62. Householders, men with male issue, and indi- genous (inhabitants of the country, be they) Ksha- triyas, Vaiiyas, or.5udras, are competent, when called by a suitor, to give evidence, not any persons whatever (their condition may be) except in cases of urgency.
58. ' If a plaintiff does not speak,' i. e. ' after bringing a suit ' (Kull.). Corporal punishment is for heavy cases (Kull.).
60. Thus Gov., Kull., Ragh., but the last words may also mean 1 in the presence of the king and of the Brahmawas.'
62. Medh. and Nar. refer the expression ' not any person what- ever (their condition may be),' to such as volunteer to give evidence without being summoned. The ' cases of urgency' are those men- tioned below, verse 69.
VIII, 66. CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LAW; DEBTS. 265 63. Trustworthy men of all the (four) castes (var/za) may be made witnesses in lawsuits, (men) who know (their) whole duty, and are free from covetousness; but let him reject those (of an) opposite (character).
64. Those must not be made (witnesses) who have an interest in the suit, nor familiar (friends), companions, and enemies (of the parties), nor (men) formerly convicted (of perjury), nor (persons) suffer- ing under (severe) illness, nor (those) tainted (by mortal sin).
65. The king cannot be made a witness, nor mechanics and actors, nor a 6Votriya, nor a student of the Veda, nor (an ascetic) who has given up (all) connexion (with the world), 66. Nor one wholly dependent, nor one of bad fame, nor a Dasyu, nor one who follows forbidden 64. ■ Who have an interest in the suit' (Nar.) means according to Medh., Gov., Kull., and Ragh. ' connected by money, i. e. credi- tors or debtors of the parties/ or according to Nand. ' men who have received benefits from one of the parties.' Sahaya, ■ compa- nions,' i.e. ' sureties and the like' (Medh.), or 'servants '(Kull., Nar.). Dn'sh/adosha, ' men formerly convicted (of perjury),' (Medh., Gov.., Kull., Nar., Ragh., Nand.), may according to Medh. also mean ■ men who have been convicted (of any serious offence).' Men afflicted with serious illnesses must not be made witnesses, because such men are liable to become angry or to forget and thus to give false evidence (Medh.). Dushita, 'tainted/ i.e. by mortal crimes or numerous smaller offences (Medh., Kull., Ragh.), means according to Nar. and Nand. AbhLrastas, ■ those accused of such crimes.'
65. Kuj-ilava, ' actors' (Nar.), or ' dancers, musicians, and singers' (Medh.), or ' actors and so forth' (Gov., Kull.), or ' singers' (Nand.). A.Srotriya, or Brahmawa learned in the Vedas, cannot be made a witness, because he has to attend to his studies and to the Agni- hotra (Medh., Kull., Nar., Ragh., Gov., Nand.). The same remark applies to the last two classes. Lihgastha, ' a student/ includes according to Nar., Gov., Nand., Medh. also ' ascetics.'
66. • One wholly dependent/ i. e.' a slave by birth' (Medh., Gov., occupations, nor an aged (man), nor an infant, nor one (man alone), nor a man of the lowest castes, nor one deficient in organs of sense, 67. Nor one extremely grieved, nor one intoxi- cated, nor a madman, nor one tormented by hunger or thirst, nor one oppressed by fatigue, nor one tormented by desire, nor a wrathful man, nor a thief.
68. Women should give evidence for women, and for twice-born men twice-born men (of the) same (kind), virtuous ^udras for,5udras, and men of the lowest castes for the lowest.
69. But any person whatsoever, who has personal knowledge (of an act committed) in the interior apartments (of a house), or in a forest, or of (a crime causing) loss of life, may give evidence between the parties.
70. On failure (of qualified witnesses, evidence) Kull., Nar., Ragh.). Vaktavya, ' one of bad fame/ may according to Medh. also mean 'one afflicted with leprosy or some other bad disease.' Dasyu, i. e. 'a servant for wages' (Medh., Gov., Ragh.), or 'a hard-hearted man' (Medh.), or 'an angry man' (Kull.), or 'a murderer' (Ragh.), or ' a low-caste man' (Nand.). The term denotes, however, properly the aboriginal robber-tribes, and probably includes all those resembling them. ' One who follows forbidden occupa- tions,' i. e. ' a Brahmawa who has become a warrior or a trader and the like' (Medh.), or ' a butcher and the like' (Nar.).
