Chapter 10
VIII. < eight-fold; that of a Faisya, sixteea-fold ; that of a
^ Cshatriyaj two and thirty-fold.
338. ^ That of a Brahmen, four and sixty-fold ; or a
* hundred-fold complete, or even twice four and \ sixty-fold; each of them knowing the natur? of his
* offence.
339. ' The taking of roots and firuit from a large
* tree, in a field or a forest unenclosed, or of wood
* for a sacrificial fire, or of grass to be eaten by ^ cows, Menu has pronounced no theft.
340. ^ 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. * A twice-born man, who is travelling, and ' whose provisions are scanty, shall not be fined, for ' taking only two sugar canes, or two esculent roots, ^ from the field of another man.
342. ' He, who ties the unhound, or looses the
* bdund, cattle of another ^ and he, who takes a slave, a
* horse, or a carriage without permission^ shall be ^ punished a«r for theft.
343. ^ A king, who by enforcing these laws restrains
* men from committing theft, acquires in this world
* fame, and, in the next, beatitude.
344. ^ Let not the king, who ardently desires a
* seat
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IPRIVATE AND CRIMINAL. 276
* seat with IndrA^ and wishes for glory, which ho- chap. ^ thing can change or diminish, endure for a moment ^^^i*
^ the man, who has committed atrocious violence, as ^ by robbery^ ar^on^ or homicide f
345. * He, who commits great violence, must be con- ^ sidered as a more grievous offender than a defamer,
* a thief, or a striker with a staff:
346. ' That king, who endures a man convicted of
* such atrocity, quickly goes to perdition, and incurs
* publick hate.
347. ^ Neither on account of friendship, nor for the ' take of great lucre, shall the king dismiss the per- ^ petrators of violent acts, who spread terrour 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 a 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 otherwise escape^ who assails him with ^
^ intent to murder, whether young or old, or his pre- ^ ceptor, or a Brdhmen deeply versed in the scrip- ' ture.
351. ^ By killing an assassin, who attempts to kill,
2 N 2 ' whether
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270 ON JUDICATURE; AND ON LAW^
CHAP. ' whether m publick or in pnvate^ no crime is com- ^^^ ^ mitted by the sli^rer: fury recoik upon fury.
352. ^ Men, who commit overt-acts of adulterous in* ^ clinations for the wives of others^ let the king ^ banish from his reahn^ 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 viola- ^ tion of duties; and thence is the root of felicity
* quite destroyed.
354. * A man before noted for such an offence, 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 con*
* verses 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 a grove, or ^ at the confluence of rivers, incurs the guilt of an ^ adulterous inclination :
357. * To send her flowers or perfumes,, to sport ^ and jest with her, to touch her apparel and orna-
* ments, to sit with her on the same couch, are held ' adulterous acts on his part;
358. ^ To touch a married woman on her brecuU or
* any ^ther place, which ought not to be touched^ or,
* being
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PRIVATE AND CRIMINAL. 277
being touched unbecomingly by her^ to bear it com- chap. placently, are adulteroas 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 pro- hibited from speaking to married women.
361. ' Let no man converse, after he has been for- bidden, with the wives of others: he, who thus con- verses, after a husband or father has forbidden Aim, shall pay a fine of one suvema.
362. ' These laws relate not to the wives of publick 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, per- mit them to hold a culpable intercourse :
363. * Yet he, who has a private connexion with such women, or with servant-girls kept by one master, or with female anchorets of an heretical religion j shall be compelled to pay a small fine.
364. ' He, who vitiates a damsel without her con- , sent, shall suffer corporal punishment instantly; but he, who enjoys a willing damsel, shall not be cor- porally punished, if his class be the same with hers.
i
365. ' From a girl^ who makes advances to a man
* of
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278 ON JUDICATUEE; AND ON LAW,
CHAP. ' of a high class, let not the kmg take the smallest ^"- ' fine ; bnt her, who first addresse'^ a low man, let him ^ constrain to live in her honse well guarded.
