VIII. ( ings, must enter his court of justice, composed and

^ sedate in his demeanour, together with JBrdhmens
* and counsellors, who know how to give him advice :
2. ^ There, either sitting or standing, holding forth ^ his right arm, without ostentation in his dress and ^ ornaments, let him examine the affairs of litigant
* parties.
3. ^ Each day let him decide causes, one after ano- ^ ther, under the eighteen principal titles of law, by ^ arguments and rules drawn from local usages, and ^ from written codes :
4. ^ Of those titlesy the first is debt, on loans for ^ consumption ; the secondy deposits, and loans for use ; ^ the third, sale without ownership ; the ftmrthy concerns ^ among partners ; the fifth, subtraction of what has ^ been given;
5. ^ The sixth, non-payment of wages or hire; the ^ seventh, non-performance of agreements; the eighth, ^ rescission of sale and purchase; the ninth, disputes
* between master and servant;
6. ^ The tenth, contests on boundaries; the eleventh
' and
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ON JUDICATURE. 22S
' and twelflhy assault and slander; the thirteenth^ lar- chap. ^ ceny ; the fourteenth^ robbery and other violence ; ^^^• ^ thejifteenthy adultery;
7. ^ The sixteenth^ altercation between man and ^ wife, and their several duties; the seventeenth^ the ^ law of inheritance ; the eighteenthy gaming with dice ^ and with living creatures : these eighteen titles of law
* are settled as the ground-work of all judicial pro- ^ cedure in this world.
8. ^ Among men, who contend for the most part on
* the titles just mentioned, and on a few miscellaneous ^ heads not comprised under them^ let the king decide ^ causes justly, observing primeval law;
9. ^ But, when he cannot inspect such affairs in per-
* son, let him appoint, for the inspection of them, a ^ Br6hmen of eminent learning:
10. ^ Let that chief judge, accompanied by three ^ assessors, fully consider all causes brought before ^ the king; and, having entered the court-room, let ^ him sit or stand, but not move backwards and forwards.
11. * In whatever country three BrdhmenSy particularly
* skilled in the three several Fedasy sit together with
* the very learned JSrcfAm^n appointed by the king, the ^ wise call that assembh/ the court of Brahma' wit
* four faces.
12. ' When justice, having been wounded by iniquity, ^k.
* approaches the court, and the judges extract not the ' dart, they also shall be woimded by it.
13. ' Either
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224 ON JUDICATURE, AND ON LAW,
CHAP. 18. ^ Either the court mn8t not be entered hy judgts^ ^^^' ' peertiesj and witnesses^ or law and truth must be openly ' declared: that man is criminal^ who either says no- ^ thing, or says what is false or unjust.
14. ^ Where justice is destroyed by iniquity, and ' truth by false evidence, the judges, who basely look ^ on without givhig redress^ shall also be destroyed.
15. ^ Justice being destroyed, will destroy; being ' preserved, will preserve : it must never, therefore, ^ be violated. ^* Beware, O judge ^ lest justice, being ^ overturned, overturn both us and thyself.*'
16. * The divine form of justice is represented as
* Vrishay or a bully and the gods consider him, who ^ violates justice, as a Frtskala, or one who slays a ^ bull : let the king, therefore, and his judges beware ^ of violating justice.
17. * The only firm friend, who follows men even
* after death, is justice: all others are extinct with ^ the body.
18. ^ Of injustice in decisions^ one quarter falls on the ^ party in the cause; one quarter, on his witnesses; ^ one quarter, on all the judges ; and one quarter on ' the king;
19. * But where he, who deserves condemnation, shall ^ be condemned, the king is guiltless, and the judges
* free from blame: an evil deed shall recoil on him,
* who committed it.
20. ' ABrdh^
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PRIVATE AHD CRUCIMAL.
30. ^ A Brdhsmn supported only by his class^ and chap. ^ one barely rq>uted a Brdkmen^ but without per- ^'i^* ^ formmg any sacerdotal aots^ may, at the king's plea- ^ sure, interpret the law to lum: so may the two mid- ^ die classes; but a Sddra, in no case whatever.
21. ^ Of that king, who stiq>idly looks on, while a ^ Sddra decides causes, the kingdom itself shall be ^ embarrassed, like a cow in deep mire.
22. * The whole territory, which is inhabited by a ^ number of Stidrasy overwhelmed with atheists, and ^ deprived of Brdkmens^ must speedily perish afliicted ^ with dearth and disease.
23. ^ Let the king or his judge y having seated him- ^ self on the bench, his body properly clothed and ^ his mind attentively fixed, begin with doing reve- ^ rence to the deities, who guard the world ; and then ^ let him enter on the trial of causes :
24. ^ Understanding what is expedient or inexpe- ' dient, but considering only what is law or not law, ^ let him examine all disputes between parties, in the ^ order of thdr several classes.
25. ^ By external signs let him see through the ^ thoughts of men ; by their voice, colour, countenance, ^ limbs, eyes, and action:
26. ^ From the limbs, the look, the motion of the ^ body, the gesticulation, the speech, the changes of ' the eye and the face, are discovered the internal * workings of the mind.
2 G 27. ^ Thb
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22$ ON JUDICATURE; AND ON LAW,
CHAP. 27. ' Thb property of a fi^tu4ent imd of ah infant,
^^^' ' whether by dej»cent or otherwise, let the king hold
^ ifi Mb custody, untU the owner shall have ended his
' studentship, or until his infancy shall have ceased
* in his sixteenth year.
28. ^ Equal care must be taken of barren wosften, ^ of Women without sons, whose husbands have married
* other wivesy of women without kindred, or whose ^ husbands are in distant places, of widows true to ^ tl^eir lords, and of women afflicted with ilhiess.
