[212] If someone should ask someone else for, and be promised, money to be used for the sake of religion, but afterwards it is not so, it should not be given to him. [213] But if out of pride or greed he tries to get it back, the king should make him pay one gold piece as redemption for his theft.
[214] The non-payment of what has been promised, in accordance with law, has thus been properly described; after that I will explain the non-payment of wages.
[215] If, out of pride, a hired servant who is not in pain does not do his work as agreed, he should be fined eight ‘berries’, and no wages should be paid to him. [216] But if he has been in pain and, when he is sound again, does (the work) as it was agreed at the beginning, he should get all his wages, even after a long time. [217] If, however, he does not get his work done as agreed, his wages should not be paid to him whether he is in pain or sound, even if the work lacks only a little to be complete.
[218] The law for the non-payment of wages for work has thus been entirely described; after that I will explain the law for breach of contract.
[219] If a man enters into a sworn agreement with a group from a village or district and then breaks it out of greed, (the king) should banish him from the kingdom. [220] He should arrest a man who violates an agreement and make him pay a fine of four ‘gold coins’, six ‘gold ornaments’, and a silver ‘hundred-weight’. [221] A just king should apply this rule of punishment to those who violate agreements with village or caste communities. [222] If someone buys or sells anything and then regrets (what he did), he should give the article back or take it back within ten days. [223] But after ten days he may not give it back or have it given back; the king should impose a fine of six hundred (pennies) on anyone who takes it or gives it back.
[224] The king himself should impose a fine of ninety-six (pennies) on anyone who gives a flawed girl in marriage without announcing the flaw. [225] But if a man, out of hatred, says of a virgin, ‘She is not a virgin,’ but cannot show her flaw, he should be fined a hundred (pennies). [226] The Vedic verses for the wedding ceremony of joining hands are established only for virgins, and nowhere among men for those who are not virgins, for such women are deprived of the religious rites. [227] The Vedic verses for the wedding ceremony of joining hands are the sure mark of a (legitimate) wife; but wise men should know that they are sealed in the seventh step. [228] If anyone here feels regret about any completed business whatever, (the king) should set him on the path of justice by this rule.
[229] I will explain, properly and in accordance with justice and accuracy, the disputes about the transgressions of herdsmen and the owners of livestock.
[230] The herdsman has the responsibility for maintaining the safety (of the livestock) by day, and the owner at night, if they are in his house, but if (they are) not, the herdsman is responsible (at night, too). [231] A hired cowherd who is paid in milk may, with the consent of the owner, milk the best of ten (cows); this should be the pay for a herdsman who is not paid (in any other way). [232] The herdsman alone should pay for (any animal that has been) lost, destroyed by worms, killed by dogs, or that has fallen dead on uneven ground, all fór lack of manly effort. [233] But the herdsman should not pay for (an animal) stolen by thieves despite his shouts, as long as he reports it to his own master at the (proper) time and place. [234] If livestock die, he should give their masters their two ears, skin, tail, bladder, sinews, and yellow bile, and he should show the significant marks. [235] And if goats and sheep are surrounded by wolves and the herdsman does not drive them away, the herdsman is guilty for whatever (animals) a wolf may attack and kill. [236] But if, when they are herded together and grazing together in a forest, a wolf springs upon one of them and kills it, the herdsman is not guilty for that.
[237] All around a village there should be a reserved area of one hundred bow-lengths or three casts of a stick, and three times that for a city. [238] If livestock damage unfenced crops in that area, the king should not have the herdsmen punished for that. [239] (The owner of a field) in that area should make a hedge that a camel could not look over and close up any gap that a dog or a pig could put his muzzle or snout through. [240] (If livestock damage crops) in an enclosed field by a road or near a village, the herdsmen should be fined a hundred (pennies), and (the owner of the field) should round up livestock that have no herdsman. [241] An animal that gets into someone else’s fields incurs a fine of one penny and a quarter, and in all cases (the value of) the crop must be paid to the owner of the field; this is the established rule. [242] But Manu has said that no fine is incurred for (damage done by) a cow who has calved within ten days, by bulls, or by the livestock of the gods, whether they have a herdsman or have no herdsman. [243] If the owner of a field has caused serious harm, the fine should be ten times the portion (damaged); but the fine should be only half of that if the harm was caused by hired servants and the owner of the field did not know about it. [244] A just king should enforce this set of rules whenever there is a transgression by livestock or by their owners or herdsmen.
