belongs to the landowner : the mere sower takes not the fruit.

55. ‘Such is the law concerning the offspring of cows, and mares, of female camels, goats, and sheep, of slave-girls, hens, and milch-buffalos, unless there be a special agreement .

56. 1 Thus has the comparative importance of the soil and the seed been declared to you : I will next propound the law concerning women, who have no issue by their husbands .

57. ‘ The wife of an elder brother is considered as mother-inlaw to the younger ; and the wife of the younger as daughter-in-law to the elder :

58. ‘ The elder brother, amorously approaching the wife of the younger, and the younger, caressing the wife of the elder, are both degraded, even though authorized by the husband or spiritual guide , except when such wife has no issue. r.

59. 1 On failure of issue by the husband, if he be of the servile class , the desired offspring may be procreated, either by his brother or some other sapinda , on the wife, who has been duly authorized :

60. ‘ Sprinkled with clarified butter, silent, in the night, let the kinsman thus appointed beget one son, but a second by no means, on the widow or chilSless ivife : COMMERCIAL AND SERVILE CLASSES. ,9J .t- S°“ ,saS'!' '"*«• >» tows concerning women, thinking it possible, that the great object of that appointment may not be obtained by the birth of a single son , are of opinion, that the wife and appointed kinsman may legally procreate a second.

62. The first object of the appointment being obtained according to law, both the brother and the widow must live together like a father and a daughter by affinity.

63. Either brother, appointed for this purpose, who deviates from the strict rule, and acre from carnal desire, shall be degraded, as having defiled the bed of his daughter-in-law or of his father.

64. ‘ By men of twice-born classes no widow, or childless wife , must be authorized to conceive by any other than her lord ; for they, \jjj|o authorize her to conceive by any other, violate the primeval law.

65. 4 Such a commission to a brother or other 7iear kinsman is nowhere mentioned in the nuptial text of the VMa ; nor is the marriage of the widow even named in the laws concerning marriage.

66. This practice, fit only for cattle, is reprehended by learned Brdhmens ; yet it is declared to have been the practice even of men, while Ve'na had sovereign power :

67. * He, possessing the whole earth, and thence only called the chief of sage monarchs, gave rise to a confusion of classes, when his intellect became weak through lust.

68. 4 Since his time the virtuous disapprove of that man, who, through delusion of mind, directs a widow to receive the caresses of another for the sake of projeny.

69. * The damsel, indeed \ whose husband shall die after troth verbally plighted, SUt before consummation , his brother shall take in marriage according to this iyale : }o. ‘ Having espoused her in due form of law, she being clad in a white robe, and pure in her moral conduct, let him approach her once in each proper season, and until issue be had. 7 1. 1 Let no man of sense, who has once given his daughter to a suitor, give her again to another ; for he, who gives away his ON THE SAME ; AND ON THE daughter, whom he had before 'given, incurs the guilt and fine of speaking falsely in a cause concerning mankind.

72. ‘ Even though a man have married a young woman in legal form, yet he may abandon her, if he find her blemished, afflicted with disease, or previously deflowered, and given to him with fraud :

73. ‘If any man give a faulty damsel in marriage, without disclosing her blemish, the husband may annul that act of her ill-minded giver.

74. ‘ Should a man have business abroad, let him assure a fit maintenance to his wife, and then reside for a time in a foreign country ; since a wife, even though virtuous, may be tempted to act amiss, if she be distressed by want of subsistence : Q

75. ‘ While her husband, having settled her maintenance, resides abroad, let her continue firm in religious austerities ; but, if he leave her no support, let her subsist by spinning and other blameless arts.

76. ‘ If he live abraod on account of some sacred duty, let her wait for him eight years ; if on account of knowledge or same, six ; if on account of pleasure, three : after those terms have expired , she must follou) him .

77. ‘ For a whole year let a husband bear with his wife, who treats him with aversion ; but, after a year, let him deprive her of her separate property, and cease to cohabit with her.

78. ‘ She, who neglects her lord, though addicted to gaming, fond of spirituous liquors, or diseased, must be deserted for three months, and deprived of her ornaments and household furniture :

79. 1 But she, who is averse from a mad husband, or a deadly sinner, or an eunuch, or one without manly strength, or one afflicted with such maladies as punish crimes? must neither be deserted nor stripped of her property. v

80. ‘ A WIFE, who drinks any spirituous liquors, who acts immorally, who shows hatred to her lord, who is incurably diseased, who is mischievous, who waste? his property, may at all times be superseded by another wif£. *95 COMMERCIAL AND SERVILE CLASSES.

81. A barren wife #may be superseded by another in the eighth year : she, whose children are all dead, in the tenth ; she, who brings forth only daughters, in the eleventh ; she, who speaks unkindly, without delay ;

82. * But she, who, though afflicted with illness, is beloved and vir.tuous, rtiust never be disgraced, though she may be superseded by another wife with her own consent.

83. 1 If a wife, legally superseded, shall depart in wrath from the house, she must either instantly be confined, or abandoned in the presence of the whole family :

84. ‘ But she, who, having been forbidden, addicts herself to intoxicating liquor even at jubilees, or mixes in crowds at theatres, must be fined six racticds of gold.

85. 1 WHEN twice-born men take wives, both of their own class and others, the precedence, honour, and habitation of those wives, must be settled according to the order of their classes :

86. ‘ To all such married men, the wives of the same class only (not wives of a different class by any means) must perform the duty of personal attendance, and the daily business relating to acts of religion ;

87. 1 For he, who foolishly causes those duties to be performed by any other than his wife of the same class, when she is near at hand, has been immemorially considered as a mere Chandala begotten on a Brdhmeni .

88. ‘To an excellent and handsome youth of the same class, let every man give his daughter in marriage, according to law , even though she have not attained her age of eight years :

89. ‘ But it is better, that the damsel, though marriageable, should stay at homq till her death, than that he should ever give her in marriage to a bridegroom void of excellent qualities.