29. ^ Such kinsmen, as, by any pretence, appropriate ^ the fortunes of women during their lives, a just ^ king must pimish with the severity due to thieves.
30. ^ 'three years let the king detain the property ^ of Which no owner appears, after a distinct procla- ' matiim: the owner, appearing within the three years, ^ may take it ; but, after that term, the king may ^ confiscate it.
31. ^ He, who says " This is mine^"" must be duly ^ examincfd ; and if, before he inspect ity he declare its ^ form, number, and other circomstanoro, the owner ^ must have his property;
32. ^ But if he show not at what place and time ^ it was lost, and specify not its colour, shape, and ^ dim^sipns, he ought to be amerced:
33. ^ The king may take a sixth part of the pro- ^ per^ so detained by him, or a tenth, or a twelfth, ^ remembering the duty of good kings.
34- ' Property
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PRIVATE AND CRIMINAL. 82}^
34. ^ Pfopejiy lost hy %m man^ *iid found hy mo- (5hap.
* fhevy let; the kitog secure, by conwutting it to the ^"*
* pare of trust-WOTthy men ; and those, whom he shall ^ 4^onvict of stealing it, let him cause to be trampled ^ on by an elephant.
35. * From the man, who shall say with truth, ** This ^ piHi^rty, which had been k^t, belongs to me,'' the

* iwured it;
36. * But he, who shall say so falsely, may be fined ^ either an eighth part of his own property, or else
^ fEdsely claimed, a just calculation having been made.
37- ^ A learned Brdhineuy having found a treasure ^ fotmerly bidden^ may take it without any deduction ; ^ since he is the lord of all;
38. ' But of a treasure anciently reposited under ^ ground, which any other subject or the king has dis- ^ covered, the king may lay up half in his treasury, ^ having given half to the Brdhmens.
39. ^ Of dM hoards, and precious minerals m the ^ earth, the king is entitled to half by reason of his ^ general protection, and because he is the lord para-

40. ^ To men of all classes, the king must restore ' their property, which robbers have seized { since a ^ kiug> who takes it for himself, incurs the guilt of
* a robber.
2 6 2 41. ' A king
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228 ON JUDICATURE; AND ON LAW,
CHAP. 41. * A king, who knows the revealed law, must ^^^* * enquh-e into the particular laws of classes, the laws ^ or usages of districts, the (mstoms of traders, and ^ the rules of certain families, and establish their pe» ^ culiar laws, if they he not repugnant to the law of ' God;
42. ^ Since all men, who mind their own customary ^ ways of ^M'oceeding, and are fixed in the discharge ' of their several duties, become united by affectibn ^ with the people at large, even though they dwell far
* asunder*
43. ^ Neither the king himself nor his officers must ^ ever promote litigation ; nor ever neglect a law-suit ^ instituted by others*
44. ^ As a hunter traces the lair of a wounded beast ' by the drops of blood; thus let a king investigate > the true pcnnt of justice by deliberate aiguments:
45. ^ Let him fully consider the nature of truth, the ;^ ' state of the case, and his own person; and next^
^ the witnesses, the place, the mode, and the time; ^ firmly adhering to all the rules of practice :
46. * What has been practised by good men and by "- virtuous Brdhmensy if it be not inconsistent with the ' legal customs of provinces or districts, oi dasses and ^ families, let him establish.
47. * When a fcreditor sues before him for the reeo-
* very of his right from a debtor, let him cause the
* debtor to pay what the creditor shall prove due.
48. * By
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PRIVATE AND CRIMINAL. 229
48. ^ By whatever lawful means a creditor may' have chap. ^ gotten possession of his own property, let the king ^^''* ^ ratify such payment by the debtor, though obtained
* even by compulsory means.
49. ^ By the mediation of friends, by suit in court, ^ by artful management, or by distress, a creditor may ' force.
50. ^ That creditor, who recovers his right from his ^ debtor, must not be rebuked by the king for retaking
* his own property.
51. ^ In a suit for a debt, which the defendant de- ^ nies, let him award payment to the creditor of what, ^ by good evidence, he shall prove due, and exact a ^ small fine, according to the circumstances of the deb^ ' tar.
52. ^ On the denial of a debt, which the defendant ^ has in court been required to pay, the plaintiff must ^ call a witness who was present at the place of the ^ loan, or produce other evidence, as a note and the ' like.
53. ^ The plaintiff, who caUs a witness not present ^ at tile place, where the contract was madcy or, having ^ knowingly called him, disclaims him as his witness; ^ or who perceives not, that he asserts confused and ^ contradictory facts;
54. .^ Or who, having stated what he designs to ^ prove, varies afterwards from his case; or who^ being
^ questioned
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280 ON JUDICATURE; AND ON LAW,
CHAP. ^ questioned on a fact, which he had before admitted, ^"' ^ refuses to acknowledge that very fact;
55. ^ Or who has conversed with the witnesses in a ' place unfit for such conversation ; or who declines
* answering a question properly put ; or who departs ^ ftrom the court ;
56. * Or who, being ordered to speak, stands mute ; ^ or who proves not what he has alledged; or who
* * knows not what is capable or incapable of proof; ^ such a plaintiff shall fail in that suit.
57. ^ Etim who has said ^^ I have witnesses,'' and,
* being told to produce them, produces them not, the ^ judge must on this account declare nonsuited.
58. ^ If the plaintiff delay to put in his plaint, he ' may, according to the nature of the casCy be corpo- ^ rally punished or justly amerced; and, if the defen- ^ dant plead not within three fortnights, he is by law ^ condemned.
59. * In the double of that sum, which the defendant
* falsely denies, or on which the complainant falsely
* declares, «hall those two men, wilfully offending ' against juettice, be fined by the king.