366. ^ A low man, who maked 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 hei\ if her father please.
367. ^ Of the man, who through insolence forcibly ^ contaminates a damsel, let the king instantly order Vtwo fingers to be amputated, and condemn him to ' pay a fine of six hundred panas:
368. ^ A man of equal rank, who defiles a consenting ^ damsel, shall not have his fingers amputated, but
* shall pay a fine of two hundred panas, to restrain ^ him from a repetition of his oflfence.
369. * 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. ^ 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 publick street
371. ^ Should a wife, proud of her family and the ^ great qualities of her kinsmen, actually violate the ^ duty, which she owes to her lord, let the king con- ' demn her to be devoured by dogs in a pjace much
* frequented ;
372. ' And
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PRIVATE AND CRIMINAL. 279
372. ' And let him place the adulterer on an iron chap.
* 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 crimen the fine must be doubled ; ^ so it musty if he be connected with the daughter of ' an outcast or with a ChdnddH woman.
374. ' A mechanick or servile man, having an adul-
* terous connexion with a woman of a twice-born class,
* whether guarded at home or unguarded, shall thus ' he punished: if she was unguarded, he shall lose the
* part offending J and his whole substance ; if guarded, ^ and a priestess^ every thing, even his life.
375. ' For adultery with a guarded priestess, a mer-
* chant shall forfeit all his wealth after imprisonment ' for a year; a soldier shall be fined a thousand pa^
* nas, and be shaved with the urine of an ass:
376. ^ But, if a merchant or soldier commit adul- ^ tery with a woman of the sacerdotal class, whom ' her husband guards not at home, the king shall only ' fine the mierchant five hundred,, and the soldier a ' thousand :
377. * Both of them, however, if they commit that ^ offence with a priestess not only guarded but eminent
* f^ good qualitiesy shall be punished like men of the ^ servile class, or be burned in a fire of dry grass or ^ reeds*
378. ' A Brahmen^
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280 ON JUDICATURE ; AND ON LAW,
CHAP. 37g ^ woman without her free will, must be fined a thou- ^ ^and panas ; but only five hundred if he knew her ' with her free consent.
379. ^ 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 aU possible crimes : let him banish the
* oflFender from his realm, but with all his property
* secure, and his body unhurt :
381. ^ 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 un- ^ guarded :
383. ^ But a Brahmen^ who shall commit adultery ^ with a guarded woman of those two classes, must ^ be fined a thousand panas; and, for the like ofience ^ with a guarded woman of the servile class, the fine
* of a soldier or a merchant shall be also one thou- ^ stfnd.
384. ^ For adultery with a woman of the military ^ class, if unguarded, the fine of a merchant is five
* hundred;
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PRIVATE AND CRIMINAL,
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hundred ; but a soldier, for the converse of that of- chap. fencey must be shaved with urine, or pay the fine ^^• just mefUioned.
385. ^ A priest shall pay five hundred paruis 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 miwed 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.
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 sacrificer, who forsakes the officiating priest, and the officiating priest, who abandons the sacrificer, each being able to do his work, and guilty of no grievous offence, must each be fined a hundred pantis.
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 observcuice, among twice-born men in their several orders;
2 o 391. * But
-^
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?8i ON JUWC^tTURE ; ANP ON lAW,
CHAP. 391. ^ j^ut let hjnxx Niftier giving them due honour
vui. « according to their iwerit, wmJ, «t first, having soothed
' them by mildness^ apprise them of their duty with
^ the assistance of Brahmens.
39^ ^ Thr priest^ who gives an et^tertaimaftent to ' twenty men of the three first classes^ without invit- ' i^g his next neighbour, and his neighbour next but
* one, if both be worthy of an invitation, shall be
* fined one mdsha (xf silver.
393. ^ A Brdhmen of deep learning in the I^Sela who
* invites not another Brdhnien, both learned and vir- ^ tuous, to an entertainment given on 9Q%m ocamon re-
* lating to his wealthy cw the marriage of his child, ^ and the like, shall be made to pay him twice the ^ value of the repast, and be fined a mdsha of gold.