68. Vas. XVI, 30. ■ Women should give evidence for women only in cases between women or in matters concerning the female sex, which they alone may be supposed to know' (Medh., Gov., Kull.). 1 Twice-born men of the same kind,' i. e. ' of the same caste' (Kull., Nar., Nand.), or 'of the same caste and equally virtuous' (Gov.), or ' of the same place,' or ' of the same caste, occupations, &c.' (Medh.).
69. 'Of (a crime causing) loss of life,' i.e. ' of robberies, murders, and the like' (Medh., Gov., Kull.).
70. The rule refers to the cases mentioned in verse 69 (Gov., Kull.), or to the last only (Nar.).
VIII, 75- CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LAW; PROCEDURE. 267 may be given (in such cases) by a woman, by an infant, by an aged man, by a pupil, by a relative, by a slave, or by a hired servant.
71. But the (judge) should consider the evidence of infants, aged and diseased men, who (are apt to) speak untruly, as untrustworthy, likewise that of men with disordered minds.
72. In all cases of violence, of theft and adultery, of defamation and assault, he must not examine the (competence of) witnesses (too strictly).
73. On a conflict of the witnesses the king shall accept (as true) the (evidence of the) majority; if (the conflicting parties are) equal in number, (that of) those distinguished by good qualities; on a dif- ference between (equally) distinguished (witnesses, that of) the best among the twice-born.
74. Evidence in accordance with what has actually been seen or heard, is admissible; a witness who speaks truth in those (cases), neither loses spiritual merit nor wealth. ^-\ * u.
75. A witness who deposes in an assembly of! f. honourable men (Arya) anything else but what he has seen or heard, falls after death headlong into | hell and loses heaven.
73. Vi. VIII, 39; Yagn. II, 78, 80. 'The best of the twice- born/ i. e. ' Brahmaraas' (Gov., Nar.), or ' particularly distinguished Brahmawas, who fulfil their sacred duties' (Kull., Ragh.).
74. 'Nor wealth/ i.e. 'he will not be fined.'
75. 'In an assembly of honourable men/ i.e. in court (Medh.), or ' in an assembly of Brahmawas' (Gov.). 'And loses heaven/ i. e. which he may have earned by good works (Medh., Gov., Kull., Nand.), or ' even after passing through hell, he cannot get into heaven, because his merit is extinct' (Nar.).
i 268 LAWS OF MANU. VIII, 76.
76. When a man (originally) not appointed to be a witness sees or hears anything and is (afterwards) examined regarding it, he must declare it (exactly) as he saw or heard it.
J J. One man who is free from covetousness may J_ be (accepted as) witness; but not even many pure ^PJ women, because the understanding of females ^js^ apt to waver, nor even many other men, who are tainted with sin.
j8. What witnesses declare quite naturally, that must be received on trials; (depositions) differing from that, which they make improperly, are worth- less for (the purposes of) justice.
79. The witnesses being assembled in the court in the presence of the plaintiff and of the defendant, let the judge examine them, kindly exhorting them in the following manner: 80. ' What ye know to have been mutually trans- acted in this matter between the two men before us, declare all that in accordance with the truth; for ye are witnesses in this (cause).
81. 'A witness who speaks the truth in his evi- dence, gains (after death) the most excellent regions (of bliss) and here (below) unsurpassable fame; such testimony is revered by Brahman (himself).
76. '(Originally) not appointed (to be a witness)/ i.e. 'not entered as a witness in the document' (Medh.), ' but accidentally present at the transaction' (Kull., Nar., Nand.).
78. 'Quite naturally,' i.e. 'not out of compassion, in the belief of gaining merit, or depending on women' (Medh.), or ' not out of fear and the like' (Kull.), or ' without hesitation, quickly' (Nar.). Gov. and Nand. explain it ' in accordance with the truth/ 80-101. Ap. II, 29, 9-10; Gaut. XIII, 14-22; Vas. XVI, 32-34; Baudh. I, 19, 9-12; Vi. VIII, 19-37; Yigii. II, 73-75.