[245] If a dispute about a boundary has arisen between two villages, (the king) should determine the boundary in May or June, when the ridges of earth that divide the fields are clearly visible. [246] He should make boundary trees of banyan trees, fig trees, ‘pseudo-parrot’ trees, silk-cotton trees, Sal trees, Palmyra palms, and trees with milky sap, [247] thickets, various sorts of bamboos, fire-stick trees, mounds of earth with vines, reeds, and thickets of hump-back plants; in this way the boundary will not disappear. [248] Ponds, wells, long ponds, and fountains, as well as temples, should be made where boundaries meet. [249] And one should have other, hidden signs of boundaries made, considering the reversals that constantly occur in the world through men’s ignorance of boundaries. [250] Stones, bones, the hair of cows’ tails, husks, ashes, potsherds, dry cowdung, bricks, cinders, pebbles, sand, [251] and whatever things of this sort the earth does not corrode in time, he should have these put down and hidden where boundaries meet. [252] By these signs, by uninterrupted previous use, or by the bed cut by flowing water the king should determine the boundary between two disputing parties.
[253] If some doubt remains even when the signs are visible, the settlement of a boundary dispute depends upon the proof given by witnesses. [254] The witnesses about the boundary should be questioned about the signs of the boundary in the presence of the village families and the two disputing parties. [255] (The king) should fix the boundary in place according to the decision about the boundary that the witnesses give unanimously when they are questioned, and he should make a record of all their names. [256] They should put earth on their heads and wear garlands and red clothes, and when each of them has sworn an oath by his own good deeds, they should determine (the boundary) correctly. [257] If they determine it in the manner described, they are purified as witnesses of the truth; but if they determine it in a manner contrary (to the truth), they should be fined two hundred (pennies).
[258] If there are no witnesses, (neighbours from) the four bordering villages, having been purified, should determine the boundary in the presence of the king. [259] If there are no original inhabitants of the neighbouring villages to serve as witnesses for the boundary, (the king) may call (as a witness) even the following men who frequent the forests: [260] hunters, bird-catchers, cowherds, fishermen, men who dig roots, snake-catchers, a man who lives by gleaning (corn) and gathering (single grains), and other men who move about in the forest. [261] As they, when they are questioned, describe the mark where the boundaries meet, the king should in justice establish it between the two villages just like that. [262] The decision about the boundary ridges of a field, a well, a pond, a garden or a house that depends upon the proof given by the neighbours should be recognized. [263] If the neighbours lie about a boundary ridge that men are disputing, the king should make each of them individually pay the middle-level fine. [264] If a man takes away a house, pond, garden, or field by threatening (the owner), he should be fined five hundred (pennies)
; but if he did it through ignorance, the fine is two hundred (pennies). [265] If the boundary cannot be established, the king himself, alone, knowing justice, should assign the land to them as a kindness; this is a fixed rule.
[266] The law for boundary settlements has thus been described in its entirety; after this I will tell (the law) for deciding cases of verbal assault.