60. ^ When a man has been brought into court by ' a suitor for property, and, being called on to answer, ^ denies the debt, the cause should be decided by the ^ Brdhnwn who represents the king, having heard ^ three witnesses at least.
61. ' What
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PRIYATfi AND CRIMINAL.
381
61. * What sort of witnesses must be luroduoed by chap. ereditors and others on the trial of causes, I will ^^'' comprehensively declare ; and in what manner those witnesses must give true evidence.
62. ^ Married house-keepers, men with male issue, inhabitants of the same district, either of the mili- tary^ the commercial, or the servile class, are com- petent, when called by the party, to give their evi- dence ; not any persons indiscriminately, except in such cases of urgency as will soon be mentioned.
63. ^ Just and sensible men of all the four classes "^ may be witnesses on trials; men, who know their whole duty, and are free from covetousness : but
men of an opposite character the judge must reject.
64. ' Those must not be admitted who have a pecu- niary interest ; nor CEuniliar friends ; nor menial ser- vants ; nor enemies ; nor men formerly peijured ; nor persons grievously diseased; nor those, who have committed heinous offences.
65. ^ The king cannot be made a witness ; nor opoks, and the like mean artificers ; nor publick dancers and singers ; nor a priest of deep learning in scripture ; nor a student in theology; nor an anchoret secluded from all worldly connexioiis ;
66. ^ Nor one wholly dependent ; nor one of bad fame ; nor one, who follows a oruel occupation ; nor one, who acts openly against the law ; nor a decrepit old man; nor a chikl; nor one man only, unless he
* be
^
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232 ON JUDICATURE; AND ON LAW,
CHAP. « be distinguished for virtue ; nor a wretch of the lowest ^^^^ ^ mixed class ; nor one, who has lost the organs of sense ;
67. ^ Nor one extremely grieved ; nor one intoxi- ^ cated i nor a madman ; nor one tormented with
* hunger or thirst; nor one oppressed by fatigue; nor ^ one excited by lust ; nor one inflamed by wrath ; nor ^ one who has been convicted of theft.
68. ^ Women should regularly be witnesses for ' women ; twice-born men, for men alike twice-born ; ^ good servants and mechanicks, for servants and me- ^ chanicks; and those of the lowest race, for those
* of the lowest;
69. * But any person whatever, who has positive ^ of a house, or in a forest, or at a time of death, ^ may give evidence between the parties :
70. ' On failure of witnesses duly qualifiedy evidence ^ may in such cases be given by a woman, by a
* child, or by an aged man, by a pupil, by a kins- ^ man, by a slave, or by a hired servant ;
71. ' Yet of children, of old men, and of the dis- ^ eased, who are all apt to speak untruly, the judge ^ must consider the testimony as weak ; and rmich ^ more, that of men with disordered minds :
72. ^ In all cases of violence, of theft and adultery, ^ of defamation and assault, he must not examine too ^ strictly the competence of witnesses.
73- ' If
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PRIVATE AND CRIMINAL.
233
73- * K there be contradictory evidence, let the chap.
* king decide by the plurality of credible witnesses ; ^^^^
* if equality in number, by superiority in virtue; if
* parity in virtue, by the testimony of such twice-born ^ men, as have best performed publick duties.
74. * Evidence of what has been seen, or of what ^ has been heard, as slander and ike like, given by ^ those who saw or heard it, is admissible; and a ^ witness, who speaks truth in those cases, neither de- ^ viates from virtue nor loses his wealth :
75. ^ But a witness, who knowingly says any thing, ^ before an assembly of good men, different from what ^ he had seen or heard, shall fall headlong, after death,
* into a region of horrour, and be debarred from hea- ^ ven.
76. * When a man sees or hears any thing, without ^ being then called upon to attest it, yet, if he be ^afterwards examined as a witness, he must declare ^ it, exactly as it was seen, and as it was heard.
77. * One man, untainted with covetousness and ^ other viceSy may in some cases be the sole Mdtness, ^ and will have more weight than many women, be- ^ cause female understandings are apt to waver; or ^ than many other men, who have been tarnished with ^ crimes.
78. ^ What witnesses declare naturally, or without
* bias, must be received on trials ; but what they im- ^ properly say, from some unnatural bent, is inapplica-
* ble to the purposes of justice.
2 u 79. * The
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234 ON JUDICATURE; AND ON LAW,
CHAP. 79. ^ The witnesses being assembled in the ibiddle
^^^^ ' of the oourt-room, in the presence of the plaintiff
' and the defendant^ let the judge examine tbem^ after
^ having addressed them all together in the foUowii^
^ manner :
80. ^ ^^ What ye know to have been trsmsacted in the
* ttattei* before ns, between the partiefs reciproci^, ' declare at large and with truth; for your evideitoe ^ in this cause is required.''
81. * A witness, who gives testimony with truth,
* shall attain exalted seats of beatitude above, and the ' highest fame here below : such testimony is revered ' by BiiAtiSiA' himself ;
82. ^ The witness who speaks falsely, shall be fast
* bound under watery in the snaky cords of Vabuna, ' and be wholly deprived of power to escape torment ^ during a hundred transmigrations : let Aaankind, ther6- ^ fore, give no false testimony.
83^. ^ By truth is a witness cleared from sin ; by truth
* is justice advanced: truth must, therefore, be spoken
* by witnesses of every class.
84. ^ The soul itself is its own witness j the soul it- ^ self is its own i*efuge ; offend not thy conscious soul,, ' the supreme internal witness of men !
85. * The sinful have said in their hearts: ^^ None ^ sees us.'' Yes ; the gods distinctly see them ; and ^ so does the spirit within their breasts.
86. ' The guardian deities of the fifieament, of the
* earth.
