346. But that king who pardons the perpetrator of violence quickly perishes and incurs hatred.
347. Neither for friendships sake, nor for the sake of great lucre, must a king let go perpetrators of violence, who cause terror to all creatures.
348. Twice-born men may take up arms when (they are) hindered (in the fulfilment of) their duties, when destruction (threatens) the twice-born castes (vama) in (evil) times, 342. ' Takes a slave, &c.,' i. e. ' makes them do his work' (Nar.). The other commentators think of actual theft.
344. Sahasa, 'violence,' comprises according to Medh. robbery (see also above, verse 332), rape, arson, cutting clothes, or forcibly destroying property.
348. I. e. when robbers and so forth do not allow the twice-born to offer sacrifices or to fulfil other sacred duties (Medh.), or when in times of a foreign invasion (Gov., KulL, Nar., Ragh.), or of a famine (Nar.), the twice-born castes are threatened by an improper intermixture (sa#zkara).
349. In their own defence, in a strife for the fees of officiating priests, and in order to protect women and Brahma^as; he who (under such circumstances) kills in the cause of right, commits no sin.
350. One may slay without hesitation an assassin who approaches (with murderous intent), whether (he be one's) teacher, a child or an aged man, or a Brah- ma/za deeply versed in the Vedas.
351. By killing an assassin the slayer incurs no guilt, whether (he does it) publicly or secretly; in that case fury recoils upon fury. » «j\ >. ni 352. Men who commit adultery with the wives of I' I'' others, the king shall cause to be marked by punish- ments which cause terror, and afterwards banish. ^K f JL/ 353. For by (adultery) is caused a mixture of the I ' castes (vanza) among men; thence (follows) sin, 1, which cuts up even the roots and causes the destruc- tion of everything.
354. A man formerly accused of (such) offences, who secretly converses with another man's wife, shall pay the first (or lowest) amercement.
355. But a man, not before accused, who (thus) speaks with (a woman) for some (reasonable) cause, shall not incur any guilt, since in him there is no transgression.
350. According to Kull. the condition is that one must be unable to save oneself by flight, according to N&r. one must not wound such a man ' excessively/ 351. 'Secretly,' i.e. 'by incantations or spells' (Gov., Nar., Nand.).
353. I. e. if a mixture of the castes takes place, the sacrifices cannot be offered properly, because duly qualified sacrificers are wanting. If sacrifices are not duly offered, no rain will fall (see above, III, 76), and everything will perish (Medh., Gov., Kull., R*gh.).
r ■A 356. He who addresses the wife of another man at a Tirtha, outside the village, in a forest, or at the confluence of rivers, shall suffer (the punishment for) adulterous acts (sawgraha^a).
357. Offering presents (to a woman), romping (with her), touching her ornaments and dress, sitting with her on a bed, all (these acts) are considered adulterous acts (sawgraha^a).
358. If one touches a woman in a place (which ought) not (to be touched) or allows (oneself to be touched in such a spot), all (such acts done) with mutual consent are declared (to be) adulterous (sa//z- graha/za).
359. A man who is not a Brahma^a ought to suffer death for adultery (sawgraha^a); for the wives of all the four castes even must always be (|_ carefully guarded.
360. Mendicants, bards, men who have performed the initiatory ceremony of a Vedic sacrifice, and arti- sans are not prohibited from speaking to married women.
356. 'A Tirtha/ i. e. ' a place on the river-bank where the women fetch water' (Medh., Nar., Ragh.). The punishment is the highest amercement (Kull.). Nand. places this verse after 357.
358. Nand. says, ' If one touches a woman in a lonely place.' Gov. also mentions this explanation.
359. According to Gov., Kull., Ragh. this rule refers to adultery committed by a -Sudra with a Brahmarai (Ragh.) or to the violation of a Brahmarci by a Sudra (Gov., Kull.). Medh., too, thinks that a -Sudra alone is to suffer capital punishment for adultery with an Aryan woman. Nand., finally, says that Kshatriyas, Vauyas, and -Sudras are meant, who offend with a female of a higher caste. Possibly the correct explanation of prawantaw dawdam,' death/ may, however, be ■ a punishment, even death.' This rendering at least removes all the difficulties created by the parallel passages and the following verses.