394. ^ Neither a blind man, nor an . idiot, nor a ^ cripple, nor a man fiill seventy years old, nor one ' 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 ' theologian, 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. ^ Let a wiisherman wash the clothes a/* his em- ^ phyers by little aiid little, or piece by piece, and ^ not hastily, on a smooth boiEtfd of fiii/iwa/}-wood : let
^ him
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PRIVATE AND CRIMINAL. 283
* him never mix tkt dotbes of one person with the char ^ clotheft of another^ nor suffer any but the owner to
* wear them.
397. ^ Le* a weaver, who has received ten palms of ^ cotton-thread, give them back increased to eleven ^ by the ru^'Water ismd the Hke used in weaving : he, ' who does otherwise^ shall pay a fine of twelve punas.
898. * As men versed in cases of tolls, and acquaint- ^ ed 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 ^ pre-emption, or on TThich he has laid an embai^go, ^ let the sovereign confiscate the whdle property.
400. ' Any seller or buyer, who fraudulently passes
* by the toll-ofl&ce 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 maiketable things, having duly oon-
* sidered whence they come, if imported; and, if ex- ^ ported J whither they must be sent; how kmg they ^ have been kept ; what may be gained by them ; and ^ what has been expended on them.
402. ' Once in five nights, or at the close of every ^ half month, according to the nature of the commo-
2 o 2 ' dities,
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284 ON JUDICATURE; AND ON LAW,
CHAP, i ditiesy let the king make a regulation for market
* prices in the presence of those ea^perienced men :
403. * Let all weights and measures be well ascer- ^ tained 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 pro- ^ portioned 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 preg-
* nant, a religious beggar, a forester in the third ^ order, and Brdhmens, who are 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, shc^U 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 boat- ^ men on the water : in the case of inevitable acci- ' dent, there can be no damages recovered.
410. ' The
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PRIVATE AND CRIMINAL. 285
410. * Thb king should or ^ cantile class to practise trade, or money-lending, or ^^ '
^ agriculture and attendance on cattle; and each man ^ of the servile class to act in the service of the ' twice-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 with- ' out 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, su^h 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 Brdh-
* mens :
414. * A Sddraj 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. ^ Thbre are servants of seven sorts ; one made
* captive under a standard or in. battle^ one main-
* tained in consideration of service, one bom of a
* female slave in the house, one sold, or given, or
* inherited
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386 ON JUDICATURE.
CHAP. ( inherited from anoestors, and oae enslawd by way ^ of punishHient on his inability to pay a imrge Jku.
416. ' Three persons^ a wife, a son, and a 8lave> are declared by law to have in general no wealth
' exclusively their own: the wealth, which they may ^ ecoTi, is regularly acquired for the man, to whom they
* belong.
417. ^ A Brdhmen may seize without hesitation, if
* he be distressed for a subsistence^ the goods of his ^ 5wrfra-slave ; for, as that slave can have no property,
* his master may take his good^.
418. ' With vigilant ccure should the king exert him- ^ self in compelling merchants and mechanicks 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 businessy consider the great objects of ' pubUck measures, and inquire into the state of hi& ^ carriages, elephants^ horsesy and carsy his constant ' revenues and necessary expences, his mines of pre-
* cicus metals or gemsy and his treasury :
420. ^ Hius, 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.'
CHAP.
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CHAP- IX.
^ On the seme / and on the Commercial and Servile Classes.
1. M NOW will propound the ipamemorial duties of chap ' 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; 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 in- ^ dependence.
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, oot being thus re-
* strained, they bring sorrow on both families:
6. ' Let husbands consider this as the supreme law ^ ordained for all cli^sea; and let them^ bow weak
' soever,.