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FRIVATO AND CWMlNAi. 88§
^ i^rfii^ of th0 W9Xer», of the iiuman heftrt^ of the chap. ' mocm^ of the sun, and of fire, of punishment after ^"'•
* death^ of the winds, of night, of both twilights, ^ and of justice, perfectly know the st^te of all spirits ^ clothed with bodies.
87. \ In the for^Eioon let the judge, being purified, ^ severally call on th^ twiee-bora, being purified also, ^ to declare the truth, in the presence of some image, ^ a symbol of the divinity, and of Brahmensy while the ^ witnesses turn their faces either to the north or to ^ the east.
88. ^ To a Brdhmen he must begin with saying, ^ ** Declare;'' to a Cshatriya, with saying, ** Declare ^ the truth;'' to a P^aisya, with comparing perjury to ^ the crime of stealing kine, grain, or gold; to a
* Shldra, with comparing it in some or all of the follow-
* ing sentenceSy to every crime that men can commit.
89. * ^^ Whatbvbr places of torture have been pre-
* pared for the slayer of a priest, for the murderer ^ of a woman or of a child, for the injurer of a
* friend, and for an ungrateful man, those places are
* ordained for a witness who gives false evidence.
90. * " The firuit of every viri;uous act, which thou ' hast done, O good man, since thy birth, shall de*
* part from thee to dogs, if thou deviate in speech
* from the truth.
91. * ^^ O friend to virtue, that supreme spirit, which
* thou believest one and the same with thyself, re-
2 H 2 ^ sides
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286 ON JUDICATURE; AND ON LAW,
CHAP. ^ sides in thy bosom perpetually, atid is an all-know- ^^^' ^ ing inspector of thy goodness or of thy wickedneM.
92. * *^ If thou beest not at variance, by speaking
* falsely, with Yama, or the subduer of all : with Vai-
* VASWATA, or the punisher, with that great divinity ^ who dwells in thy breast, go not on a pilgrimage
* to the river Gangh, nor to the plains of Curu, for
* thou hast no need of expiation.
93. ^ " Naked and shorn, tormented with hunger and ^ thirst, and deprived of sight, shall the man, who ^ gives false evidence, go with a potsherd to beg
* food at the door of his enemy.
94. * *^ Headlong, in utter darkness, shall the impious ' wretch tumble into hell, who, being interrogated in
* a judicial inquiry, answers one question falsely.
95. ^ ^^ He, who in a court of justice ^ves an imper- ^ feet account of any transaction, or asserts a fact of ^ which he was no eye-witness, shall receive pain ' instead of pleasure, and resemble a man, who eats
* fish with eagerness and swallows the sharp bones.
96. ^ ^* The gods are acquainted with no better mor-
* tal in this world, than the man, of whom the intel- ^ ligent spirit, which pervades his body, has no dis- ' trust, when he prepares to give evidence.
97. * ^^ Hear, honest man, from a just enumeration ^ in order, how many kinsmen, in evidence of dif-
* ferent sorts, a false witness kiDs, or incurs the guilt ^ of killing :
98. ' '' He
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PtUVATE AND CRIMINAL.
237
98. * ^^ He kills five by false testimony conceniing ghap. cattle in general; he kills ten by false testimony concerning kine; he kills a hundred by false evi- dence concerning horses ; and a thousand by false evidence concerning the human race :
99/' *' By speaking falsely in a cause concerning gold, he kills the bom and the unborn; by speak- ing falsely concerning land^ he kills every thing ani-^ mated: beware then of speaking falsely in a cause concerning land !
100. * '^ The sages have held false evidence concern- ing water, and the possession or enjoyment of wo- men, equal to false evidence concerning land; and it is equally criminal in causes concerning pearh and other precious things formed in water, and con^ ceming all things made of stone.
101. ' '* Marking well all the murders which are com- prehended in the crime of perjury, declare thou the whole truth with precision, as it was heard, and as it was seen by thee.**
102. ' BrahmenSy who tend herds of cattle, who trade, who practise mechanical arts, who profess dancing and singing, who are hired servants or usurers, let the judge exhort and examine as if they were Sddras.
103. ' In some cases, a giver of false evidence from a pious motive, even though he know the truth, shall not lose a seat in heaven : such evidence wise men call the speech of the gods.
104. * Whenever
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^J3S ON ^yDlQATUEEs ANP ON I-AW,
CHAP. 104. * Wbpneyer the deatji of n man, who had not
vin.
' oommerci^, the military, or the saeerclotal class,
^ wpuk) be oqpasiioned by true evidence, from the known
^ rigour of the kingy even though the fault aro$e from
^ inadvertence or errour^ falsehood may be spoken: it
* is even preferable to truth-
105. * Such witnesses must oflfer, as oblations to
* Saraswati', cakes of rice and milk addressed to the
* goddess of speech ; and thus will they fully expiate
* thftt veolfll dp of benevolent falsehood:
106. * Or such a witness may pour clanfied butter
* into the holy fire, according to the sacred rule,
* hallowing it with the texts called ciishmdnddy or with ^ those which relate to Varuna, beginning with ud; ' or with the three texts appropriated to the water- ' gods.
107. * A MAN who labours not under illness, yet
* comes not to give evidence in cases of loans and
* the like, within three fortnights after due summons,
* shall take upon himself the whole debt, and pay a
* tenth part of it as a fine to the king.
108* * The witness, who has given evidence, suid
* to whom, within seven days after, a misfort^e hap- ' pens frorn dise^i^e, . fire, or the death of a kinsman,
* shall be condemned to pay the debt and a fine.
109, ^ In oasei^i where no witness caa be had, be-
* tween two parties oppos^tg ea^Qh othetr, the judge
* may
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fRIVATB AND CRIMINAL. 339
^ ftifty acquire a knowledge of the truth by the oath chap.