361. Let no man converse with the wives of others after he has been forbidden (to do so); but he who converses (with them), in spite of a prohi- bition, shall be fined one suvama.
362. This rule does not apply to the wives of actors and singers, nor (of) those who live on (the intrigues of) their own (wives); for such men send their wives (to others) or, concealing themselves, allow them to hold criminal intercourse.
363. Yet he who secretly converses with such women, or with female slaves kept by one (master), and with female ascetics, shall be compelled to pay a small fine.
364. He who violates an unwilling maiden shall instantly suffer corporal punishment; but a man who enjoys a willing maiden shall not suffer corporal punishment, if (his caste be) the same (as hers).
365. From a maiden who makes advances to a (man of) high (caste), he shall not take any fine; but her, who courts a (man of) low (caste), let him force to live confined in her house.
362. Baudh. II, 4, 3. I translate Tarawa according to the com- mentators by ' actors and singers/ but it may also be the name of a caste which is well known in Western India.
363. ' Female ascetics/ i. e. ' Rakshakas (?), -Silamitras (?), and so forth ' (Medh.), or ' Buddhist nuns' (Gov., Kull., Ragh.). Nar. says ' female mendicants.' It deserves to be noted that according to a passage attributed by Gov. and Nar. to Baudhayana, but not found in our text, ' some' permitted even orthodox females to become ascetics. Female ascetics were probably in ancient India as common as they are now, and were considered equally disreputable.
365. 'From a maiden/ i.e. 'from her relatives or guardians' (Medh.). According to Kull. and Nar. the girl is to be fettered, according to Medh. to be guarded by her relatives. The confine- ment is to last until she is cured of her attachment.
r i 366. A (man of) low (caste) who makes love to a maiden (of) the highest (caste) shall suffer corporal punishment; he who addresses a maiden (of) equal (caste) shall pay the nuptial fee, if her father desires it.
367. But if any man through insolence forcibly contaminates a maiden, two of his fingers shall be instantly cut off, and he shall pay a fine of six hundred (pa/zas).
368. A man (of) equal (caste) who defiles a willing maiden shall not suffer the amputation of his fingers, but shall pay a fine of two hundred (pa/zas) in order to deter him from a repetition (of the offence).
369. A damsel who pollutes (another) damsel must be fined two hundred (pa/zas), pay the double of her (nuptial) fee, and receive ten (lashes with a) rod.
370. But a woman who pollutes a damsel shall instantly have (her head) shaved or two fingers cut off, and be made to ride (through the town) on a donkey.
371. If a wife, proud of the greatness of her relatives or (her own) excellence, violates the duty which she owes to her lord, the king shall cause 366. The meaning of the second clause is that if the father wishes it, the offender is to marry the girl, after paying the nuptial fee (Kull., Nar.). If the father does not wish to receive the fee, the offender is to pay an equal sum as a fine to the king (Medh., Gov., Ragh.).
370. According to Medh. and Nar. the verse prescribes three different punishments, and a Brahmam offender is to be shaved, a Kshatriya to be led through the streets on a donkey, while women of other castes are to lose two fingers. According to Gov., Kull., and Ragh. the punishment is to be regulated by the circumstances.
her to be devoured by dogs in a place frequented li by many. * 372. Let him cause the male offender to be burnt o4 on a red-hot iron bed; they shall put logs under it,.j (until) the sinner is burned (to death).
3 j 3. On a man (once) convicted, who is (again) accused within a year, a double fine (must be in- flicted); even thus (must the fine be doubled) for (repeated) intercourse with a Vratya and a K&ndaM.
374. A 6Yidra who has intercourse with a woman | of a twice-born caste (vanza), guarded or unguarded, (shall be punished in the following manner): if she jA was unguarded, he loses the part (offending) and all his property; if she was guarded, everything (even his life).
375. (For intercourse with a guarded Brahmam) a VaLrya shall forfeit all his property after imprison- ment for a year; a Kshatriya shall be fined one thousand (pa/zas) and be shaved with the urine (of an ass).