[267] A ruler who shouts abuse at a priest should be fined a hundred (pennies); a commoner (who does this), a hundred and fifty or two hundred (pennies); a servant (should be given) corporal or capital punishment. [268] A priest who defames a ruler should be fined fifty (pennies); for a commoner, the fine is a half of fifty (pennies); and for a servant, twelve (pennies). [269] A twice-born man who transgresses against a man of the same class (should be fined) two hundred (pennies); but the fine should be double that for words that should not be said. [270] If a man of one birth hurls cruel words at one of the twice-born, his tongue should be cut out, for he was born from the rear-end. [271] If he mentions their name or caste maliciously, a red-hot iron nail ten-fingers long should be thrust into his mouth. [272] If he is so proud as to instruct priests about their duty, the king should have hot oil poured into his mouth and ears. [273] If in his pride he tells lies about (their) knowledge of the revealed canon, their district, their caste, or the ritual perfection of their bodies, he should be made to pay a fine of two hundred (pennies).
[274] A man who calls another man one-eyed, lame, or something else like that, even if it is true, should be made to pay a fine of at least one ‘scratch-penny’. [275] If a man calumniates his mother, father, wife, brother, son, or teacher, or does not yield the right of way to his guru, he should be fined a hundred (pennies). [276] If a priest and a ruler (calumniate one another), a discerning (king) should impose the lowest-level fine upon the priest and the middle-level fine upon the ruler. [277] If a commoner and a servant (calumniate one another), punishment should actually be applied to them in the very same way, according to their respective castes, except that the tongue should not be cut out.
[278] The rule for the punishment of verbal assault has thus been accurately described; after this I will explain the decision (in cases) of physical assault.
[279] If a man of the lowest caste injures a man of a higher caste with some particular part of his body, that very part of his body should be cut off; this is Manu’s instruction. [280] If a man raises his hand or a stick, he should have his hand cut off; if in anger he strikes with his foot, he should have his foot cut off. [281] If a man of inferior caste tries to sit down on the same seat as a man of superior caste, he should be branded on the hip and banished, or have his buttocks cut off. [282] If in his pride he spits on him, the king should have his two lips cut off; if he urinates on him, the penis; if he farts at him, the anus. [283] If he grabs him by the hair, or by the feet, the beard, the neck, or the testicles, (the king) should unhesitatingly have his hands cut off. [284] If he breaks his skin or sheds his blood he should be fined a hundred (pennies); if he tears the flesh, (he should be fined) six ‘gold ornaments’, and if he breaks a bone he should be banished.
[285] For injuring all kinds of trees, a fine should be imposed in proportion to their usefulness; that is the established rule. [286] (The king) should impose a fine in direct proportion to the amount of pain caused when someone strikes men or animals to give them pain. [287] When a part of the body has been injured, a wound inflicted, or blood shed, (the assailant) must pay (the victim) what it costs to restore him to health, or he may pay the whole (cost to the king) as a fine.
[288] If a man knowingly or unknowingly injures another man’s property, he must give the man full satisfaction and pay an equal amount to the king. [289] But (for damaging) leather, utensils made of leather, wood or clay, or flowers, roots, and fruits, the fine should be five times their value.
[290] They say, there are ten instances of pardonable offences committed by a carriage, its driver, and its owner; in all other instances there is a fine. [291] When the nose-strap is cut or the yoke broken, when the carriage slips sideways or back, when the axle or a wheel is broken, [292] when the traces, the thongs attaching the animal to the carriage-pole, or the reins are broken, or when (the driver) has shouted, ‘Get out of the way!’, Manu says there should be no fine. [293] But if the carriage veers off the road through the driver’s lack of skill, and there are injuries, the owner should be fined two hundred (pennies). [294] If the driver is capable (of stopping), the driver should be fined; but if the driver is not capable, all the people in the carriage should be fined a hundred (pennies) apiece. [295] But if he is held up on the road by livestock or by a chariot and causes the death of a creature with the breath of life, a fine should be imposed for that without hesitation. [296] If a man is killed, (the driver’s) offence will immediately be that of a thief; if a large creature with the breath of life, such as a cow, an elephant, a camel, or a horse, (is killed, his offence is) half of that. [297] For injuring small livestock, the fine should be two hundred (pennies); but for auspicious wild animals or birds, the fine should be fifty (pennies). [298] For donkeys, sheep, and goats, the fine should be five ‘small beans’; but for killing a dog or a pig, the fine should be one ‘small bean’.