VIII, 88. CIVIL AND jminal law; procedure. 269 )vfr 82. ' He who gfives false evidence is firmly bound by Varima's fetters, helpless during one hundred existences; let (men therefore) give true evidence.
83. 'By truthfulness a witness is purified, through truthfulness his merit grows; truth must, therefore, be spoken by witnesses of all castes (var/za).
84. ' The Soul itself is the witness of the Soul, and the Soul is the refuge of the Soul; despise not thy own Soul, the supreme witness of men.
85. ' The wicked, indeed, say in their hearts, " No- body sees us;" but the gods distinctly see them and the male within their own breasts.
86. ' The sky, the earth, the waters, (the male in) the heart, the moon, the sun, the fire, Yama and the wind, the night, the two twilights, and justice know the conduct of all corporeal beings/ 8 J. The (judge), being purified, shall ask in the forenoon the twice-born (witnesses) who (also have been) purified, (and stand) facing the north or the east, to give true evidence in the presence of (images of) the gods and of Brahma/zas.
88. Let him examine a Brahma^a (beginning i with) ' Speak,' a Kshatriya (beginning with) ' Speak the truth,' a Vaisya (admonishing him) by (mention- ing) his kine, grain, and gold, a.Sudra (threatening 82. 'Varurca's fetters/ i. e. 'terrible snake -bonds or dropsy* (Medh., Kull.). Gov. mentions the snake-bonds alone, and Ragh. says that the verse threatens the punishment of hell. Dropsy is a disease specially attributed to Varuwa, see Rig-vedaVII, 89, 1, and the story of *Suna/$sepha, Ait. Brahm. VII, 15. The fetters of Varu/za are mentioned as the punishment of liars, Atharva-veda IV, 16, 6.
86. l (The male in) the heart/ i. e. ' the male or spirit (purusha) who resides in the human heart, clothed with a rudimentary body ' (Medh.), and similarly the other commentators.
88. '(Admonishing him) by (mentioning) his kine, grain, or gold/ i. e. ' threatening him with the guilt of all offences committed against LAWS OF MANU.
VIII, 89.
pn * 1 him) with (the guilt of) every crime that causes loss of caste; 89. (Saying), 'Whatever places (of torment) are assigned (by the sages) to the slayer of a Brahma^a, to the murderer of women and children, to him who betrays a friend, and to an ungrateful man, those shall be thy (portion), if thou speakest falsely.
90. ' (The reward) of all meritorious deeds which thou, good man, hast done since thy birth, shall be- come the share of the dogs, if in thy speech thou departest from the truth.
91. 'If thou thinkest, O friend of virtue, with re- spect to thyself, " I am alone," (know that) that sage who witnesses all virtuous acts and all crimes, ever resides in thy heart.
92. 'If thou art not at variance with that divine Yama, the son of Vivasvat, who dwells in thy heart, thou needest neither visit the Ganges nor the (land of the) Kurus.
\\\^ P 93- ' Naked and shorn, tormented with hunger \WJr and thirst, and deprived of sight, shall the man who J gives false evidence, go with a potsherd to beg food at the door of his enemy.
94. ' Headlong, in utter darkness shall the sinful man tumble into hell, who being interrogated in a judicial inquiry answers one question falsely.
95. ' That man who in a court (of justice) gives an untrue account of a transaction (or asserts a fact) of which he was not an eye-witness, resembles a blind man who swallows fish with the bones.
96. ' The gods are acquainted with no better man kine, &c.' (Medh.), or ' with the guilt of the theft of kine, &c.' (Gov., Kull., Ragh.), or 'with the loss of his kine, &c/ (Nar.), or ' by making him touch a cow, &c.' (Nand.).
/ VIII, ioi. CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LAW; PROCEDURE. 271 in this world than him, of whom his conscious Soul has no distrust, when he gives evidence.
97. * Learn now, O friend, from an enumeration in due order, how many relatives he destroys who gives false evidence in several particular cases.