376. If a Vai^ya or a Kshatriya has connexion with an unguarded Brahma/d, let him fine the Vaisya five hundred (pa^as) and the Kshatriya one thousand.
377. But even these two, if they offend with a 373. 'A Vratya,' i.e. ' the wife of an Aryan who has not been ini- tiated' (Gov., Kull., Ragh.); see above, II, 39; or ' one not married in proper time' (Nar. and Medh.), which latter attempts also another explanation, 'a public woman' or 'one common to several men/ The fine intended is two thousand pa^as (Gov., Kull., Ragh.).
374. Ap. II, 26, 20; 27, 9; Gaut. XII, 2-3; Vas. XXI, 5, 5; Baudh. II, 3, 52; Yagfi. II, 286, 294. 'Guarded,' i.e. 'by her husband or relatives' (Medh., Kull., Ragh.).
Brahma/zi (not only) guarded (but the wife of an eminent man), shall be punished like a 6udra or be burnt in a fire of dry grass.
378. A Brahma^a who carnally knows a guarded Brahma^i against her will, shall be fined one thou- sand (pa^as); but he shall be made to pay five hundred, if he had connexion with a willing one.
379. Tonsure (of the head) is ordained for a Brahma^a (instead of) capital punishment; but (men of) other castes shall suffer capital punishment.
380. Let him never slay a Brahma^a, though he have committed all (possible) crimes; let him banish such an (offender), leaving all his property (to him) and (his body) unhurt.
381. No greater crime is known on earth than slaying a Brahma/za; a king, therefore, must not even conceive in his mind the thought of killing a Brahma/za.
382. If a VaLsya approaches a guarded female of the Kshatriya caste, or a Kshatriya a (guarded) Vaiiya woman, they both deserve the same punish- ment as in the case of an unguarded Brahma/za female.
383. A Brahma/za shall be compelled to pay a fine of one thousand (pa/zas) if he has intercourse with guarded (females of) those two (castes); for (offending with) a (guarded).Sudra female a fine of one thousand (pa/zas shall be inflicted) on a Ksha- triya or a Vai^ya.
384. For (intercourse with) an unguarded Ksha- triya a fine of fivQ hundred (pa/zas shall fall) on a 382. According to the commentators the rule of verse 376 applies.
VIII, 390. MISCELLANEOUS RULES. 32 1 Vaisya; but (for the same offence) a Kshatriya shall be shaved with the urine (of a donkey) or (pay) the same fine.
385. A Brahma/za who approaches unguarded females (of the) Kshatriya or VaLsya (castes), or a 6udra female, shall be fined five hundred (pa/zas); but (for intercourse with) a female (of the) lowest (castes), one thousand.
386. That king in whose town lives no thief, no adulterer, no defamer, no man guilty of violence, and no committer of assaults, attains the world of .Sakra (Indra).
387. The suppression of those five in his domi- nions secures to a king paramount sovereignty among his peers and fame in the world.
388. A sacrificer who forsakes an officiating priest, and an officiating priest who forsakes a sacrificer, (each being) able to perform his work and not contaminated (by grievous crimes), must each be fined one hundred (pa^as).
389. Neither a mother, nor a father, nor a wife, nor a son shall be cast off; he who casts them off, unless guilty of a crime causing loss of caste, shall be fined by the king six hundred (pa;/as).
390. If twice-born men dispute among each other 385. 'A female of the lowest castes,' i.e. * a iEaW&li ' (Gov., Kull., Ragh.), or ' belonging to the castes of washermen, leather-workers, actors, basket-makers, fishermen, Medas, or Bhillas ' (Nar.).
388. 'An officiating priest,' i. e. ' one who has sacrificed for his family since many generations' (Gov., Nar.).
389. Vi.V, 163; Yagri. II, 237. * Shall not be cast off,' i.e. 'shall not be refused maintenance or the due respect' (Medh., Gov., Kull.).