90. ‘ Three years let a damsel wait, though she be marriageable ; but, after that term, let her choose for herself a bridegroom of equal rank :

91. 1 If, not being given in ma/riage, she choose her bridegroom, neither she, nor the youth chosen, commits any offence ; ON THE SAME ; AND ON THE

92. 1 But a damsel, thus electing her husband, shall not carry with her the ornaments, which she received from her father, nor those given by her mother or brethren : if she carry them away, she' commits theft.

93. * He, who takes to wife a damsel of full age, shall not give a nuptial present to her father ; since the father lost his dominion over her, by detaining her at a time, when she might have been a parent.

94. 1 A man, aged thirty years, may marry a girl of twelve, if he find one dear to his heart ; or a man of twenty-four years, a damsel of eight : but, if he finish his studentship earlier , and the • duties of his next order would otherwise be impeded, let him marry immediately. »

95. * A wife, given by the gods, who are named in the bridal texts , let the husband receive and support constantly, if she be virtuous, though he married her not from inclination : such conduct will please the gods.

96. ‘ To be mothers, were women created ; and to be fathers, men ; religious rites, therefore are ordained in the Vida to be performed by the husband together with the wife.

97. * If a nuptial gratuity has actually been given to a damsel, and he, who gave it, should die before marriage , the damsel shall be married to his brother, if she consent ;

98. * But even a man of the servile class ought not to receive a gratuity, when he gives his daughter in marriage ; since a father, who takes a fee on that occasion , tacitly sells his daughter.

99. ‘ Neither ancients nor moderns, who were good men, have ever given a damsel in marriage, after she had been promised to another man ;

100. * Nor, even in former creations, have we heard the virtuous approve the tacit sale of a daughter for a price, under the i.ame of a nuptial gratuity.

101. u Let mutual fidelity continue till death this, in few words, may be considered as the supreme law between husband and wife. COMMERCIAL AND SERVILE CLASSES. ,97

102. Let a man an J woman, united by marriage, constantly beware, lest, at any time disunited, they violate their mutual fidelity,

103. ‘ Thus has been declared to you the law, abounding in the purest affection, for the conduct of man and wife ; together with the practice of raising up offspring to a husband of the servile class on failure of issue by him begotten : learn now the law of inheritance.

104. ‘After the death of the father and the mother, the brothers, being assembled, may divide among themselves the paternal and maternal estate ; but they have no power over it, while their parents live, unless the father choose to distribute it,

105. * The eldest brother may take entire possession of the patrimony ; and the others may live under him, as they lived under their father, unless* they choose to be separated,

106. * By the eldest, at the moment of his birth, the father, having begotten a son, discharges his debt to his own progenitors ; the eldest son, therefore, ought before partition to manage the whole patrimony :

107. ‘ That son alone, by whose birth he discharges his debt, and through whom he attains immortality, was begotten from a sense of duty : all the rest are considered by the wise as begotten from love of pleasure.

108. * Let the father alone support his sons, and the first born, his younger brothers ; and let them behave to the eldest, according to law, as children should behave to their father.

109. ‘ The first born, if virtuous, exalts the family, or, if •vitious , destroys it : the first born is in this world the most respectable ; and the good never treat him with disdain. no. ‘ If an elder brother act, as an elder brother ought, he is to be revered as a mother, as a father ; and, even if he have not the behaviour of a good elder brother, he should be respected as a maternal uncle, or other kinsman. in. ‘Either let them thus live together, or, if they desire separately to perform religious rites, let them live apart ; since religious duties are multiplied in separate# houses, their separation is, therefore, legal and even laudable. ON THE SAME ; AND ON THE

112. ‘ The portion deducted for the eldest is a twentieth part of the heritage , with the best of all the chattels ; for the middlemost, half of that, or a fortieth; for the youngest, a quarter of it, or an eightieth .

113. ‘ The eldest and the youngest respectively take their just mentioned portions ; and, if there be more than one between them, each of the intermediate sons has the mean portion, or the fortieth .

114. ‘ Of all the goods collected, let the first born, if he be transcendently learned and virtuous , take the best article, whatever is most excellent in its kind, and the best of ten cows or the like .

115. ‘But, among brothers equally skilled in performing their several duties, there is no deduction of the best in ten, or the most excellent chattel ; though some trifle, as a mark of greater veneration, should be given to the first born.

116. ‘ If a deduction be thus made, let equal shares of the residue be ascertained and received ; but, if there be no deduction, the shares must be distributed in this manner :

117. ‘ Let the eldest have a double share, and the next born, a share and a half, if they clearly surpass the rest in virtue and learning ; the younger sons must have each a share : if all be equal in good qualities , they must all take share and share alike,

118. ‘ To the unmarried daughters by the same mother , let their brothers give portions out of their own allotments respectively, according to the classes of their several mothers', let each give a fourth part of his own distinct share ; and they, who refuse to give it, shall be degraded.

119. ‘ Let them never divide the value of a single goat or sheep, or a single beast with uncloven hoofs : a single goat or sheep remaining after an equal distribution belongs t6 the first born.

120. ‘ Should a younger brother in the manner before mentioned have begotten a son on the wife of his deceased «elder brother, the division must then be made equally between that son , who represents the deceased, and his natural father : thus is the law settled. * ‘ The representative is not so far wholly substituted by X2I. «99 COMMERCIAL AND SERVILE CLASSES. law in the place of the debased principal, as to have the portion of an elder son ; and the principal became a father in consequence of the procreation by his younger brother ; the son, therefore, is entitled by law to an equal share, but not to a double portion.

122. ‘A younger son being born of a first married wife, after an. elder son had been born of a wife last married, but of a lower class , it may be a doubt in that case, how the division shall be made :

123. ‘Let the son, born of the elder wife, take one most excellent bull deducted from the inheritance ; the next excellent bulls • are for those, who were born firsts but are inferior on account of their mothers, vuho were married last.

124. ‘A son, indeed, who was first born, and brought forth by the wife first married, may take, if learned and virtuous , one bull and fifteen cows ; and the other sons may take, each in right of his several mother : such is the fixed rule.