[299] If a wife, a son, a slave, a menial servant, or a full brother has committed an offence, they may be beaten with a rope or with a split bamboo cane, [300] but only on the back of the body, and never on the head; anyone who beats them anywhere else will incur the guilt of a thief.
[301] The decision (in cases of) physical assault has thus been described in its entirety; now I will explain the rule for deciding the punishment for theft.
[302] The king should make the utmost effort to suppress thieves, for his fame and kingdom thrive on the suppression of thieves. [303] The king who gives safety is constantly revered; for the extended sacrifice that he performs, in which safety is the sacrificial gift, always thrives.
[304] A king who protects (his subjects) gets a sixth part of everyone’s religious merit, but if he does not protect them he gets a sixth part of their irreligious demerit, too. [305] Whatever (religious merit is gained when a subject) studies the Veda, sacrifices, gives gifts, or worships, the king enjoys a sixth part of that as a result of protecting (his subjects) properly. [306] A king who protects living beings justly and puts to death those who should be killed is virtually sacrificing every day with sacrifices in which hundreds of thousands are given as sacrificial gifts. [307] If a king who does not protect collects taxes on crops, land taxes, tolls and duties, daily gifts, and fines, he soon goes to hell. [308] They say that a king who does not protect but takes the sixth part of the crop in taxes takes on himself the entire defilement of all his people. [309] Know that a king who disregards the moral boundaries, who is an atheist and plunders the property of priests, who does not protect (his subjects) but eats them, sinks down.
[310] He should energetically restrain the irreligious by three means: imprisonment, chains, and various kinds of corporal and capital punishment. [311] For kings are constantly purified by restraining the wicked and being kind to the virtuous, just as the twice-born (are purified) by sacrifices. [312] A king who wishes to do what is good for him will always forgive men who insult him, if they are parties to legal disputes, children, old or ill. [313] If (a king) who is insulted by people in distress tolerates it, he is exalted in heaven as a result, but if his royal power makes him unable to endure it, he goes to hell as a result.
[314] A thief should run up to the king with his hair unbound, announce his theft, and say, ‘This is the result of what I have done; punish me,’ [315] carrying a club on his shoulder, or a stick made of acacia wood, or a spear sharpened at both ends, or an iron rod. [316] The thief is released from his theft whether he is punished or set free, but if the king does not punish him he takes on himself the offence of the thief. [317] A man who kills an embryo transfers his offence on to anyone who eats his food; a wife who commits adultery, on to her husband; a pupil or s
acrificial patron, on to the guru; and a thief, on to the king. [318] But men who have done evil and have been given punishment by kings become free of defilement and go to heaven, just like people who have done good deeds.
[319] If a man steals the rope or bucket from a well, or damages a roadside hut where water is kept, he should pay a fine of one ‘bean’ and put back in its place (what he has taken). [320] Corporal or capital punishment (should be inflicted) on a man who steals more than ten ‘jars’ of grain; for less, he should pay a fine of eleven times (the value of the grain) and give back (the value of) the property to the owner. [321] Similarly, corporal or capital punishment (should be inflicted for stealing) more than a hundred of articles that are measurable by weight, gold, silver, and so forth, or of the finest garments. [322] For (stealing) more than fifty, his hands should be cut off; for less, he should be made to pay a fine of eleven times the value (of what was stolen). [323] For stealing men of good family, and especially women, or the finest gems, (the thief) deserves corporal or capital punishment. [324] For the theft of large livestock, weapons, or medicines, the king should devise a punishment taking into consideration the time and the purpose (of the theft). [325] For hamstringing cows that belong to priests, or stealing (small) livestock, half of the (thief’s) foot should immediately be (cut off).
The Laws of Manu Page 27