* of the parties ; or if he cannot otherwise perfiectly ^^''
* ascertain it.
110. ^ By the seven great Mshis, and by the deities ^ themselves^ have oaths been taken ^ for the purpose ^ of judicial proof; and even Vasisht'ha, being accused
* by Viswa'mitra of murder^ took an oath before the
* king Suda'man, son of Piyavana.
111. ^ liCt no man of sense take an oath in vain, ^ that isy not in a court of Justice^ on a trifling oc-
* casion; for the man, who takes an oath in vain, ^ shall be punished in this life and in the next :
112. ^ To women, however, at a time of dalliance, ^ or on a proposal of marriage, in the case of grass
* or fruit eaten by a cow, of wood taken for a sacri-
* fice, or of a promise made for the preservation of ' a jBrdhmeny it is no deadly sin to take a light oath.
113. ^ Let the judge cause a priest to swear by his ^ veracity; a soldier, by his horse, or elephant, and ^ his weapons; a merchant, by his kine, grain, and
* gold; a mechanick or servile man, by imprecating
* on his own heady if he speak falsely y all possible
* crimes;
114. * Or, on great oeeanonsf let him cause the party
* to hold fire, or to dive under watet, or severally to
* touch the heads of his children and wifft :
115. * He, whom the blazing fire bums not, whom ^ the water soon forces not up, or who meetB with no
* speedy
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240 ON Judicature ; and on law,
CHAP. « speedy misfortune, must be held veracious in' hid ^^'' * testimony on oath.
116. * Of the sage Vatsa, whom his younger half- ' brother formerly attacked, cls the son of a servile
* woman, the fire, which pervades the world, burned ^ not even a hair, by reason of his perfect veracity.
117. ^ Whenever false evidence has been given in ^ any suit, the king must reverse the judgment; and ^ whatever has been done, must be considei^ed as ^ undone.
118. * Evidence, given from covetpusness^ from dis- ' traction of mind, from terrour, from friendship, from
* lust, from wrath, from ignorance, and from inatten- ^ tion, must be held invalid.
119. * The distinctions of punishment for a false wit-
* ness, from either of those motives, I will propound
* fiiUy and in order :
120. ^ If he speak falsely through covetousness, he ^ shall be fined a thousand panas; if through distrac-
* tion of mind, two hundred and ffty, or the lowest
* amercement; if through terrour, two mean amerce-
* ments; if through friendship, four times the lowest;
121. ' If through lu6t, ten times the lowest amerce-
* ment ; if through wrath, three times the next, or
* middlemost; if through ignorance, two hundred com* ' plete ; if through inattention, a hundred only.
122. ^ Learned men have specified these punish-
^ ments.
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PRIVATE AND CRIMINAL. 841
^ ments^ which were ordained by sage legpislatora for chap.
* peijured witneBses, with a view to prevent a failure viii. ^ of justice and to restrain iniquity.
123. ^ Let a just prince banish m^n of the three ^ Uwer classes, if they give false evidence, having first
* levied the fine; but a Brahmen let hhn only banish.
124. ^ Menu, son of the Self-existent, has named ten ^ places of punishment, whidi are appropriated to the ^ three hwer classes; but a Brdhmen must depart ^ from the realm unhurt in any one of them :
125. ^ The part of generation, the belly, the tongue,
* the two hands, and, fifthly, the two feet, the eye, ^ ^ the nose, both ears, the property, and, in a capital
* cflwe, the whole body.
126. ^ Let the king, having considered and ascer- ^ tained the frequency of a similar offence, the place ^ and time, the ability of the criminal to pay or euffer^ ^ and the crime itself, cause punishment to fall on those ' alone, who deserve it.
127. ^ Unjust punishment destroys reputation during ^ Ufe, and fame after death ; it even obstructs, in the ^ next life, the path to heaven: unjust punishment, ' therefore, let the king by all means avoid.
128. ^ A king, who inflicts punishment on such as ^ deserve it not, and inflicts no punishment on such ^ as deserve it, brings infamy on himself, while he ^ lives, and shall sink, when he dies, to a region of
* torment.
2 I 129. * First,
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343 ON JUDICATURE; AND ON LAW,
CHAP. 129. ^ First, let him punish by gentle admonitkni; ^^^- ' afterwards, by harsh reproof j thirdly, by deprivalion
130. ^ But, when even by corporal punishment he ^ eiinnot restrain such offenders, let him apply totiiem ^ all the foitTi modes with rigour.
131. ^ Those names of copper, silyer^ and gold ^ weights, wwhich are oommonly used among .men, for ' th^' purpose of worldly business, I will now compre- ^ hensively explain.
13^. ^ The very small mote, which may be discerned ' in a 3un-beam passing through a lattice, is the least ^ visible ,qi|ant|ty, and men call it a trasarinu :
133. ^ Eight of those tra^arirms are supposed equal ' in weight to onis minute poppy-gjeed; three of jthose ^ seeds are equal to one black mustdrd*seed ; and ^ three of thosie ladt, to a white mlistard-seed :
134. * Six white mustard- seeds are equal to a mid- ^ die-sized barley-corn; three such barley-corns to one ' ractHchy or* seed ^ are one rndshm, and sixteen such mdshas^ one m- ^ vermi;
135. ^ l^o\xr suverhas make a pala; ten palas, a dha- ^ ranq ; but two ractichs of silver, weighed together, ^ are .consider^: as one mdshaca;
136. ^ Sixteen of those mdshacas are a silver dharanay ^ or purina; hut a carshuy or eighty radices ot cop-
^ per, is called a pana or cdrshdpana.