125. ‘As between sons, born of wives equal in their class and without any other distinction, there can be no seniority in right of the mother ; but the seniority ordained by law, is according to the birth.

126. ‘The right of invoking Indra by the texts, called swabrabmanya, depends on actual priority of birth ; and of twins also, if any stick be conceived among different wives, the eldest is he, who was first actually born,

127. ‘ He, who has no son, may appoint his daughter in this manner to raise up a- son for him, saying : “ the male child, who shall be born from her in wedlock, shall be mine for the purpose of performing my obsequies.”

128. ‘ In this planner DaCSHA himself, lord of created beings, anciently appointed all his fifty daughters to raise up sons to him, for the sake of multiplying his race :

129. * He gave ten to Diierma, thirteen to Casyapa, twentyseven to So'MA, king of Brdhmens and medical plants , after doing honour to them with an affectionate heart.

130. ‘The son of a man is evqn as himself ; and as the son, such is the daughter thus appointed : how then, if he have no son , ON THE SAME ; AND ON THE can any inherit his property, but a daughter, who is closely united with his own soul ?

131. ‘Property, given to the mother on her marriage, is inherited by her unmarried daughter ; and the son of a daughter, appointed in the manner just mentioned , shall inherit the whole estate of her father, who leaves no son by himself begotten :

132. ‘ The son, however, of such a daughter, who succeeds to all the wealth of her father dying without a son, must offer two funeral cakes, one to his own father, and one to the father of his mother.

133. ‘Between a son's son and the son of such a daughter, • there is no difference in law ; since their father and mother both sprang from the body of the same man :

134. ‘ But, a daughter having been appointed to produce a son for her father, and a son, begotten by himself \ being afterwards born, the division of the heritage must in that case be equal ; since there is no right of primogeniture for a woman.

135. ‘ Should a daughter, thus appointed to raise up a son for her father, die by any accident without a son, the husband of that daughter may, without hesitation, possess himself of her property.

136. ‘By that male child, whom a daughter thus appointed, either by an implied intention or a plain declaration, shall produce from an husband of an equal class, the maternal grandfather becomes in law the father of a son : let that son give the funeral cake and possess the inheritance.

137. * By a son, a man obtains victory over all people ; by a son's son, he enjoys immortality ; and, afterwards, by the son of that grandson, he reaches the solar abode.

138. * Since the son (tray ate) drivers his father from the hell named put , he was, therefore, called puttra by Brahma himselfc

139. * Now between the sons of his son and of his daughter thus appointed , there subsists in this world no difference ; for even the son of suck a daughter delivers him in the next, like the son of his son. COMMERCIAL AND SERVILE CLASSES.

140. ‘ Let the son of such a daughter offer the first funeral cake to his mother ; the second to her father ; the third, to her paternal grandfather.

141. ‘ Of the man, to whom a son has been given, according to a subsequent law, adorned with every virtue, that son shall take a fifth or sixth part of the heritage, though brought from a different family.

142. * A given son must never claim the family and estate of his natural flfeher : the funeral cake follows the family and estate ; but of him, who has given away his son, the funeral oblation is •extinct.

143. ‘ The son of a wife, not authorized to have issue, by another, and the son begotten, by the brother of the husband, on a wife, who has a son ’then living, are both unworthy of the heritage; one being the child of an adulterer, and the other produced through mere lust.

144. * Even the son of a wife duly authorized, not begotten according to the law already propounded \ is unworthy of the paternal estate ; for he was procreated by an outcast :

145. * But the son legally begotten on a wife, authorized for the% purpose before mentioned , may inherit in all respects , if he be virtuous and learned, as a son begotten by the husband; since in that case the seed and the produce belong of right to the owner of the field.

146. ‘He, who keeps the fixed and moveable estate of his deceased brother, maintains the widow, and raises up a son to that brother, must give to that son, at the age of fifteen, the whole of his brother’s divided property.

147. ‘ Should a, wife, even though legally authorized, produce a son by the brother, or any other sapinda , of her husband, that son, if bogotten with amorous embraces , and tokens of impure desire, the sages proclaim baseborn and incapable of inheriting.

148. ‘ THIS law, which has preceded, must be understood of a distribution among sons begotten on women of the same class : hear now the law concerning sons 1% several women of different classes. ON THE SAME ; AND ON THE

149. 4 If there be four wives of a Brdhmen in the direct order of the classes, and sons are produced by them all, this is the rule of partition among them :

150. 4 The chief servant in husbandry, the bull kept for impregnating cows, the riding horse or carriage, the ring and other ornaments, and the principal messuage, shall be deducted from the inheritance and given to the Brdltmen son, together with a larger share by way of pre-eminence.

151. 4 Let the Brdhmen take three shares of thf residue ; the son of the Cshatriyd wife, two shares ; the son of the Vaisyd wife, a share and a half ; and the son of the Sudra wife, may "take oneshare. • ,

152. ‘Or, if no deduction be made , let some person learned in the law divide the whole collected estate into ten parts, and make a legal distribution by this following rule :

153. ‘ Let the son of the Brdhmani take four parts ; the son of the Cshatriydy three ; let the son of the Vaisyd have two parts ; let the son of the Sudra take a single part, if he be virtuous.

154. ‘ But, whether the Brdhmen have sons, or have no sons, by wives of the three first classes , no more than a tenth part must be given to the son t>f a Sudra.

155. * The son of a BrdJemeny a Cshatriydy or a Vaisyd by a woman of the servile class, shall inherit no part of the estate, unless he be virtuous ; nor jointly with other sonst unless his mother was lawfully married: whatever his father may give him, let that be his own.

156. ‘ All the sons of twice-born men, produced by wives of the same class, must divide the heritage equally, after the younger brothers have given the first born his deducted allotment.

157. 4 For a Sudra is ordained a wife of his own class, and no pther : all, produced by her, shall " have equal shares, though she have a hundred sons.

158. 4 Of the twelve sons of men, whom Menu, sprung from the Self-existent, has named, six are kinsmen and heirs ; six, not heirs, except to their own fathers ,*but kinsmen.