98. 'He kills five by false testimony regarding (small) cattle, he kills ten by false testimony re- garding kine, he kills a hundred by false evidence concerning horses, and a thousand by false evidence concerning men.
99. ' By speaking falsely in a cause regarding gold, he kills the born and the unborn; by false evidence concerning land, he kills everything; be- ware, therefore, of false evidence concerning land.
100. 'They declare (false evidence) concerning water, concerning the carnal enjoyment of women, and concerning all gems, produced in water, or con- sisting of stones (to be) equally (wicked) as a lie concerning land.
101. 'Marking well all the evils (which are pro- 97. Hanti, 'destroys or kills,' i. e. ' causes to fall into hell' (Medh., Gov., Kull., Nar.), or ' causes to fall from heaven and to be reborn in the wombs of animals' (Ragh.). Medh. and Kull. (verse 99) give another explanation of this expression, viz. ' incurs a guilt as great as if he had killed them.'
99. 'Everything/ i.e. 'everything animated' (Gov., Kull), or 'even more than a thousand' (Nar., Ragh.).
Verse 99 is placed by Nand. before verse 100, and some others are inserted between and after them, but the confusion is probably owing merely to clerical errors, as no commentary is given.
101. Aflgasa, 'openly,' means according to Gov. and Kull. 'truly,' according to Nar. ' quickly/ r 272 LAWS OF MANU. VIII, 102.
duced) by perjury, declare thou openly everything as (thou hast) heard or seen (it).'
102. Brahma^as who tend cattle, who trade, who are mechanics, actors (or singers), menial servants or usurers, the (judge) shall treat like 6udras.
103. In (some) cases a man who, though knowing (the facts to be) different, gives such (false evidence) from a pious motive, does not lose heaven; such (evidence) they call the speech of the gods.
104. Whenever the death of a 6udra, of a Vaisya, of a Kshatriya, or of a Brahma^a would be (caused) by a declaration of the truth, a falsehood may be spoken; for such (falsehood) is preferable to the truth.
105. Such (witnesses) must offer to Sarasvati obla- tions of boiled rice (/&aru) which are sacred to the god- dess of speech, (thus) performing the best penance in order to expiate the guilt of that falsehood.
106. Or such (a witness) may offer according to the rule clarified butter in the fire, reciting the Kushma^a texts, or the Rik, sacred to Vanma, ' Untie, O Varu/za, the uppermost fetter,' or the three verses addressed to the Waters.
107. A man who, without being ill, does not give evidence in (cases of) loans and the like within three fortnights (after the summons), shall become respon- 103-104. Gaut. XIII, 24-25; Vas. XVI, 36; Vi. VIII, 15; Y&gn.
103. Nand. omits this verse.
106. The Kushmarc^a texts are found Taitt. Ar. X, 3-5; the verse addressed to Varu/za, Rig-vedal, 24, 15; and the three verses addressed to the Waters, Rig-veda X, 9, 1-3.
VIII, H2. CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LAW; PROCEDURE. 273 sible for the whole debt and (pay) a tenth part of the whole (as a fine to the king).
108. The witness to whom, within seven days after he has given evidence, happens (a misfortune through) sickness, a fire, or the death of a relative, shall be made to pay the debt and a fine.
109. If two (parties) dispute about matters for which no witnesses are available, and the (judge) is unable to really ascertain the truth, he may cause it to be discovered even by an oath.
no. Both by the great sages and the gods oaths have been taken for the purpose of (deciding doubtful) matters; and Vasish^a even swore an oath before king (Sudas), the son of Pi^avana.
in. Let no wise man swear an oath falsely, even in a trifling matter; for he who swears an oath falsely is lost in this (world) and after death.
112. No crime, causing loss of caste, is committed by swearing (falsely) to women, the objects of one's desire, at marriages, for the sake of fodder for a cow, or of fuel, and in (order to show) favour to a Brahma^a.
109. Gaut. XIII, 12-13; Vi. IX, 2-9. According to Medh.
japatha, ' oath,' is used for the whole daiva anumana, ' divine proof/ and thus includes the ordeals.