137. ' Ten
/
/
/
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* PRnrATE AND CRIMIBAL. 213
187; * l^n dk nra m m of ^ver are known by the name chap. ^ of a MUimd$M; and the we^ht of four suvemm has ^^i- ^ also the appellation of a nishca.
1^.^ Now two htiiidred and fifty panas are de-
' Glared to be the first or lowest amercement; five
' hundred of them are * considered as the mean ; and ^ a thousand, as the highest.
139. ^ A DEBT being admitted by the defendant, he
* must pay five in the hundred, as a fine to the king;
* but, if it be deniied and proved y twice as much:
* this law was enacted by Menu.
140. ^ A LENDER of money may ti^e, in addition
* to his capital, the interest allowed by Vasisht'ha, ^ that is, an eightieth part of a hundred, or one and a ^ quarter, by the. month, if he have a pledge ;
141. * Or, if he have no pledge, he may take two
* in the hundred by the month, remembering the duty ^ ' of good men : for, by thus taking two in the hun-
^ dred, he becomes not a sinner for gain.
142. ^ He may thus take in proportion to the risk,
* and in the direct order of the classes, two. in the
* hundred from a priest, three frotn a soldier, four
* from a merchant, and five from a mechanick or servile
* man, but never more, as interest by the month.
143. ^ If he take a beneficial pledge, or a pledge ^ to be used for his profit, he must have no other in- ^ terest on the loan; nor, after a great length of
2 I 2 ' tune,
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244
ON JUDICATURE; AND ON LAW,
CHAP.
yiii.
time, or when the profits have emumnUd to the. debt, can he give or sell such a pledge, though he may assign it in pledge (o another.
144. ^ A pledge to he kept onfy must not be used by force, that isy against consent: the pawnee so usmg it must give up his whole interest, or most satisfy the pawner, if it he spoiled cw worn out, by paying him the original price of it; otherwise, he commits a theft of the pawn,
145. ^ Neither a pledge without limit, nor a de- posit, are lost to the owner by lapse of time : they are both recoverable, though they have long re- mained with the bailee.
146. ^ A milch cow, a camel, a riding-horse,' a bull or other beast, which has been sent to be tamed for labour, and other things used with friendly assent, are not lost by length of time to the oumer.
147. ^ In general, whatever chattel the owner sees enjoyed by others for ten years, while, though, pre- sent, he says nothing, that chattel he shall not recover :
148. ^ If he be neither an idiot, nor an infant under the full age of fifteen years, and if the chattel be adversely possessed in a place where he may see it, his property in it is extinct by law, and the adverse possessor shall keep it.
149. ^ A pledge, a boundary of land, the property ^ of an infant, a deposit either
^ sealed^
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PRIVATE AND CRIMINAL. 346
^ sealed^ fenude slaves^ the wealth of a king^ and chap. ^ of a learned Brdhmen, are not lost in conAequence ^"^' ^ of adverse enjoyment.
150. ^ The fool^ who secretly uses a pledge without^ ^ though not againsty the assent of the owner, shall give ^ up half of his interest, as a compensation for such
* use.
151. ^ Jntbrbst on money, received at once, not ^ month by monthy or day hy day^ as it ought, must ^ never be more than enough to double the debt, that ^ is J more than the amount of the principal paid at the ^ same time: on grain, on fruit, on wool or hair, on ^ beasts of burden, lerU to he paid in the same fgnd of ^ equal value, it must not be more than enough to ^ make the debt quintuple.
152. ' Stipulated interest beyond the legal rate, and ^ different from the preceding rule, is invalid ; and the
* wise call it an usurious way of lending : ^ ihe lender ^ is entitled at most to five in the hundred.
153. * Let no lender for a month, or for two or
* three months, at a certain interest, receive such inte-
* rest beyond the year; nor any interest, which is
* unapproved ; nor interest upon ^ interest By previous .
* agreement; nor monthly interest exceeding in time ^ the amount of the principal; nor interest exacted ^ fit)m a debtor, as the price of the risk, when there
* is no publioh danger or distress! ncn* immoderate ^ profits frt>m a jrfedge to be uaed by way of interest.
154. ' He,
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2^ ON JUDICATURE; AND ON LAW,
CHAP. 164. * He, who cannot pay the. debt al the Jmed
vni.
^ it in writing, with the creditor's assenty if he pay all
* the interest then due ;
155. ^ But if, by some unavoidable accident, he can^ ' not ptfy the whole iilterest, he may insert as prin-
* cipal in the renewed contract so much of the inte-
* fest accrued as he ought to pay.
156. ^ A lender at interest on the risk of safe car-
* riage, who has agreed on the place and time, shall ^ not receive such interest, if by accident the goods ^ are not . carried to the place, or within the time :
157.' ^ Whatever interest, or price of the risk^ shall
* be settled between the parties^ by men well acquainted ^ with sea- voyages or joumies by land, with tineas ^ and with plcK^es^ such interest shall have legal force.
158. ^ T^E man, who becomes surety for the i^pear- ^ ance of a debtor in this world, and produces him
* not, shall pay the debt out of his own property;
159.^ But money, due by a surety, or idly promised
* to musicians and actresses ^ or lost at play, or due \ for spirituous liquors, pr what remwis unpaid of a ^ fine pr toll, the son of the surety of debtor shall not
* in general be obliged to .pay :
16ft * Such is the rule in cases of a surety for ap-
* pekrance or good behaviour ; but, if a surety for pay- ^ ment should die, the judge may compel ev^i his ^ heirs to dischai^e the debt.
161. ' On
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PRIVATE AND CRIMINAL. 247
161. ^ On what account then is it^ that^ after the chap.