159. ‘The son begotten by a man himself, in lawful wedlock t 2©3 COMMERCIAL AND SERVILE CLASSES. the son of his wife begotten in the manner before described ’ a son given to him , a son made or adopted , a son of concealed birth, or whose real father cannot be known , and a son rejected by his natural parents , are the six kinsmen and heirs :

160. 4 The son of a young woman unmarried \ the son of a pregnant bride, a son bought, a son by a twice married woman, a son self-given, and a son by a Sudra , are the six kinsmen, but not heirs to collaterals .

161. 4 Such advantage, as a man would gain, who should attempt to pass deep water in a boat made of woven reeds, that father obtains, who passess the gloom of death, leaving only contemptible sons, zvho are the eleven , or at least the six , last mentioned.

162. 4 If the two heirs of one man be the son of his own body and a son of his wife by a kinsman, the former of whom was begotten after his recovery from an illness thought incurable, each of the sons, exclusively of the other ; shall succeed to the whole estate of his natural father. t6$. 4 The son of his own body is the sole heir to his estate, but, that all evil may be removed, let him allow a maintenance to the rest.

164. 4 And, when the son of the body has taken an account of the paternal inheritance, let him give a sixft part of it to the son of the wife begotten by a kinsman, before his father's recovery ; or a fifth part, if that son be eminently virtuous .

165. 4 The son of the body, and the son of the wife may succeed immediately to the paternal estate m the manner just mentioned; but the ten other sons can only succeed in order to the family duties and to their share of the inheritance, those last named being excluded by any one of the preceding.

166. 4 Him, whom a man has begotten on his own wedded wife, let him know to be the first in rank, as the son of his body. •167. 4 He, who wa$ begotten, according to law, on the wife of a man deceased, or impotent, or disordered, after due authority given to her, is called the lawful son of the wife. 168 4 He, whom his father, or mother with her husbands assent, gives to another as his son, provided that the donee have ON THE SAME ; AND' ON THE no issue, if the boy be of tfce same class and affectionately disposed, is considered as a son given, the gift being confirmed by pouring water.

169. * He is considered as a son made or adopted \ whom a man takes as his own son, the boy being equal in class, endued with filial virtues, acquainted with the merit of performing obsequies to his adopter, and with the sin of omitting them .

170. * In whose mansions soever a male child shall be brought forth by a married woman , whose husband has long been absent , if the real father cann6t be discovered, but if it be probable that he was of an equal class , that child belongs to the lord of the j m forkful wife, and is called a son of concealed birth in his mansion. 171* ‘A boy, whom a man receives as his own son, after he has been deserted without just cause by his parents, or by either of them, if one be dead , is called a son rejected.

172. ‘A son, whom the daughter of any man privately brings forth in the house of her father, if she aftenvards marry her lover, is described as a son begotten on an unmarried girl.

173. ‘If a pregnant young woman marry, whether her pregnancy be known or unknown, the male child in her womb belongs to the bridegroom, and is called a son received with his bride.

174. ‘ He is called a son bought, whom a man, for the sake of having a son to perform his obsequies , purchases from his father and mother, whether the boy be equal or unequal to himself in good qualities , for in class all adopted sons must be equal.

175. ‘ He, whom a woman, either forsaken by her lord or a widow, conceived by a second husband, whom she took by her own desire, though against law> is called the son of a woman twicemarried : %

176. * If, on her second marriage , she be still a virgin, or if she left her husband under the a ge\ of puberty and return to him at his full age, she must again perform the nuptjal ceremony, either with her second, or her young and deserted , husband. *

177. ‘He, who has lost his parents, or been abandoned by them without just cause, and offers himself to a man as his son , is called a son self-given. * COMMERCIAL AND SERVILE CLASSES. io5

178. ‘A son, begotten through lust on a Sidra by a man of the priestly class, is even as a corpse, though alive, and is thence called in law a living corpse : 179- ‘ But a son, begotten by a man of the servile class on his female slave, or on the female slave of his male slave, may take a share of the heritage, if permitted by the other sons : thus is the law established,

180. ‘ These eleven sons (the son of the wife, and the rest as enumerated) are allowed by wise legislators to be substitutes in order for sons of the body, for the sake of preventing a failure of , obsequie%

181. ‘Though such, as are called sons for that purpose, but were produced from the manhood of others, belong in tru*h to the father, from whose, manhood they severally sprang, and to no other, except by a just fiction of lazu.

182. ‘If, among several brothers of the whole blood, one have a son born, Menu pronounces them all fathers of a male child by means of that son ; so that , if such nephew would be the heir , the uncles have 710 poiver to adopt sons :

183. ‘ Thus if, among all the wives of the same husband, one bring forth a male child. Menu has declared them all, by means of that son, to be mothers of male issue.

184. ‘On failure of the best, and of the next best, among those twelve sons, let the inferior in order take the heritage; but, if there be many of equal rank, let all be sharers of the estate.

185. ‘ Not brothers, nor parents, but sons, if living, or their male issue , are heirs to the deceased, but of him, who leaves no son, nor a wife, nor a daughter, the. father shall take the inheritance; and, if he leave neither father, nor mother, the brothers.

186. ‘ To three ancestors must water be given at their obsequies ; for three ( the father p his father and the paternal grandfather) is the funeral cake ordained : the fourth in descent is the ► giver of oblations to them, and their heir, if they die without nearer descendants ; but the fifth has no concern with the gift of the funeral cake.

187. ‘To the nearest sapinda, • mgile or female, after him in ON THE SAME ; AND ON THE the third degree, the inheritance next belongs ; then, on failure of sapindas and of their issue, the samdnddaca , or distant kinsman, shall be the heir ; or the spiritual preceptor, or the pupil, or the fellow-student , of the deceased :

188. ‘On failure of all those, the lawful heirs are such Brdhmens , as have read the three Vidas, as are pure in body and mind, as have subdued their passions ; and they must consequently offer the cake : thus the rites of obsequies cannot fail.

189. ‘The property of a Brdhmen shall never be taken as an escheat by the king ; this is a fixed law : but the wealth of the other classes, on failure of all heirs, the king may take.