390. 'Of the orders,' i.e. 'of the four orders' (Nar., Ragh.), or 'of the householders' (Gov., Kull.). Medh. and Nand. take a^rama LAWS OF MANU.
concerning the duty of the orders, a king who desires his own welfare should not (hastily) decide (what is) the law.
391. Having shown them due honour, he should, with (the assistance of) Brahma/zas, first soothe them by gentle (speech) and afterwards teach them their duty.
392. A Brahma^a who does not invite his next neighbour and his neighbour next but one, (though) both (be) worthy (of the honour), to a festival at which twenty Brahma^as are entertained, is liable to a fine of one masha.
393. A.SVotriya who does not entertain a virtuous 6rotriya at auspicious festive rites, shall be made to pay him twice (the value of) the meal and a masha of gold (as a fine to the king).
394. A blind man, an idiot, (a cripple) who moves with the help of a board, a man full seventy years old, and he who confers benefits on.SVotriyas, shall not be compelled by any (king) to pay a tax.
not in the sense of ' order,' but of ' hermitage,' and ' twice-born men' in the sense of 'hermits.' Nar. explains na vibruyat, 'shall not (hastily) decide,' by ' shall not wrongly decide by himself.'
392. Vi. V, 94; Y&gn. II, 263. 'A festival/ i. e. ' a wedding and so forth' (Medh.), or 'at which a dinner is given' (Nand.). Anuvejya, 'his next neighbour but one' (Kull., Nar., Ragh.), means according to Medh., Gov., and Nand. ' he who lives at the back of his house,' while the neighbour living opposite is the prativcsya. ' Twenty,' i.e. ' twenty or more other Brahmawas' (Gov.). 'A masha,' i. e. ' of silver' (Gov., Kull., Ragh.), or ' of gold' (Medh., Nar.).
393. 'A virtuous Srotriya,' i. e. ' a neighbour' (Gov., Kull., Ragh.), or ' living in the same village' (Nar.). Medh. says, ' one who is not a neighbour.'
394. Ap. II, 26, 10-15; Vas. XIX, 23-24. '(A cripple) who moves with the help of a board' is not an uncommon sight in the streets of Indian towns. 'By any (king),' i.e. 'even by one whose treasury is empty.'
VIII, 399- MISCELLANEOUS RULES. 323 395. Let the king always treat kindly a 6rotriya, a sick or distressed man, an infant and an aged or an indigent man, a man of high birth, and an honour- able man (Arya).
396. A washerman shall wash (the clothes of his employers) gently on a smooth board of.5almali- wood; he shall not return the clothes (of one person) for those (of another), nor allow anybody (but the owner) to wear them.
397. A weaver (who has received) ten palas (of thread), shall return (cloth weighing) one pala more; he who acts differently shall be compelled to pay a fine of twelve (pa;zas).
398. Let the king take one-twentieth of that (amount) which men, well acquainted with the settle- ment of tolls and duties (and) skilful in (estimating the value of) all kinds of merchandise, may fix as the value for each saleable commodity.
399. Let the king confiscate the whole property of (a trader) who out of greed exports goods of which the king has a monopoly or (the export of which is) forbidden.
396. Yagri. II, 238. -Salmali, or cotton-tree wood, is naturally soft (Medh.).
397. Yagn. II, 179. Instead of 'twelve (pawas),' (Kull., Ragh.), Medh. proposes ' twelve (palas),' Gov. ' twelve (times the value of the thread),' and Nar. ' one-twelfth (of the value of the thread).' Nand. reads da.raphalam and ekaphaladhikam, and says that the weaver is to pay to the king the profit of each eleventh piece of work which he performs.
398. Yagn. II, 261. Instead of « of that (amount),' (Medh., Nar.), Gov., Kull., and Ragh. say ' of the profit on that.'
399. Yagn. II, 261. Medh. gives as instances of monopolies, elephants; in Karaiir, saffron; in the east, fine cloth and wool; in the west, horses; in the south, precious stones and pearls. Saffron is still a royal monopoly in Ka^mir.
400. He who avoids a custom-house (or a toll), he who buys or sells at an improper time, or he who makes a false statement in enumerating (his goods), shall be fined eight times (the amount of duty) which he tried to evade.