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288 ON THE SAME; AND ON THE
CHAP. * soever, diligently keep their wives under lawful re- ^^- ^ strictions;
7. * For he who preserves his wife from vice^ pre- ' serves his oflfspring from suspicion of bastardy^ his ' ancient usages from neglect^ his family from disgrace , ^ himself from angtUsk^ and his duty from violation.
8. * The husband, after conception by his wife, be- ^ comes himself an embryo, and is bom a second ^ time here below; for which reason the wife is called ' jdyd, since by her CJdyat^J he is bom again :
9. ' Now the wife brings forth a son endued with ^ similar qualities to those of the father; so that, ^ ^ith a view to an excellent offspring, he must vi- ^ gilantly 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 expenditiu-e of wealth, in purifi- ' cation and female duty, in the preparation of daily ^ food, and the superintendence of household uten- ^ sils.
12. ^ By confinement at home, even under affec- ^ tionate and observant guardians, they are not se- ^ cure ; but those women are truly secure, who are ' guarded by their own good inclinations.
13. ^ Drinking spirituous liquor^ associating with
^ evil
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COMMERCIAL AND SERVILE CLASSES. 289
^ evil persons, absence from her husband, ramblmg chap.
* abroad, unseasonable sleep, and dwellmg in the ^^• ^ house of another, are six faults which bring infamy
^ on a married woman :
14. * Such women examine not beauty, nor pay at-
* tention 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 per- ^ verse nature (let them be guarded in this world ^ ever so well), they soon become alienated from their ^ husbands.
16. ^ Tet should their husbands be diligently care- ^ fill in guarding them; though they well know the ^ disposition, with which the lord of creation formed ' them:
17. ^ Menu allotted to such women a love of tl)eir
* bed, of their seat, and of omanm, impure appe* ^ tites, wrath, weak flexibility, desire of mischief, ^ and bad conduct.
18. ' Women have no business with the texts of the ' Veda; thus is the law fully settled : having, therefore,
* no evidence of lawy and no knowledge of expiatory ^ texts, sinful women must be as foul as falsehood
* itself; and this is a fixed rule.
19. ^ To this effect many texts, which may show
2 F ,^ theb
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290 ON THE SAME; AND ON THE
feHAP- ' ^ now their expiation for sin.
20. ^ ^* That pure blood, 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 tenour of the
* holy text, which her souy who knows her guilty must
* pronounce for her ;
21 • * And this expiation has been declared for every \ unbecoming thought, which enters her mind, con- ' cerning 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 lawfiil 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'ha, and Sa'rangi", being
* united to Mandapa'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 Mife.
26. ^ Whbn
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COMMERCIAL ANP SERVILE CLASSES. 291
. 26. ^ When good women^ utiit^ with husbands in chai^. ^jei^ctation of progeny^ eminently fortunate and wor- ^^
* thy 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 superintendance
* of domestick aflfairs are peculiar to the wife :
28. ' From the wife alone proceed offspring, good ' hiougehold management, solicitous ^tention, most ex- ' quisite caresses, and that heavenly beatitude which ^ she obtains for the manes of ancestors, 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 his mansion in heaven, and, by
* the virtuous in this world, be called Sddhwl, or good ^ and faithful ;
30. * But a wife, by disloyalty to her husband, ' shall incur disgrace in this life, and be bom in the
/ newt from the womb of a shakal, or be tormented ^ with horrible diseases, which punish vice.
31. ^ Lbarn now that excellent law, universally sa- ^ lutary, 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 b{union is mentioned in the
2 p 2 • Fkla;
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202 ON THE SAME; AND ON THE
CHAP. ^ Feda; some giving tliat name to the real procrealor ^^' ^ of the ebild^ and others apjdying 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 eases the prolifiek power of the male
* is chiefly distinguished; in others, the receptacle of ' the female ; but, when both are equal in dignity, ^ the oflFspring is most highly esteemed:
35. ' In general, as between the male and female
* powers of procreation, the male is held superiour; ^ since the oflfspring of all procreant beings is distin- ' guished 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, hav-
* ing been sown by husbandmen in the proper season, ^ vegetate according to their nature :
39. ^ Rice-plants, mature in sixty dajfSy cmd tkose^
^ which
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COMMBRCIAL AND SERVILE CLASSES. 293^
^ which require transplantation^ mudga, tila, mdsha^ chap. ^ barley, leidcs, and sugar-canes, all spring np ae- ^ cording to the seeds.
