325. For (stealing) cows belonging to Brâhmanas, for piercing (the nostrils of) a barren cow, and for stealing (other) cattle (belonging to Brâhmanas, the offender) shall forthwith lose half his feet.

326. (For stealing) thread, cotton, drugs causing fermentation, cowdung, molasses, sour milk, sweet milk, butter-milk, water, or grass,

327. Vessels made of bamboo or other cane, salt of various kinds, earthen (vessels), earth and ashes, 328. Fish, birds, oil, clarified butter, meat, honey, and other things that come from beasts,

329. Or other things of a similar kind, spirituous liquor, boiled rice, and every kind of cooked food, the fine (shall be) twice the value (of the stolen article).

330. For flowers, green corn, shrubs, creepers, trees, and other unhusked (grain) the fine (shall be) five krishnalas.

weapons were stolen during a combat, or medicines from a very sick man' (Medh., Gov., Râgh.).

325. Instead of the reading of the editions, 'khûrikâyâs ka bhedane,' Medh., Nâr., Râgh., Nand., and K. have 'sthûrikâyâs ka bhedane,' which is no doubt the correct version, the vulgata being caused by a mislecture of the old form of the letter tha.' Kull. and Râgh. explain the phrase in the manner given above, and Gov., who reads 'nâsa[si]kâyâs ka bhedane,' agrees with them. Medh., on the other hand, says that sthûrikâ means 'an ox' (balîvardah), and the phrase must be taken 'for pricking with a goad (and using for one's purpose) the ox (of another man).' Nâr. finally asserts that sthûrikâ means 'a load placed on an ox,' and interprets the words by 'for cutting open a sack carried by an ox and abstracting its contents.'

326-331. Vi. V, 83-86.

328. Other things that come from beasts,' i.e. skins, horns, gorokanâ, &c.' (Gov., Nâr., Kull., Râgh.).

329. Other things of a similar kind,' i.e. 'red arsenic, red lead, &c.' (Gov., Kull.), or other eatables' (Nand.). 330. Gaut. XII, 18.

Gov. reads alpeshu, for a little unhusked

342. He who ties up unbound or sets free tied up (cattle of other men), he who takes a slave, a horse, or a carriage will have incurred the guilt of a thief.

343. A king who punishes thieves according to these rules, will gain fame in this world and after death unsurpassable bliss.

344. A king who desires to gain the throne of Indra and imperishable eternal fame, shall not, even for a moment, neglect (to punish) the man who commits violence.

345. He who commits violence must be considered as the worst offender, (more wicked) than a defamer, than a thief, and than he who injures (another) with a staff.

346. But that king who pardons the perpetrator of violence quickly perishes and incurs hatred.

347. Neither for friendship's 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 (varna) in (evil) times,

342. 'Takes a slave, &c.,' i.e. ' makes them do his work' (Nâr.). The other commentators think of actual theft.

344. Sâhasa, 'violence,' comprises according to Medh. robbery (see also above, verse 332), rape, arson, cutting clothes, or forcibly destroying property.

348-351. Gaut. VII, 25; Vas. III, 15-18, 24; Baudh. I, 18-23; Vi. V, 189-192.

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., Nâr., Râgh.), or of a famine (Nâr.), the twice-born castes are threatened by an improper intermixture (samkara).

349. In their own defence, in a strife for the fees of officiating priests, and in order to protect women and Brahmanas; 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 Brâhmana 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.

352. Men who commit adultery with the wives of others, the king shall cause to be marked by punishments which cause terror, and afterwards banish.

353. For by (adultery) is caused a mixture of the castes (varna) among men; thence (follows) sin, which cuts up even the roots and causes the destruction 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 Nâr. one must not wound such a man 'excessively.'

351. 'Secretly,' i. e. 'by incantations or spells' (Gov., Nâr., 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., Râgh.).

354-358. Ap. II, 26, 18-19; Yâgn. II, 284.

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 (samgrahana).

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 (samgrahana).

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 (samgrahana).

359. A man who is not a Brâhmana ought to suffer death for adultery (samgrahana); 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 artisans are not prohibited from speaking to married

women.

356. 'A Tîrtha,' i.e. ' a place on the river-bank where the women fetch water' (Medh., Nâr., Râgh.). 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., Râgh. this rule refers to adultery committed by a Sûdra with a Brâhmanî (Râgh.) or to the violation of a Brâhmanî by a Sûdra (Gov., Kull.). Medh., too, thinks that a Sûdra alone is to suffer capital punishment for adultery with an Âryan woman. Nand., finally, says that Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sûdras are meant, who offend with a female of a higher caste. Possibly the correct explanation of prânântam dandam, '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 prohibition, shall be fined one suvarna.

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.

361. Yâgй. II, 285.

362. Baudh. II, 4, 3. I translate kârana according to the commentators 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. 'Rakshakâs (?), Sîlamitrâs (?), and so forth' (Medh.), or 'Buddhist nuns' (Gov., Kull., Râgh.). Nâr. says 'female mendicants.' It deserves to be noted that according to a passage attributed by Gov. and Nâr. to Baudhâyana, 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.

364-368. Yâgn. II, 288.

365. 'From a maiden,' i. e. 'from her relatives or guardians' (Medh.). According to Kull. and Nâr. the girl is to be fettered, according to Medh. to be guarded by her relatives. The confinement is to last until she is cured of her attachment.