401. Let (the king) fix (the rates for) the purchase and sale of all marketable goods, having (duly) con- sidered whence they come, whither they go, how long they have been kept, the (probable) profit and the (probable) outlay.
402. Once in Hyg nights, or at the close of each fortnight, let the king publicly settle the prices for the (merchants).
403. All weights and measures must be duly marked, and once in six months let him re-examine them.
404. At a ferry an (empty) cart shall be made to pay one pa^a, a mans (load) half a pa^a, an animal and a woman one quarter of a (pa^a), an unloaded man one-half of a quarter.
405. Carts (laden) with vessels full (of merchan- dise) shall be made to pay toll at a ferry according to the value (of the goods), empty vessels and men without luggage some trifle.
400. Y&gn. II, 262. 'At an improper time,' i.e. 'at night and so forth' (Medh., Gov., Nar., Kull, Ragh.).
402. Yagn. II, 251. Gov. and Kull. say, 'let the king settle the price in the presence of those (experts,' see verse 398). The trans- lation follows Ragh. The length of the periods depends thereon, whether the goods vary much in price. Medh. omits this and the next four verses.
405. 'Empty vessels,' i.e. such as serve for the transport of merchandise, jars, leather-bags, baskets, &c. Apari^/^ada^, ' men without luggage,' may also be translated ' men without attendants.' Kull. and Ragh. say, ' poor men.'
VIII, 412. MISCELLANEOUS RULES. 325 406. For a long passage the boat-hire must be proportioned to the places and times; know that this (rule refers) to (passages along) the banks of rivers; at sea there is no settled (freight).
407. But a woman who has been pregnant two months or more, an ascetic, a hermit in the forest, and Brahma/zas who are students of the Veda, shall not be made to pay toll at a ferry.
408. Whatever may be damaged in a boat by the fault of the boatmen, that shall be made good by the boatmen collectively, (each paying) his share.
409. This decision in suits (brought) by passen- gers (holds good only) in case the boatmen are culpably negligent on the water; in the case of (an accident) caused by (the will of) the gods, no fine can be (inflicted on them).
410. (The king) should order a Vai^ya to trade, to lend money, to cultivate the land, or to tend cattle, and a 6udra to serve the twice-born castes.
411. (Some wealthy) Brahma^a shall compassion- ately support both a Kshatriya and a Vaisya, if they are distressed for a livelihood, employing them on work (which is suitable for) their (castes).
412. But a Brahma^a who, because he is powerful, out of greed makes initiated (men of the) twice-born (castes) against their will do the work of slaves, shall be fined by the king six hundred (pa^as).
407. Vi. V, 132. According to Medh., heterodox monks must pay, because the word Brahma^a (taken above with students) refers to all the persons mentioned.
408. 'Whatever,' i.e. 'merchandise' (Medh., Nar.), or 'luggage' (Gov., Kull, Ragh.).
411. I.e. he shall employ a poor Kshatriya as watchman, and aVaisya as herdsman (Medh.). If he employs them in this way, he is not punishable (Gov., Kull.).
yt i 413. But a.Sudra, whether bought or unbought, he may compel to do servile work; for he was created by the Self-existent (Svayambhu) to be the slave of a Brahma^a.
414. A.Sudra, though emancipated by his master, is not released from servitude; since that is innate in him, who can set him free from it?
415. There are slaves of seven kinds, (viz.) he who is made a captive under a standard, he who serves for his daily food, he who is born in the house, he who is bought and he who is given, he who is inherited from ancestors, and he who is enslaved by way of punishment.
416. A wife, a son, and a slave, these three are declared to have no property; the wealth which they earn is (acquired) for him to whom they belong.
413.' Whether bought or unbought,' i. e. ' whether maintained in consideration of service or not' (Gov., Kull., Ragh.), or 'whether bought or hired' (Nar.).
414. Medh. says that the last clause is 'an arthavada, because further on it will be shown that a slave can be emancipated/ Kull. thinks that an emancipated -Sudra must still serve Brahma^as or other Aryans in order to gain spiritual merit.