40. ^ That one plant should be sown, and another ^ produced, cannot happen: whatever seed may be ^ sown, even that produces its proper stem.
4L ' 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 Fl^tta 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 y 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 (Prifhivi) as the wife of king Prithu; and
* perty of him, who cut away the wood, or who clear- ' ed and tilled it; and the antelope, of the first huu^ ^ ter, who mortally wounded it.
45. ^ Then only is a man perfect, when he consists ' of three persons united^ his wife, himself, and his ^ son J and thus have learned Brdhmens announced
' this
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2W ON THE SAME; AND ON THB
dHAP. ' this maaiim : '^ The husband is ev^n (m^ perscta ^th ^^- * his wife/' /or all damestiek and rdigioUs^ not f^r all ' civily purposes.
46. ^ Neither by sale nor desertion can a wife be ' released from her husband : thus we fully fieknow- ' ledge the law enacted of old by the Lord of ^ea-
* tures.
47. ^ Once is the partition of an inheritance, made; ^ once is a damsd given in marriage; and once does ^ a man say '^ I give :** these three are, by good
* men, done once for all and irrevocably.
48. ^ As with cows, mares, female camels, slave^ ^ girls, milch buffalos, she-goats, 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.
40. / They, who have no property in the field, but, ^ having grain in their possession, sow it in soil ^ owned by another, oan receive no advantage what- ' ever from the corn, which may be produced:
. 50. ^ Should a bull beget a hundred calves on cows
^ not owned by his master, those calves belong
* solely, to the proprietors of thfe cows; and the ^ strength of the bull was wasted:
51. * 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 pro- ^ creator can have no advantage from it.
52. ' Unless
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COMMBKCIAL AND SERVILE CLASSES. 205
58i ^ UnleM tbere be a special agreement between chap. ' the owners of tte land and of the seed, the fhiit ^^ ^ belongs dearly to the land-owner; for the recepta* ^ cle is more important than the seed :
53. ' Bnt 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/
54. ^ Whatever man owns a field, if seed, conveyed ^ into it by water or wind, should germinate, the ^ plant belongs to the land-owner : the mere sower ^ takes not the fruit.
55. ^ 3uch is the law concerning the ofi^spring of ^ cows, and mares, of female camels, goats, and ' sheep, of slave-girls, hens, and milch buffalos, wn- * less there be a special agreement
56. * 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 ^Ider brother is considered as \ mother-in-law to the younger; and the wife of the ' younger as daughter-in-law to the elder:
58. * llie elder brother, amorously approaching the ' wife of the younger, and the* younger, caressing ' the wife of the elder, are both degraded, even
^ though
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296 OK THE SAME; AND ON THE
CHAP. ' though authorized by the husband or spirihujU guide j IX- * except when such wife has no issue.
59. ' On failure of issue by the husband, if he be ^ of the sennle class, the desired offspring may be
* procreated, either by his brother or some other ^ sapinda, on the wife, who has been duly au-
* thorized:
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 ' childless wife :
61. ^ Some sages, learned in the laws 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 wif6 ^ and appointed kinsman may legally procreate a ^ second.
62. ^ The first object of the appointment being ob-
* tained according to law, both the brother and the ' Widow must live together like a father and a ' daughter by affinity.
68. ^ Either brother, appointed for this purpose, ^ who deviates from the strict rule, and acts 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, who authorize
' her
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COMMERCIAL AND SERVILE CLASSES.
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* her to conceive by any other, violate the primeval chap- ' law. ^^•
65. ' Such a commission to a brother or other near ^ kinsman is no where mentioned in the nuptial texts
* of the V^da ; nor is the marriage of a widow even ^ named in the laws concerning marriage.