* death of a surety other than for payment^ the ere- ^"'' ^ ditor may in one case demand the debt of the heiVj
^ all the affairs of the deceased being known and
* proved? ^ . ,
162. * K the surety had received money from the ^ debtor, and had enough to pay the debt, the son ^ of him, who so received it, shall discharge the debt ^ out of his inherited property ; this is a sacred ordi-
* nance.
163. > A contract made by a person intoxicated or V insane, or grievously disordered^ or wholly depen- ^ dent, by an infant or a decrepit old man, or m ^ ^ name of another by a person without authority^ is
* utterly null.
164. ^ That plaint can have no effect, though it may ^ be supported by evidence, wluch contains a cause ^ of action inconsistent with positive law or with set- ^ tied usage.
165. ^ When the judge discovers a fraudulent pledge ^ or sale, a fraudulent gift and acceptance, ot in what- ^ ever other case he detects fraud, let him annul the ^ whole transaction.
166. ^ If the debtor be dead, and if the money bor- ^ rowed was expended for the use of his frunily^ it ^ must be paid by that family, divided or undivided,
* out of their own estate.
167. ^ Should even a slave make a contract m the
' name
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248 ON JUDICATURE; AND ON LAW,
CHAP. ^ name of his absent master for the behoof of the v^ii- * fomily, that master, whether m his own country or ^ abroad, shall not rescind it.
168. * What is given by force to a man who cannot ^ accept it legally y what is by force enjoyed, by force ^ caused to be written, and all other things done by
* force or against free consent^ Menu has pronounced ^ void.
169. * Three are troubled by means of others, name- ^ fyy witnesses, sureties, and inspectors of causes, and ^ four collect wealth slowly, with benefit to others y a ^ Brdhmeny a money-lender, a merchant, and a king.
170. ^ Let no king, how indigent soever, take any ^ thing which ought not to be taken; nor let him, ^ how wealthy soever, decline taking that which he
* ought to take, be it ever so small :
171. ^ By taking what ought not to be taken, and ^ by refusing what ought to be received, the king be- ^ trays his own weakness, and is lost both in this
* world and in the next;
J 72. ^ But by taking his due, by administering jus-
* tice, and by protecting the weak, the king augments
* his own force, and is exalted in the next world and
* in this.
173. ^ Therefore, let the king, like Yam a, resigning
* what may be pleasing or unpleasing to himself, live ^ by the strict rules of Yama, his anger being repress- ^ ed, and his organs kept in subjection.
174. ' That
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PRIVATE AND CRIMINAL. 248
174. ^ That eTil-mm
* tion, decides causes with injustice, his enemies, viii.
* through the disaffection of his people, quickly reduce
* to a state of dependence ;
175. ^ But him, who subduing both lust and wrath, V examines causes with justice, his people naturally ^ seek, as rivers the ocean.
176. * The debtor, who complains before the king,
* that his creditor has recovered the debt by his own ^ legal act, as hefore-^mentionedy shall be compelled by ^ the king to pay a quarter of the sum as a fincy and ^ the creditor shall be left in possession of his own.
177. ^ Even by personal labour shall the debtor pay ' what is adjudged, if he be of the same class with
* the creditor, or of a lower ; but a debtor of a higher ' class must pay it according to his income by little ' and little.
178. ^ By this system of rules let the king decide, ' with equal justice, all disputes between men oppo-
* sing each other, having ascertained the truth by ' evidence or the oaths of the parties.
179. ^ A SENSIBLE man should make a deposit with ^ some person of high birth, and of good morals, weU ^ acquainted with law, habitually veracious, having a ^ lai^e family, wealthy and venerable.
180. * Whatever thing, and in whatever manner, a ^ person shall deposit in the hands of another, the ' same thing, and in the same maimer, ought to be
2 K received
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350 ON JUDICATURE I AND ON LAW,
CHAP. * / »o must he the receipt.
181. ^ He, who restores not to the depositor, on his ' request, what has been deposited, may first be tried ^ by the judge in the followifig manner^ the depositor ^ himself beuig absent.
182. * On failure of witnesses, let the judge actually ^ deposit gold, or precious things, with the defendant,
* by the artful contrivance of spies, who have passed ^ the age of childhood, and whose persons are en-
* gaging:
183. ' Should the defendant restore that deposit in ^ the manner and shape, in which it was bailed by the ^ spieSy there is nothing in his hands, for which others
* can justly accuse him ;
184. * But if he restore not the gold, or precious
* things, as he ought, to those emissaries, let him be ' apprehended and compelled to pay the vahie of both ^ deposits : this is a settled rule.
185. * A deposit, whether sealed up or not, should ^ never be redelivered, while the depositor is alive, to ^ his heir apparent or presumptive: both sorts of de- ^ posits, indeed, are extinct, ^ cannot be demanded by
* the heir, if the depositor die, in that case; but not, ' unless he die, for, should the heit apparent keep them^ ^ the depoMtor himself may sue the bailee :
186. ^ But, if a depositary by his own free act shall ^ deliver a deposit to the heir of a deceased bailor,
' he
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PRIYATE AND CBIMINAL. 351
^ he must not be harassed mth clmms of a iimilar chap. ^ kindy either by the kmg, or by that heir : ^"•
187. ^ And, if similar claims be moc/e, the kmg must ' decide the questions after friendly admonition, with- ^ out having recourse to artifice; for, the honest dis- ^ position of the man bding proved, the judge must ^ proceed with mildness.
188. ^ Such is the mode of ascertaining the right ^ in all these cases of a deposit: in the case of a ^ deposit sealed up, the bailee shall incur no censure
* on the redelivery y unless he have altered the seal or ' taken out something.