415. Medh. rejects the notion that a captive Kshatriya can be made a slave, and thinks that a captured -Sudra must be meant; but see Yfign, II, 183, where it is laid down that Kshatriyas may become the slaves of Brahmawas and Vaijyas of Brahmawas and Kshatriyas. Nar. explains dhva^ahntaA, ' one made a captive under a standard,' by ' one who has become a slave by marrying a female slave.' ' En- slaved by way of punishment,' i. e. ' because he cannot pay a debt or a fine' (Medh., Gov., Kull., Ragh.), or ' also because he left a religious order' (see Vi. V, 152), (Nar., Nand.)
416. According to Medh., Gov., Kull., Ragh., the verse means only that these persons are unable to dispose of their property independently. Nar.'s short note (adhiga^/^awti parakarmakara- fzadina) seems to indicate that he took it to refer to their incapacity to earn money by working for others.
IX, 2. DUTIES OF HUSBAND AND WIFE. 327 417. A Brahma;2a may confidently seize the goods of (his) 6udra (slave); for, as that (slave) can have no property, his master may take his possessions. — 418. (The king) should carefully compel VaLsyas and £udras to perform the work (prescribed) for them; for if these two (castes) swerved from their duties, they would throw this (whole) world into confusion.
419. Let him daily look after the completion of his undertakings, his beasts of burden, and car- riages, (the collection of) his revenues and the dis- bursements, his mines and his treasury.
420. A king who thus brings to a conclusion all the legal business enumerated above, and removes all sin, reaches the highest state (of bliss).
Chapter IX.
1. I will now propound the eternal laws for a husband and his wife who keep to the path of duty, whether they be united or separated.
2. Day and night women must be kept in depend- 417. 'Confidently' means according to Medh., Nar., and Nand. ' without fearing that he commits the sin of accepting a present from a -Sudra.'
419. Karmantan, 'the completion of his undertakings' (Kull., Ragh.), means according to Medh., Gov., and Nand. ' the works/ i.e. 'agriculture, offices for collecting tolls and duties, and so forth' (Medh., Gov.), according to Nar. ' the workshops, e. g. for making arms.' The last explanation is perhaps the best.
IX. 1. According to Medh., Gov., and Kull. the duties of husband and wife are placed in the section on civil and criminal law, because the king can and even is bound to enforce their observance by punishments, if either of the two raises a complaint. ' Separated,' i. e. ' when the husband is absent or dead' (Nar., Ragh.).
r r ence by the males (of) their (families), and, if they attach themselves to sensual enjoyments, they must be kept under one's control.
.3. Her father protects (her) in childhood, her husband protects (her) in youth, and her sons pro- / tect (her) in old age; a woman is never fit for 1 independence.
4. Reprehensible is the father who gives not (his daughter in marriage) at the proper time; reprehen- sible is the husband who approaches not (his wife in due season), and reprehensible is the son who does not protect his mother after her husband has died.
5. Women must particularly be guarded against evil. inclinations, however trifling (they may appear); ^ for, if they are not guarded, they will bring sorrow on two families.
6. Considering that the highest duty of all castes, even weak husbands (must) strive to guard their wives.
7. He who carefully guards his wife, preserves (the purity of) his offspring, virtuous conduct, his family, himself, and his (means of acquiring) merit.
2. ' Must be kept under one's control,' i. e. ' they must be restrained from their vicious attachment' (atmano vaje sthapya yatha na sa- ^■yante), (Nar.)
4. Yagn. I, 64. c At the proper time,' i. e. before she is marriage- able; see Gaut. XVIII, 21; Vas. XVII, 67-71. 'The husband,' see Baudh. IV, 1, 17-19, and above, III, 45. After this verse K. inserts another, not mentioned by the commentators, ' If the wife is guarded, the (purity of the) offspring is secured thereby; if the (purity of the) offspring is secured, oneself is secure.'