190. ‘If the widow of a man, who died without a son, raise up a son to him by one of his kinsmen, let her deliver to that son, at his full age the collected estate of the deceased, whatever it be.

191. ‘If two sons, begotten by two successive husbands , who are both dead , contend for their property, then in the hands of their mother, let each take, exclusively of the other, his own father's estate.

192. ‘ On the death of the mother, let all the uterine brothers and the uterine sisters, if unmarried, equally divide the maternal estate : each married sister shall have a foiirth part of a brother's allotment .

193. ‘Even to the daughters of those daughters, it is fit, that something should be given, from the assets of their maternal grandmother, on the score of natural affection.

194. ‘ What was given before the nuptial fire, what was given on the bridal procession, what was given in token of love, and what was received from a brother, a mother, or a father, are considered as the sixfold separate property of a married woman :

195. ‘What she received after marriage from the family of her husband, and what her affectiohate lord may have given her, shall be inherited, even if she die in his lifetime, by her children.

196. ‘ It is ordained, that the property of a woman, married* by the ceremonies called Brdhnia , Diava , A'rsha, Gdndharva , or Prdjdpatya , shall go to her husband, if she die without issue.

197. ‘ But her wealth given on the marriage called A'sura> or COMMERCIAL AND SERVILE CLASSES. on either of the two others, is ordained, on her death without issue, to become the property of her father and mother.

198. ‘ If a widow, whose husband had other wives of different classes , shall’ have received wealth at any time as a gift from her father, and shall die without issue , it shall go to the daughter of the Brdhmani wife, or to the issue of that daughter.

199. ‘ A woman should never make a hoard from the goods of her kindred, zvhich are common to her and many ; or even from the property of her lord, without his assent.

200. Such ornamental apparel, as women wear during the lives of their husbands, the heirs of those husbands shall not divide among themselves : they, who* divide it among themselves, .fall deep into sin .

201. ‘Eunuchs and outcast born blind or deaf, mad men, idiots, the dumb, and such as have lost the use of a limb, are excluded from a share of the heritage ;

202. * But it is just, that the heir, who knows his duty, should give all of them food and raiment for life without stint, according to the best of his power : he, who gives them nothing, sinks assuredly to a region of punishment .

203. * If the eunuch and the rest should at any time desire to marry, and if the wife of the eunuch should raise up a son to him by a man legally appointed, , that son and the issue of such, as have children, shall be capable of inheriting.

204. * After the death of the father, if the eldest brother acquire wealth by his own efforts before partition , a share of that acquisition shall go to the younger brothers, if they have made a due progress in learning ;

205. ‘ And if all of th*m, being unlearned, acquire property befdre partition by their own labor, there shall be an equal division of that property without regard to the first born ; for it was not the wealth of their father : this rule is clearly settled.

206. ‘ Wealth, however, acquired by learning, belongs exclusively to any one of them , who acquired ft ; so does any thing given ON THE SAME; AND ON THE by a friend , received on account of marriage, or presented as a mark of respect to a guest.

207. 1 If any one of the brethren has a competence from his own occupation, and wants not the property of his father \ he may debar himself from his own share, some trifle being given him as a consideration, to prevent future strife .

208. 1 What a brother has acquired by labor or skill, without using the patrimony, he shall not give up without his assent ; for it was gained by his own exertion :

209. * And if a son, by his own efforts, recover a defy or property unpistly detained \ which could not be recovered before by his father he^ shall not, unless by his free will, put it into parcenary with his brethren, since in fact it was acquired by himself.

210. ‘If brethren, once divided and living again together as parceners, make a second partition, the shares must in that case be equal ; and the first born shall have no right of deduction.

211. 1 Should the eldest or the youngest of several brothers be deprived of his share by a civil death on his entrance mto the fourth order , or should any one of them die, his vested interest in a share shall not wholly be lost ;

212. ‘ But, if he leave neither son , nor wife , nor daughter , nor father , nor mother^his uterine brothers and sisters, and such brothers as were reunited after a separation, shall assemble and divide his share equally.

213. ‘ Any eldest brother, who from avarice shall defraud his younger brother, shall forfeit the honours of his primogeniture, be deprived of his own share, and pay a fine to the king.

214. ‘All those brothers, who are addicted to any vice, lose their title to the inheritance : the first born shall not appropriate it to himself, but shall give shares to* the youngest, if they be not vitious .

215. ‘ If, among undivided brethren living with their father, there be a common exertion for common gain, the father shall never make an unequal division among them, when they divide their families. COMMERCIAL AND SERVILE CLASSES.

216. ‘A son, born after a division in the life-time of his father, shall alone inherit the patrimony, or shall have a share of it with the divided brethren, if they return and unite themselves with him. 2l7' ‘Of a son, dying childless and leaving no widow , the father and mother sfeall take the estate ; and, the mother also being dead, the paternal grandfather and grandmother shall take the heritage on failure of brothers and nephews.

218. ‘When all the debts and wealth have been justly distributed according to law, any property, that may afterwards be discovered, shall be subject to a similar distribution.

219. VApparel, carriages, or riding horses, and ornaments of ordinary value , which any of the heirs had used by consent before partition , dressed rice, water in a well or cistern , female slaves* family priests, or spiritual' counsellors, and pasture ground for cattle, the wise have declared indivisible, and still to be used as before .

220. ‘ Thus have the laws of inheritance, and the rule for the conduct of sons (whether the son of the wife or others) been expounded to you in order : learn at present the law concerning games of chance.

221. ‘ Gaming, cither with inanimate or with animated things, let the king exclude wholly from his realm : both those modes of play cause destruction to princes.

222. ‘ Such play with dice and the like , or by matches between rams and cocks , amounts to open theft ; and the king must ever be vigilant in suppressing both modes of play :

223. ‘ Gaming with lifeless things is known among men by the name of dyuta ; but samd/iwaya signifies a match between living creatures.

224. ‘ Let the king punish corporally at discretion both the gamester and the keeper of a gaming house, whether they play with inanimate or animated things ; and men of the servile class, who wear the string and other marks of the twice-born.