66. ' This practice, fit only for cattle, is repre-
* hended by learned BrAhmens ; yet it is declared to ^ have been the practice even of men, while Vb'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. ^ 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
* progeny.
'69. ' The damsel, indeed^ whose husband shall die ^ after troth verbally plighted, but before consumma-^ ^ tioniy his brother shall take in marriage according ' to this rule :
70. ^ 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.
71. ^ Iat no man of s^ise, who has once given
2
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ON tHE 8AME^, AND ON THE
CHAP. IX.
his daughter to a suitor, give her again to another; for he, who gives away his 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 pre- viously 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; ^ince a wife, even though virtuous, may be tempted to act amiss, if she be distressed by want of subsistence :
75. * While her husband, having settled her main- tenance, 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 abroad on account of some sacred duty, let her wait for him eight years; if on ac- count of knowledge or feme, six; if on account of pleasure, three : after those terms have expired^ she must follow him.
77. * For a whole year let a husband bear with 'his wifie, who treats him with aversion; but, after
^ a year,
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COHEBIEECIAL AND SERVILE CLASSES. 899
^ a year, let him deprive her of h» separate pro- chap.
* perty, and cease to cohabit with her. K-
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. ' 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.
80. ' A WIFE, who drinks any spirituous liquors,
* who acts immorally, who shows at red to her lord, ' who is incurahly diseased, who is mischievous, who ^ wastes his property, may at all times be superseded ^ by another wife.
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 virtuous, must never be disgraced, though
^ she may be superseded by another wife with her ^ own consent.
83. ' If a wife, legally superseded, shall depart in ' Mrrath from the house, she mutt either instantly be
2 Q 2 ^ confined,
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300 ON THE SAME; AND ON THE
cMap. ^ 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 rac^
* tichs of gold,
85. * 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 diflferent class by
* any means) must perform the duty of personal at- ^ tendance, and the daily business relating to acts
* of religion;
87. ^ 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 im- ^ memorially considered as a mere Chcmddla begotten ^ on a Brdhmenh
88. ^ To an excellent and handsome youth of the ' same class, let every man give his daughter in mar- ^ riage, according to law; even though she have not
* attained her age of eight years:
89. ^ But it is better, that the damsel, though mar- ^ riageable, should stay at home till her death, than ^ that he should ever give her in marriage to a bride-
* groom void of excellent qualities.
90. ' Three
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COMMERaAL AND SERVILE CLASSES. 301
90. * Three years let a damsel wait, though she be chap.
* marriageable; but, after that term, let her ehuse ^^' ^ for herself a bridegroom of equal rank :
91. * K, not being given in marriage, she ehuse her
* bridegroom, neither she, nor the youth chosen,
* commits any oflfence;
92. ^ But a damsel, thus electing her husband, shall ^ not carry with her the ornaments, which she re- ^ ceived 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 giv e 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. ^ A man, aged thirty years, may marry a girl ' of twelve, if he Jind one dear to his heart'; or a man ' of twenty-four years, a damsel of eight ; but, if he ^ Jinish his studentship earlier, and the duties of his
* newt 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
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302 ON THE SAME; AND ON THE
CHAP. ^* * gether with the wife.
97. ^ If a nuptial gratuity has actually been given to a damsel^ and he, who gave it, should die before marriage J 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 name of a nuptial gratuity.
101. ^ ** Let mutual fidelity continue to death :'' this, in few words, may be considered as the supreme law between husband and wife.
102. ^ Let a man and woman, united by marriage, constantly beware, lest, at any time disunited, they violate their mutual fidelity.