6. Yagn. I, 81. 'Weak husbands/ i.e. 'blind, lame, or poor ones, &c.' (Kull., Ragh.).
7. ' His family,' i. e. ' his ancestors,' because legitimate sons alone can offer the -Sraddhas (Medh., Gov., Kull.), or 'his relatives,' because adultery brings dishonour (Medh., Ragh.), or ' the position of the TX, 13. DUTIES OF HUSBAND AND WIFE. 329 8. The husband, after conception by his wife, be- Jv comes an embryo and is born again of her; for that ]g is the wifehood of a wife (^aya), that he is born ** (^ayate) again by her.
9. As the male is to whom a wife cleaves, even so is the son whom she brings forth; let him there- fore carefully guard his wife, in order to keep his offspring pure.
10. No man can completely guard women by force; but they can be guarded by the employment of the (following) expedients: 11. Let the (husband) employ his (wife) in the collection and expenditure of his wealth, in keeping (everything) clean, in (the fulfilment of) religious duties, in the preparation of his food, and in looking after the household utensils.
12. Women, confined in the house under trust- worthy and obedient servants, are not (well) guarded; but those who of their own accord keep guard over themselves, are well guarded.
13. Drinking (spirituous liquor), associating with wicked people, separation from the husband, ram- bling abroad, sleeping (at unseasonable hours), and dwelling in other men's houses, are the six causes of the ruin of women.
family' (Nar.), or 'his property' (Ragh.). ' Himself,' i. e. ' because legitimate children alone can offer the -Sraddhas' (Gov., Kull., Ragh.), or ' because an adulteress and her paramour are likely to attempt his life' (Medh.). ' His (means of acquiring) merit,' i. e. 1 because the husband of an adulteress is not entitled to kindle the sacred fire' (Gov., Kull., Ragh.). N£r. says, ' his duty (as a house- holder).'
8. Ya§™. I, 56. The idea is taken from the Veda; see e.g. Aita- reya-brahma/za VII, 13, to which Kull. refers.
13. 'Associating with wicked people,' i. e. 'with other unfaithful wives' (Nar.), or 'with adulterers' (Ragh.). > LAWS OF MANU.
r fr lU 14. Women do not care for beauty, nor is their attention fixed on age; (thinking), '(It is enough that) he is a man/ they give themselves to the hand- some and to the ugly.
15. Through their passion for men, through their mutable temper, through their natural heartlessness, they become disloyal towards their husbands, how- ever carefully they may be guarded in this (world).
16. Knowing their disposition, which the Lord of creatures laid in them at the creation, to be such, (every) man should most strenuously exert him- self to guard them.
17. (When creating them) Manu allotted to women (a love of their) bed, (of their) seat and (of) ornament, impure desires, wrath, dishonesty, malice, and bad conduct.
18. For women no (sacramental) rite (is per- formed) with sacred texts, thus the law is settled; women (who are) destitute of strength and destitute of (the knowledge of) Vedic texts, (are as impure as) falsehood (itself), that is a fixed rule. m 19. And to this effect many sacred texts are sung also in the Vedas, in order to (make) fully knowi the true disposition (of women); hear (now those texts which refer to) the expiation of their (sins).
20. 'If my mother, going astray and unfaithful, conceived illicit desires, may my father keep that seed from me,' that is the scriptural text.
L6 18. The sacramental rites meant are the birth-ceremony and so forth; see also above, II, 66. 'Destitute of strength ' (Gov.), i.e. 4 of firmness, intelligence, bodily strength, &c.' (Medh., Nand.). The second half verse is closely allied to that quoted Baudh. II, 3, 46, and, like the latter, probably a modification of a Vedic passage.
20. The verse is a slightly altered Mantra which occurs in the IX, 24. DUTIES OF HUSBAND AND WIFE. 331 21. If a woman thinks in her heart of anything that would pain her husband, the (above-mentioned text) is declared (to be a means for) completely re- moving such infidelity.
22. Whatever be the qualities of the man with whom a woman is united according to the law, such qualities even she assumes, like a river (united) with the ocean.
23. Akshamala, a woman of the lowest birth, being united to VasishMa and Sarangi, (being united) to Mandapala, became worthy of honour.
24. These and other females of low birth have