225. ‘Gamesters, public dancers and singers, revilers of scripture, open heretics, men who perform not the duties of their several classes, and sellers of spirituous liquor, let him instantly banish from the tqwn : ON THE SAME ; AND ON THE «

226. ‘Those wretches, lurking like unseen thieves in the dominion of a prince, continually harass his good subjects with their vicious conduct.

227. 4 Even in a former creation wa9 this vice of gaming found a great provoker of enmity : let no sensible man, therefore, addict himself to play even for his amusement :

228. 4 On the man addicted to it, either privately or openly, let punishment be inflicted at the direction of the king.

229. 4 A man of the military, commercial, or servile class, who cannot pay a fine, shall discharge the debt by his labour: a priest shall discharge it by little and little. #

236. 4 For women, children, persons of crazy intellect, the old, the poor, and the infirm, the king shall order punishment with a small whip, a twig, or a rope.

231. 4 Those ministers, who are employed in public affairs, and, inflamed by the blaze of wealth, mar the business of any person concerned, let the king strip of all their property.

232. 4 Such, as forge royal edicts, cause dissentions among the great ministers, or kill women, priests, or children, let the king put to death ; and such, as adhere to his enemies.

233. 4 Whatever business has at any time been transacted conformably to law, let him consider as finally settled, and refuse to unravel

234. 1 But whatever business has been concluded illegally by his ministers or by a judge, let the king himself re-examine : and let him fine them each a thousand panas.

235. 4 The slayer of a priest, a soldier or merchant drinking arak, or a priest drinking arak, mead, or rum, r he, who steals the gold of a priest, and he, who violates the bed of his natural or spiritual father, are all to be considered respectively as offenders in the highest degree, except those , whose crimes are not fit to be named :

236. 4 On such of those four, as have not actually performed an expiation, let the king legally inflict corporal punishment, together with a fine. COMMERCIAL AND SERVILE CLASSES. 21,

237. '• For violating tire paternal bed, let the mark of a female part be impressed on the forehead with hot iron ; for drinking spirits, a vintner’s flag ; for stealing sacred gold, a dog’s foot ; for murdering a priest, the figure of a headless corpse :

238. 4 With none to eat with them, with none to sacrifice with, them, with none to read with them, with none to be allied by marriage to them, abject and excluded from all social duties, let them wander over this earth :

239. 4 Branded with indelible marks, they shall be deserted by their paternal and maternal relations, treated by none with affec- -tion, received by none with respect : such is the ordinance of Menu. t

240. 4 Criminals of all the classes, having performed an expiation, as ordaine’d by law, shall not be marked on the forehead, but condemned to pay the highest fine :

241. 4 For crimes by a priest, who had a good character before his offence the middle fine shall be set on him ; or, if his crime was premeditated he shall be banished from the realm, taking with, him his effects and his family ;

242. 4 But men of . the other classes, who have committed those crimes, though without premeditation shall be stripped of all their possessions ; and, if their offence was premeditated, shall be corporally, or even capitally, punished, according to circumstances .

243. *LET no virtuous prince appropriate the wealth of a criminal in the highest degree ; for he, who appropriates it through covetousness, is contaminated with the same guilt .

244. ‘ Having thrown such a fine into the waters, let him offer it to VARUNA ; or let him bestow it on some priest of eminent learning in the scriptures : 945 ‘VARUNA is the ford of punishment; he holds a rod even* over kings; and a priest, who has gone through the whole Veda is equal to a sovereign of all the world.

246. 1 Where the king abstains from receiving to his own use the wealth of such offenders, their children are born in due season and enjoy long lives ; ON THE SAME ; AND ON THE

247. 1 There the grain of husbandmen rises abundantly, as it was respectively sown ; there no younglings die, nor is one deformed animal born.

248. 4 Should a man of the basest class, with* preconceived malice, give pain to Brdhmens , let the prince corporally punish him by various modes, that may raise terror.

249. 4 A king is pronounced equally unjust in releasing the man, who deserves punishment, and in punishing the man, who deserves it not : he is just, who always inflicts the punishment ordained by law.

250. ‘These established rules for administering justice, be-* tween two litigant parties, have been propounded at length under eighteen heads.

251. 1 Thus fully performing all duties required by law, let a king seek with justice to possess regions yet unpossessed, and, when they are in his possession, let him govern them well.

252. ‘His realm being completely arranged and his fortresses amply provided, let him ever apply the most diligent care to eradicate had men resembling thorny weeds, as the law directs.

253. ‘ By protecting such as live virtuously, and by rooting up such as live wickedly, those kings, whose hearts are intent on the security of their people, shall rise to heaven.

254. ‘Of that prince, who takes a revenue, without restraining rogues, the dominions are thrown into disorder, and himself shall be precluded from a celestial abode ;

255. ‘ But of him, whose realm, by the strength of his arm, is defended and free from terror, the dominions continually flourish, like trees duly watered.

256. ‘Let the king, whose emissaries' are his eyes, discern well the two sorts of rogues, the open and the concealed, who deprive other men of their wealth : 9

257. ‘ Open rogues are they, who subsist by cheating in various marketable commodities ; and concealed rogues are they, who steal and rob in forests and the .like secret places.

258. ‘ Receivers of bribes, extorters of money by threats, COMMERCIAL AND SERVILE CLASSES. s,3 debasers of metals, gamesters, fortune-tellers, imposters, and professors of palmistry ; 259 Elephant-breakers and quacks, not performing what they engage to perform, pretended artists, and subtil harlots ;

260. ‘These and the like thorny weeds, overspreading the world, let the king discover with a quick sight, and others, who act ill in secret ; worthless men, yet bearing the outward signs of the worthy.

261. ‘ Having detected them, by the means of trusty persons disguised, who pretend to have the same occupation with them, and of spies placed in several stations, let him bring them by artifice into his power :

262. ‘Then, having fully proclaimed their respective criminal acts, let the king inflict punishment legally, according to the crimes proved ;

263. ‘ Since, without certain punishment, it is impossible to restrain the delinquency of scoundrels with depraved souls, who secretly prowl over this earth.