103. ' TTius has been declared to you the law, abounding in the purest affection, for the conduct of man and wife ; together with the practice of rais- ing up offspring to a husband of the servile class on
^ failure
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COMMERCIAL AND SERVILE CLASSES. 308
^ ikihire of isime by him begotten: learn now the law chap. ^ 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 chuse 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 chu^e
* 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, there- ' fore, ought before partition to manage the whole ^ patrimony :
107. ^ That son alone, by whose birth he dis- ' charges his debt, and through whom he attains im- ' mortality, 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-bom, his younger brothers; and let them ^ behave to the eldest, according to law, as children ^ should behave to their father.
109. * The first-bom, if virtuous^ exalts the family, ^ or, if vitious^ destroys it : the first-bom is in this
^ world
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304 On the same; and on the
CHAP. * world the most respectable; and the good nefer ^x*
110. ^ 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 uncley or other kinsman.
111. ^ Either let them thus live together, or, if they desire separate^ to perform religious rites, let them live apart; since religious duties are multiplied in separate houses, their separation is, therefore, l^^l and even laudable.
112. * The portion deducted for the eldest is a twen- tieth part of the heritage, with the best of all the chattels ; for the middlemost, half of that, or a for- tieth; for the youngest, a quarter of it, or an eightieth.
113. ^ The eldest and youngest respectively take their just mentioned portions j 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-bom, 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 per- forming their several duties, there is no deduction of the best in ten, or the most excellent chattel r
^ though
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COMMERCIAL AND SERVILE CLASSES. 305
^though some trifle^ as a mark of greater veneration, chap. ^ should be given to the first-bom. ^^•
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 distri- ' buted in this manner :
11*7. ^ Let the eldest have a double share, and th^
* next-bom, a share and a half, if they clearly sur-
* pass 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 mo-
* therj 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 distributiony belongs to the first-bom.
120. * Should a younger brother, in the manner be- ^ fore 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 de- ^ ceased, and his natural father : thus is the law ^ settled.
2 R 121. ' The
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306 ON THE SAME; AND ON THE
CHAP. 121. * The representative is not so far whoYLy sub-
^^' * stituted by law in the place of the deceased princi-
^ pal^ 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, there-
* fore, is entitled by law to an equal share, but not ^ to a double portion.
122. * A younger son being bom of a first married ' wife, after an elder son had been born of a wife ' last married, hut of a lower class, it may be a doubt
* in that case, how the division shall be made:
123. ^ Let the son, bom of the elder wife, take one
* most excellent bull deducted from the inheritance; ^ the next excellent bulls are for those, who were bom ' first y but are inferiour on account of their mothers, ^ who were married last.
124. * A son, indeed, who was first bom, and
* brought forth by the wife first married, may take, ^ if learned and virtuous, one buU and fifteen cows; ^ and the other sons may then take, each in right of
* his several mother : such is the fixed rule.
125. * As between sons, bom 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 swabrdhmanydj depends on actual priority of
* birth ; and of twins also, if any such be conceived
^ among
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COMMERCIAL AND SERVILE CLASSES, 307
^ among different wives, the eldest is he, who was chap.
* first actually born. ix.
127. ^ He, who has ho son, may appoint his daugh- ^ ter in this manner to raise up a son for him, saying :
* ** the male child, who shall be bom from her in ^ wedlock, shall be mine for the purpose of perform- ^ ing my obsequies/'
128. ^ In this manner Dacsha himself, lord of created
* beings, anciently appointed all his Jifty daughters to ^ raise up sons to him for the sake of multiplying his ^ race:
129. * He gave ten to Dherma, thirteen to Casyapa,
* twenty seven to S6ma, king of Brdhmens and medical ' plants^ after doing honour to them with an affec-
* tionate heart.
130. ' The son of a man is even as himself; and ^ as the son, such is the daughter thus appointed: how ^ then, if he have no son^ can any inherit his pro* ^ perty, but a daughter, who is closely united with his ^ own soul.^
131. ^ Property, given to the mother on her mar- ^ riage, 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 fa- ^ ther, 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 with-
2 R 2 'out
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308 ON THE SAME; AND ON THE
CHAP. ' out a son, must offer two funeral cakes, one to his