189. ^ If a deposit be seized by thieves, or destroyed ' by vermine, or washed away by water, or consumed ^ by fire, the bailee shall not be obliged to make it ' good, unless be took part of it for himself*
190. * The defendant, who denies a deposit, and the ' plaintiff, who asserts it, let the king try by all sorts
* of ejq)edients, and by the modes of ordeal pre-
* scribed in the P^i^da.
191- * He who restores not a thing really deposited, ' and he, who demands what he never bailed, shall both, ^ for a second offence^ be punished as thieves, tf gold, ^ pearls, or the like be demanded; or, in the case of a
* tryUng demand, shall pay a fine equal to the value ' of the thing claimed:
198. ^ FW the first offence, the king should compel
2 K 2 'a frau-
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^2 ON JUDICATURE; AND ON LAW,
CHAP. ^ a fraudulent depositary, without any distinction be- ^^'^- ^ tween a deposit under seal or open^ ,to pay a fine '' equal to its value..
193. ^ That man^ who^ by false pretences^ gets into ^ his hands the goods of another^ shall^ together with ^ his accomplices, be punished by various degrees of ^ whipping or mutilatiafiy or even by death.
194. ^ Regularly y a deposit should be produced, the ^ same in kind and quantity as it was bailed, by the ^ same and to the same person, by whcnn and from ^ whom it was received, and before the same com- ^ pany, who were witnesses to ^he deposit : he who pro- ^ duces it in a different manner^ ought to be fined;
196. ^ But a thing, privately deposited, should be ^ privately restored by and to the person, by and
* from whom it was received : as the bailment^ was, ^ so should be the delivery, according to a rule in the ' V^da.
196. ^ Thus let the king decide causes concerning ^ a deposit, or a friendly loan for use, without show-
* ing rigour to the depositary.
197. ^ Him, who sells the property of another man, ' without the assent of the owner^ the judge shall ^ not admit as a competent witness, but shall treat ^ as a thief, who pretends that he has committed no ' theft:
198. ^ If, indeed, he be a near kinsman of the
* owner.
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PRIVATE AND CRIMINAL. 258
owner, he shall be fined six hundred panas; but, chap.
• VIII
if he be neither his kinsman nor a claimant under him, he commits an oflfence equal to larceny.
199. * A gift or sale, thus made by any other than the true owner, must, ' by a settled rule, be con- sidered, in judicial proceedings, as not made.
200. * Where occupation for a time shall be proved, but no sort of title shall appear, the sale cannot be supported: title, not occupation, is essential to its support; and this rule also is fixed.
201. ^ He, who has received a chattel, by purchase in open market, be/ore a number of men, justly ac- quires the absolute property, by having paid the price of it, if he can produce the vendor;
202. ^ But, if the vendor be not producible, and the vendee prove the publick sale, the latter must be dis- ii]issed by the king without punishment; and the former owner, who lost the chattfel, may take it back on paying the vendee half its value.
203. ^ One commodity, mixed with another, shall never be sold as unmiwed ; nor a bad commodity as good; nor less than agreed on; nor any thing kept at a distance or concealed, lest some defect in it should be discovered.
204. ^ If, after one damsel has been shown, another be offered to the brid^room, who had purchased leave to marry her from her next kinsman, he may
^ become
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854 ON JUWCATURE; AND ON LAW,
CHAP. ^^'^ ^ this law Menu ordained
205- ^ The kinsman, who gives a damsel in mar- ^ riage, having first openly told her blemishes, whether * she be insane, or disordered with elephantiasis, or ' defiled by connexion with a man, shall suffer no ' punishment.
206. ' If an officiating priest, actually engaged in ' a sacrifice, abandon his work, a share only, in pro- ' portion to his work done, shall be given to him ' by his partners in the business, out of their common ' pay:
207. ^ But, if he discontinue his work without frauds ^ after the time of giving the sacrificial fees, he may ^ take his full share, and cause what remains to be ^ performed by another priest.
208. ^ Where, on the performance of solemn rites, ' a specifick fee is ordained for each part of them, ' shall he alone, who performs that part, receive the ' fee, or shall all the priests take the perquisites ^ jointly }
209. ^ At some holy rites y let the reader of the Ya- ' jurveda take the car, and the Brahmd, or superin- ' tending priest, the horse ; or, on another occasion, ^ let the reader of the Rigveda take the horse, and ' the chanter of the Sdmavdda receive the carriage, in ^ wfaiefa the purchased materials of the sacrlfit^ had ^ been brotnght.
210. ' A hun-
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PRIVATE AND CRIMINAL. 2M
210. ^ A hundred cows being duirihutahle among siw- chap.
* teen priests^ the four chief, or first eet, are entitled ^'^^•
* to near half, or forty -eight; the next four, to half ^ of that number; the third set, to a third part of ^ it ; and the fourth set, to a quarter :
211. ^ According to this rule, or in proportion to ' the work, must allotments of shares be given to men ^ here below, who, though in conjunction, perform their / several parts of the business.
212. ^ Should money or goods be given, or promised ^ (zs a gift, by one man to another^ who asks it for ^ some religious act, the gift shall be void, if that ^ act be not afterwards performed:
213. ^ If the money be delivered^ and the receiver, ^ through pride or avarice, refuse in that case to re- ^ turn it, he shall be fined one stwema by the king, ^ as a punishment for his theft.
214. ^ Such, as here declared, is the rule ordained ^ for withdrawing what has been given : I will, next, ' propound the law for non-payment of wages.
215. ^ That hired servant or workman, who, not ^ from any disorder but from indolence, fails to per- ^ form his Vork according to his agreement, shall be ^ fined eight ractieisy and his wages or hire shall not ^ be paid.
216. * But, if he be really ill, and, when restored ^ to health, shall perform his work according to his
^ original
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256 ON JUDICATURE; AND ON LAW,
CHAPi ^ original bargain^ he shall receive his pay even for a