1 10. Medh. and Gov. point out that the seven sages purified them- selves by oaths when they mutually accused each other of a theft of lotus-fibres (Mah. XIII, 93, 13 seqq.), and that Indra swore an oath when he was accused of an intrigue with Ahalya, the wife of Gau- tama. Vasish//$a finally cleared himself of the accusation which Vii-vamitra brought against him before king Sudas, that he was a Rakshasa and had devoured his hundred sons (Medh., Gov., Kull., Nar., Ragh., Nand.). See Sayawa on Rig-veda VII, 104, and espe- cially on verse 15, which is considered to contain the oath sworn.
#4 ti t 113. Let the (judge) cause a Brahma^a to swear by his veracity, a Kshatriya by his chariot or the animal he rides on and by his weapons, a Vaisya by his kine, grain, and gold, and a.Sudra by (impre- cating on his own head the guilt) of all grievous offences (pataka).
114. Or the (judge) may cause the (party) to carry fire or to dive under water, or severally to touch the heads of his wives and children.
115. He whom the blazing fire burns not, whom the water forces not to come (quickly) up, who meets with no speedy misfortune, must be held innocent on (the'strength of) his oath.
116. For formerly when Vatsa was accused by his younger brother, the fire, the spy of the world, burned not even a hair (of his) by reason of his veracity.
1 1 7. Whenever false evidence has been given in any suit, let the (judge) reverse the judgment, and whatever has been done must be (considered as) undone.
oblation' (Medh., Gov., Kull., Nar.). In the last cases the sacredness of the purpose excuses the crime.
113. The Kshatriya and VaLsya must touch the things men- tioned, and say, 'May they become useless to me!' (Medh., Gov., Kull.)
114. This verse refers, as the commentators assert, to the two ordeals described by Vi. XI-XII, and Yagn. II, 103-109. Medh., Gov., and Kull. assert that ordeals are to be used in particularly important cases only; see also Vi. IX, 10-14.
116. Maitreya, the step-brother of Vatsa, accused the latter of being the offspring of a *Sudra woman. In order to prove the falseness of this allegation, Vatsa passed through a fire (Medh., Gov., Kull., Nar., Ragh.). I read spa^a^ instead of sprwa^.
117. Vi. VIII, 40. 'Fines imposed must be remitted' (Gov., Kull., Nar.).
VIII, 124. CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LAW; PROCEDURE. 275 118. Evidence (given) from covetousness, distrac- tion, terror, friendship, lust, wrath, ignorance, and childishness is declared (to be) invalid.
119. I will propound in (due) order the particular punishments for him who gives false evidence from any one of these motives.
120. (He who commits perjury) through covetous- ness shall be fined one thousand (pa/zas), (he who does it) through distraction, in the lowest amerce- ment; (if a man does it) through fear, two middling amercements shall be paid as a fine, (if he does it) through friendship, four times the amount of the lowest (amercement).
121. (He who does it) through lust, (shall pay) ten times the lowest amercement, but (he who does it) through wrath, three times the next (or second amercement); (he who does it) through ignorance, two full hundreds, but (he who does it) through childishness, one hundred (pa^as).
122. They declare that the wise have prescribed these fines for perjury, in order to prevent a failure of justice, and in order to restrain injustice.
123. But a just king shall fine and banish (men of) the three (lower) castes (vama) who have given false evidence, but a Brahma^a he shall (only) banish.
124. Manu, the son of the Self-existent (Svayam- bhu), has named ten places on which punishment 120. Regarding the three amercements, see below, verse 138.
123. Vivasayet, 'he shall (only) banish' (Kull., Nar., Ragh., Nand.), means according to Medh. • he shall deprive him of his clothes or of his house.' Gov. gives Medh/s first explanation only.
LAWS OF MANU.
may be (made to fall) in the cases of the three (lower) castes (var/za); but a Brahma^a shall depart unhurt (from the country).
125. (These are) the organ, the belly, the tongue, the two hands, and fifthly the two feet, the eye, the nose, the two ears, likewise the (whole) body.