264. ‘ Much-frequented places, cisterns of water, bake houses, the lodgings of harlots, taverns and victualling shops, squares where four ways meet, large well-known trees, assemblies, and public spectacles ;

265. ‘ Old courtyards, thickets, the houses of artist, empty mansions, groves, and gardens ;

266. * These and the like places let the king guard, for the prevention of robberies, with soldiers, both stationary and patroling, as well as with secret watchmen.

267. ‘ By the means of able spies, once thieves but reformed , who, well knowing; the various machinations of rogues, associate with them and follow tfiem, let the king detect and draw them forth :

268. ‘ On pretexts of dainty food and gratifications, or o t seeing some wise priest, who could ensure their success , or on pretence of mock battles and the likt feats of strength, let the spies procure an assembly of those men. ON THE SAME ; AND ON THE

269. ‘Such as refuse to go forth on«those occasions, deterred b y former punishments y zvhich the king had inflicted , let him seize by force, and put to death, on proof of their guilty with their friends and kinsmen, paternal and maternal, if proved to be their confederates.

270. ‘ Let not a just prince kill a man convicted of simple theft, unless taken with the mainer or with implements of robbery ; but any thief, taken with the mainer, or with such implements, let him be destroyed without hesitation ;

271. ‘And let him slay all those, who give robbers food in towns, or supply them with implements, or afford them shelter.

272. ‘ Should those men, who are appointed to guard any districts, pr those of the vicinity, who were employed for that purpose, be neutral in attacks by robbers and inactive m seizing thetny let him instantly punish them as thieves.

273. ‘ Him, who lives apparently by the rules of his class, but really departs from those rules, let the king severely punish by fine, as a wretch, who violates his duty.

274. ‘ They, who give no assistance on the plundering of a town, on the forcible breaking of a dike, or on seeing a roberry on the highway, shall be banished with their cattle and utensils.

275. ‘ Men, who rob the king’s treasure, or obstinately oppose his commands, let him destroy by various modes of just punishment; and those, who encourage his enemies.

276. ‘ Of robbers, who break a wall or partition, and commit theft in the night, let the prince order the hands to be lopped off, and themselves to be fixed on a sharp stake.

277. ‘ Two fingers of a cutpurse, the thumb and the index , let him cause to be amputated on his first conviction ; on the second, one hand and one foot ; on the third, he shall suffer death. * % 2/8. 1 Such, as give thieves fire^ stiich as give them food, such as give them arms and apartments, and such as knowingly receivS a thing stolen, let the king punish as he would punish a thief.

279. ‘ The breaker of a dam to secure a pool, let him punish by long immersion under water, <5r by keen corporal suffering ; or the offender shall repait it, but* must pay the highest mulct. COMMERCIAL AND SERVILE CLASSES. • Those, who brl.k opa, the treasury „ ,h„ „ „ ,h« (ompl. H.%.d those, who carry off royal elephant, horses, or cars, let him without hesitation destroy.

281. ‘ He who shall take away the water of an ancient pool, or shall obstruct a watercourse, must be condemned to pay the lowest usual amercement.

282. He, who shall drop his ordure on the king’s highway, except in case of necessity, shall pay two panas and immediately . remove the filth ; > 283. But a person in urgent necessity, a very old man, a pregnant woman, and a child, only deserve reproof, and shall clean the place themselves : that is a settled rule.

284. 'All physicians and surgeons acting unskilfully in their several professions, must pay for injury to brute animals the lowest, but for injury to human creatures the middle, amercement.

285. 4 The breaker of a footbridge, of a public flag, of a palisade, and of idols made of clay , shall repair what he has broken, , and pay a mulct of five hundred panas .

286. 4 For mixing impure with pure commodities, for piercing fine gems, as diamonds or rubies, and for boring pearls or inferior gems improperly, the fine is the lowest of the three ; but damages must always be paid.

287. ‘The man, who shall deal unjustly with purchasers at a fair price by delivering goods of less value , or shall sell at a high price goods of ordinary value, shall pay according to circumstances , the lowest or the middle amercement.

288. 4 Let the king place all prisons near a public road, where offenders may be seen wretched or disfigured.

289. 4 Him, who breaks down a public wall, him, who fills up a public ditch, him, who throws down a public gate, the king shall speedily banish.

290. 4 For all sacrifies to destory innocent men, the punishment is a fine of two hundred panas ; and for machinations with poisonous roots, and for the various cfyarms and witcheries intended to kill, by persops not effecting their purpose. 2l6 ON THE SAME ; AND ON THE

291. ‘The seller of bad grain for good, or of good seed placed at the top of the bag , to conceal the bad fylow> and the-destroyer of known landmarks, must suffer such corporal punishment as will disfigure them ;

292. * But the most pernicious of all deceivers is a goldsmith, who commits frauds : the king shall order him to be cut piecemeal with razors.

293. ‘ For stealing implements of husbandry, weapons, and prepared medicines, let the king award punishment according to the time and according to their use.

294. * The king, and his council, his metropolis, his realm, his treaswe, and his army, together with his ally, are the seven members of his kingdom ; wherice it is called Septdnga :

295. ‘ Among those seven members of a kingdom, let him consider the ruin of the first, and so fourth in order, as the greatest calamity ;

296. ‘ Yet, in a sevenparted kingdom here below, there is no supremacy among the several parts, from any pre-eminence in useful qualities : but all the parts must reciprocally support each other, like the three staves of aboly mendicant :

297. ‘ In these and those acts, indeed , this and that member may be distinguished : and the member, by which any affair is transacted, has the pre-eminence in that particular affair.

298. • ‘ When the king employs emissaries, when he exerts power, when he regulates public business, let him invariably know both his own strength and that of his enemy,

299. ‘ With all their several distresses and vices : let him then begin his operations, having maturely considered the greater and less importance of particular acts : f

300. ‘ Let him, though frequently disappointed, , renew bis operations, how fatigued soever, again and again ; since fortune always attends the man, who, having begun well \ strenuously renews his efforts. «

301. ‘All the ages, called Satya, Trttd, Dwdj>dra% and Cali , COMMERCIAL AND SERVILE CLASSES. depend on the conduct of 'the ting , „ho ls glared present each of those ages « rn 10 re‘ 3°2. ' Sleeping, he is the Cali waking, he DM»„t exerting h.mself action, the Trim , living vhtuou.ly, the Saiya. , 303. 'Of INDRA, Of SURYA, of PAVANA, of YAMA, of Varuna, of Chandra, of Agni, and of Prit’iiivi' let the king emulate the power and attributes. ^

304. ‘ As Indra sheds plentiful showers during the four rainy months, thus let him, acting like the regent of clouds, rain just gratifications over his kingdom :

305. ‘ As Su'RYA with strong rays draws up the water during eight months, thus let him, performing the function of fthe sun, gradually draw froni his realm the legal revenue :

306. ‘ As Pavana, when he moves, pervades all creatures, thus let him, imitating the regent of wind, pervade all places by his concealed emissaries :

307. ‘ As Yama, at the appointed time, punishes friends and foes, or those who revere , and those who contemn , him, thus let the king, resembling the judge of departed spirits, punish offending subjects :

308. ‘As VARUNA most assuredly binds the guilty in fatal cords, thus let him, representing the genius of water, keep offenders in close confinement :

309. ‘ When the people are no less delighted on seeing the king, than on seeing the full moon, he appears in the character of Chandra :

310. * Against criminals let him ever be ardent in wrath, let him be splendid in glory, let him consume wicked ministers, thus emulating the functions of Agni, regent of fire.

311. ‘As Prit’hivi' supports all creatures equally, thus a king, sustaining all subjects, resembles in his office the goddess of eartli.

312. ‘ Engaged in these duties and in others, with continual activity, let the king above all things restrain robbers, both in his own territories and in those of other pyinces, from which they come , or tn which they se$k refuge . ON THE SAME ; AND ON THE

313. ' Let him not, although in the greatest distress for money , provoke Brdhmens to anger by taking their property ; for they, once enraged, could immediately by sacrifices and imprecations destroy him with his troops, elephants, horses and cars.

314. ‘Who, without perishing, coulcl provoke those holy men, by whom, that is, by whose ancestors , under Brahma', all devouring fire was created, the sea with waters not drinkable, and the moon with its wane and increase ?

315. ‘What prince could gain wealth by oppressing those, who, if angry, could frame other worlds and regents of worlds, could give being to new gods and mortals ?

316. f ‘What man, desirous of life, would injure those, by the aid of whom, that is, by tvhose oblations , worlds and gods perpetually subsist ; those, who are rich in the learning of the VMa ?

317. ‘A Brdhmen, whether learned or ignorant, is a powerful divinity ; even as fire is a powerful divinity, whether consecrated or popular.

318. ‘Even in places for burning the dead, the bright fire is undefiled ; and, when presented with clarified butter at subsequent sacrifices, blazes again with extreme splendour :

319. * Thus, although Brdhmens employ themselves in all sorts of mean occupation, they must invariably be honoured ; for they are something transcendently divine.

320. ‘ Of a military man, who raises his arm violently on all occasions against the priestly class, the priest himself shall be the chastiser; since the soldier originally proceeded from the Brdhmen .

321. ‘ From the waters arose fire ; from the priest, the soldier ; from stone, iron : their all- penetrating force is ineffectual in the places, whence they respectively sprang.

322. ‘ The military class cannot prosper without the sacerdotal, nor can the sacerdotal be raised without the military : both classes, by cordial union, are exalted in this world and in the next.

323. ‘ SHOULD the king be near his end through some incurable disease , he must bestow on the priests all his riches accumulated from legal fines ; and, having duly committed l\is king'*™ ^ w COMMERCIAL AND SERVILE CLASSES. son, let him seek death ia battle nr if u r . * . . tue> or' lJ Uiere oe no war , by abstaining from food , 324- ‘ Thus conducting himself, and ever firm in discharging his royal duties, let the king employ all his ministers in acts beneficial to his people.

325. 1 These rules for the conduct of a military man having been propounded, let mankind next hear to the rules for the commercial and servile classes in due order.

326. ‘LET the Vaisya , having been girt with his proper sacrificial thread, and having married an equal wife, be always attentive to his business of agriculture and trade , and to that of keeping cattle ;

327. ‘ Since the lord of created beings, having formed herd, and flocks, intrusted them to the care of the Vaisya , while he intrusted the whole human species to the Brahmen and the Cshatriya:

328. ‘Never must a Va isya be disposed to say, “I keep no cattle nor, he being willing to keep them, must they by any means be kept by men of another class.

329. ‘ Of gems, pearls, and coral, of iron, of woven cloth, of perfumes and of liquids, let him well know the prices both high and low :

330. ‘ Let him be skilled likewise in the time and manner of sowing seeds, and in the bad or good qualities of land ; let him also perfectly know the correct modes of measuring and weighing,

331. ‘The excellence or defects of commodities, the advantages and disadvantages of different regions, the probable gain or loss on vendible goods, and the means of breeding cattle with large augmentation :

332. ‘ Let hfrn know the just wages of servants, the various dialects of men, the best way of keeping goods, and whatever else belongs to purchase and sale.

333. ‘ Let him apply the most vigilant care to augment his wealth by performing his duty ; and, with great solicitude, let him give nourishment to all sentient oreatures. < Servile attendance on Brdhmens learned in the V eda, 334 ON THE SAME ; AND ON THE chiefly on such as keep house and are famed for virtue, is of itself the highest duty of a Siidra , and leads him to future beatitude :

335. * Pure in body and mind> humbly serving the three higher classes, mild in spceeh, never arrogant, ever seeking refuge in Brdhmens principally, he may attain the most eminent class in another transmigration .

336. ‘ This clear system of duties has been promulgated for the four classes, when they are not in distress for subsistence ; now learn in order their several duties in times of necessity.