126. Let the (king), having fully ascertained the motive, the time and place (of the offence), and having considered the ability (of the criminal to suffer) and the (nature of the) crime, cause punish- ment to fall on those who deserve it.
127. Unjust punishment destroys reputation among men, and fame (after death), and causes even in the next world the loss of heaven; let him, therefore, beware of (inflicting) it.
128. A king who punishes those who do not deserve it, and punishes not those who deserve it, brings great infamy on himself and (after death) sinks into hell.
129. Let him punish first by (gentle) admonition, afterwards by (harsh) reproof, thirdly by a fine, after that by corporal chastisement.
1 30. But when he cannot restrain such (offenders) even by corporal punishment, then let him apply to them even all the four (modes conjointly).
131. Those technical names of (certain quantities of) copper, silver, and gold, which are generally used 126. Gaut. XII, 51; Yagii. I, 367. Anubandham, 'the motive,' includes according to Gov. and Kull. also ' the frequency of the offence.' Nar. gives the latter meaning alone. Nand. reads aparadham, 'the offence.' Instead of saraparadhau Nand. reads sarasaram, ' the strength or weakness (of the offender).'
VIII, 139. CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LAW; PROCEDURE. 2; J on earth for the purpose of business transactions among men, I will fully declare.
132. The very small mote which is seen when the sun shines through a lattice, they declare (to be) the least of (all) quantities and (to be called) a tra- sare^u (a floating particle of dust).
133. Know (that) eight trasare/ms (are equal) in bulk (to) a liksha (the egg of a louse), three of those to one grain of black mustard (ra^asarshapa), and three of the latter to a white mustard-seed.
1 34. Six grains of white mustard are one middle- sized barley-corn, and three barley-corns one kri- sh^ala (raktika, or gu%"a-berry); five krzsh^alas are one masha (bean), and sixteen of those one suvar^a.
135. Four suvar^as are one pala, and ten palas one dhara^a; two krzsh#alas (of silver), weighed to- gether, must be considered one mashaka of silver.
136. Sixteen of those make a silver dhara/za, or pura/za; but know (that) a karsha of copper is a karshapa/za, or pa^a.
137. Know (that) ten dhara^as of silver make one i-atamana; four suvar/zas must be considered (equal) in weight to a nishka.
138. Two hundred and fifty pa/zas are declared (to be) the first (or lowest) amercement, five (hun- dred) are considered as the mean (or middlemost), but one thousand as the highest.
139. A debt being admitted as due, (the defendant) 134. The ktt'sh«ala or raktika (ratti) is still used by jewellers and goldsmiths. It corresponds to 0.122 grammes, or 1.875 grains.
139. Vi. VI, 20-21; Yagii. II, 42. According to Nar. 'some' only have this verse.
278 LAWS OF MANU. VIII, shall pay five in the hundred (as a fine), if it be denied (and proved) twice as much; that is the teaching of Manu.
140. A money-lender may stipulate as an increase of his capital, for the interest, allowed by Vasish/^a, and take monthly the eightieth part of a hundred.
141. Or, remembering the duty of good men, he may take two in the hundred (by the month), for he who takes two in the hundred becomes not a sinner for gain.
142. Just two in the hundred, three, four, and five (and not more), he may take as monthly interest according to the order of the castes (varaa).
143. But if a beneficial pledge (i.e. one from which profit accrues, has been given), he shall receive no interest on the loan; nor can he, after keeping (such) a pledge for a very long time, give or sell it.
140. Gaut. XII, 29; Y&gri. II, 37. The rule occurs in our Vasish^a Dharnmastra II, 51. The amount is fifteen per cent per annum. According to Kull. (on verse 141), Nar., Ragh., and Nand. this rule refers to a debt secured by a pledge, and the cor- rectness of this view is proved by the parallel passage of Y&gn.
141-142. Vas. II, 48; Vi. VI, 2; Yign. II, 37. This rule refers, according to the same commentators, to unsecured loans. A Brahma^a is to pay two per cent per month, a Kshatriya three, a Vawya four, and a -Sudra five. Med. and Gov. think that the rule refers to cases where the creditor is unable to live on the smaller interest.
143. Gaut. XII, 32; Vi. VI, 5. ' A beneficial pledge,' i.e. ' land, cattle, slaves, &c.' According to Medh., Gov., and Nar., the last clause refers to pledges which are not used. But Kull. objects that this is contrary to the common practice of the -Sish/as, and Ragh. refers to Yagn. II, 58, where it is clearly stated that beneficial pledges only are never lost, while those which are merely kept are lost when the original debt is doubled by unpaid interest.
VIII, 149- CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LAW; DEBTS. 279 144. A pledge (to be kept only) must not be used by force, (the creditor), so using it, shall give up his (whole) interest, or, (if it has been spoilt by use) he shall satisfy the (owner) by (paying its) original price; else he commits a theft of the pledge.
145. Neither a pledge nor a deposit can be lost by lapse of time; they are both recoverable, though they have remained long (with the bailee).
146. Things used with friendly assent, a cow, a camel, a riding-horse, and (a beast) made over for breaking in, are never lost (to the owner).
147. (But in general) whatever (chattel) an owner sees enjoyed by others during ten years, while, though present, he says nothing, that (chattel) he shall not recover.
148. If (the owner is) neither an idiot nor a minor and if (his chattel) is enjoyed (by another) before his eyes, it is lost to him by law; the adverse possessor shall retain that property.
149. A pledge, a boundary, the property of in- fants, an (open) deposit, a sealed deposit, women, the property of the king and the wealth of a ^rotriya are not lost in consequence of (adverse) enjoyment.
144. Vi. VI, 5; Y&gii. II, 59. According to Medh. clothes, &c, are meant; according to Kull. and Ragh. clothes, ornaments, &c.; according to Nar. beds and so forth. Nar. thinks that the expression 1 the value ' refers to the profit made by the use of the pledge.
145. Vi.VI, 7-8; Y&gn. II, 58. According to Medh. the pledge spoken of here is ' a pledge for keeping which is forcibly used.' Upanidhi, 'a deposit,' means according to Medh., Gov., Kull. (who however refers the term also to deposits), Ragh., and Nand. ' any- thing lent to another out of friendship;' according to Nar. 'an additional pledge, given subsequently, in order to complete the security for the loan/ 147-148. Gaut. XII, 37; Vas. XVI, 16-17; Yag^. II, 24.
149. Vas. XVI, 18; Gaut. XII, 38-39; Yzgn. II, 25. « Women/ 2 SO LAWS OF MANU. VIII, 150.
150. The fool who uses a pledge without the per- mission of the owner, shall remit half of his interest, as a compensation for (such) use.
151. In money transactions interest paid at one time (not by instalments) shall never exceed the double (of the principal); on grain, fruit, wool or hair, (and) beasts of burden it must not be more than five times (the original amount).
152. Stipulated interest beyond the legal rate, being against (the law), cannot be recovered; they call that a usurious way (of lending); (the lender) is (in no case) entitled to (more than) five in the hundred.
153. Let him not take interest beyond the year, nor such as is unapproved, nor compound interest, periodical interest, stipulated interest, and corporal interest.
i.e. 'female slaves and the like.' Ragh. adds that their offspring is not lost to the owner. Upanidhi^, ' a sealed deposit' (Gov., Kull., Nar., and Ragh.).
150. According to the commentators this is the consequence, resulting from the secret unpermitted use of a pledge in ordinary cases, while the loss of the whole interest ensues in the case of a forcible use in contravention of a special prohibition.
151. Gaut. XII, 31, 36; Vi. VI, 11-15; Y&gri. II, 39. The interest here intended is such which is not paid by instalments, but becomes due together with the principal. According to the commentators, the whole sum payable, i.e. the interest together with the principal, shall not exceed the double of the sum lent, or, in the special cases mentioned, five times that amount.
152. According to Gov. and Nar. this verse entitles the money- lender to take five per cent from Aryans, not from *Sudras only.
153. Gaut. XII, 30, 34-35. 'A creditor may take for the term of a year interest which has been settled by the following agree- ment, " When one, two, or three months have passed, the interest on the (capital) shall be calculated and be paid to me at one time;" but he shall not take the interest according to the agreement after