The laws of Manu are an ancient Indian collection of legal norms, religious and moral prescriptions. It is important primarily because it gives a fairly vivid and complete picture of the state, class, family and economic life the then Brahminist society.
Origin and content of the Laws of Manu
calmness folk life in the land of the Ganges enabled the Brahmins to develop with complete consistency the system of castes and to replace the ancient naturalistic religion of the Vedas with the pantheistic creed of Brahmanism. It also favored the success of their desire to remake the form of state and public life, to turn the limited power of the kings of the patriarchal time into despotism, based on the army and the clergy.
In order to bring social life under the regulation that determines the rules for every movement, in order to impose the dominion of their system on everything in the country, it was necessary for the Brahmins to have some book to which they could attribute the same authority in worldly affairs as the Vedas in religious matters. To do this, they collected the ancient legal customs of the Aryans, remade these oral traditions in accordance with their modern needs, added new definitions and regulations to them, and in order to give their collection a high and generally recognized value, they attributed it to Manu. Manu was among the Indians in the patriarchal period the first man, in heroic times the first king, the ancestor of the reigning dynasties, and when the clergy reached the predominance, he became the first saint and sage. The Brahmins taught that the laws were given to the first man Manu divine revelation Brahma, and he gave them to the great brahmin saints. In the introduction to this collection, it is said that Saint Bhrigu proclaimed the law, which, at his request, revealed Manu to him. The Laws of Manu are based on quite ancient material, but their current edition is rather late. The commandments of the Vedas constitute the main part of them, and everything else is brought as far as possible into agreement with them, so that one revelation does not contradict another. The second group of decrees is formed in the Laws of Manu by the "good customs", that is, the traditions of customary law, the purest preserved in the holy Brahmin land on the banks of the Jamna. To the traditions of this region are added the old legal customs of some other localities and some tribal traditions. The third group in the Laws of Manu are the sayings of the ancient priests, saints and their teachings. The collections of these scraps, placed one on top of the other randomly and generally incoherently, have been enlarged over the centuries by new regulations and altered according to modern concepts, so that the book of the Laws of Manu, having gone through many revisions in various legal corporations of the Brahmins, has become a contradictory collection of diverse laws, only superficially grouped. religious, moral and political life, public and private law. Articles of faith and thoughtful teachings about rebirths and the torments of hell are in the Laws of Manu next to the decrees on the affairs of public life, on public administration, on legal proceedings, on the police, on market prices. Next to the most exalted moral teachings are the rules of decency, courtesy, advice about households, about agriculture, rules of prudence, aphorisms of worldly wisdom. The collection of the Laws of Manu is divided into 12 books; laws are written in verse form.
Indian rock relief. Temples of Ellora
It seems to the nineteenth-century researcher Bohlen that some order can be discovered in the Laws of Manu. He finds that “The Laws of Manu, beginning with the legend of the creation of the world, speak after that of education; then they set out the decrees on marriage, domestic duties, move on to fasting and cleansing, to worship God, then they talk about government and legislation, about the implementation of laws; then about trade, about mixed castes, about asceticism and repentance, and they end with the transmigration of souls and the afterlife.
But no matter how hard the Brahmins tried to regulate social life, customs and worship according to the Laws of Manu, to make this code universally recognized, they did not manage to achieve complete success in this. On the Indus, in the Deccan, and in all those regions where religious, political, and social institutions were not as developed as on the Ganges, and the caste system could not be carried out with complete consistency, the Laws of Manu had little effect in practice, although their rulings were always recognized as norms legal concepts, although there was a desire to implement them if possible.
The Position of the Brahmin Caste According to the Laws of Manu
The laws of Manu, whose original edition, perhaps belonging to the 6th century BC, have not come down to us, have as their main idea the inequality of estates, and know only the different rights of different castes. They don't know human rights, or at least general rights all citizens. This is in line with Indian concepts. It is also consistent with them that the Laws of Manu place the Brahmin caste above the secular classes. But the ancient Indian clergy never showed a desire to seize secular power into their own hands. In its concern for the heavenly, it may have somewhat lost sight of the practical questions of the earthly; or it did not want to compromise its moral dominion by linking its fate with the fate of worldly power. Or it thought that it would rather retain its estate rights, its privileged position under the rule of a king who belongs to a lower caste, that it would be more difficult to fight a king of Brahmin origin. Be that as it may, it never attempted to introduce a priestly monarchy. kings ancient india belonged to the military caste, and according to the religious and political concepts of the Indians were lower than the Brahmins; and according to their position, according to their actual power, they commanded the Brahmins. Thus, the state structure did not correspond to the divine structure of the universe, the likeness of which it should have been according to the Brahman theory set forth in the Laws of Manu. But for this inconsistency of their position with theory, the Brahmins rewarded themselves by arrogating to themselves many important privileges and, exploiting the piety of the Indian people, intimidating them with the torments of hell and rebirth, seized dominion over their thoughts. Politically and legally, the Brahmins were the same slaves of the king as people of other classes; but the religious precepts placed on the king the obligation to honor the Brahmins in every possible way. The king, according to the Laws of Manu, must respect them, honor them. He must choose his advisers primarily from among the people of the sacred order; should make judges and rulers predominantly also Brahmins. According to the Laws of Manu, he must give cows, treasures and all kinds of gifts to the brahmins, because “the treasure that the king entrusts to the brahmins is a treasure that does not perish; this treasure will not be stolen from him by thieves or enemies. A sacrifice offered to a Brahmin is more pleasing than a sacrifice burnt by fire. A gift given to a brahmin is rewarded by the acquisition of a blessing a hundred thousand times more precious, and if this brahmin is especially holy, then the reward is even greater, infinitely great. The only legal privilege of the Brahmins was that for some crimes they were punished less severely than people of other castes. All their other rights and privileges were based only on the commandments of religion, and not on positive law. But the people—including the Laws of Manu—were so firmly instilled with a deep reverence for the sacred order of the Brahmins that they had no need to support their claims with legal coercive measures. Could the king fail to fulfill his duties in relation to people who, with their holy prayers and sacrifices, rule over the gods themselves, who by sacred anointing give the power of the king divine affirmation, religious authority.
And the Indian kings really should have honored the brahmins: to the teachings of the brahmins, set forth in the Vedas and the Laws of Manu, they were most indebted to the unlimitedness of their power. In those days when the Aryans still lived only on the Indus and in the Punjab, the freedom of action of the king among them, like all warlike peoples, was limited by the power of an energetic military nobility, who sometimes even managed to drive away kings who aspired to despotic power and establish aristocratic republics; the Greeks still found republics in some parts of India. During the period of conquests and the wars that followed them, the king still remained only the first among equals, like Indra between the gods. The heroes who surrounded and supported his throne passed on to their children, along with military art, heroic strength and courage, their rights, their pride. But those circumstances that weakened the power of the Kshatriya caste helped the kings to acquire despotic power. These circumstances were: the influence of a luxurious life in a hot, fertile country, which quickly relaxed the warriors; the growing importance of the industrial class, but most of all, the development of the Brahminical doctrine of a single supreme being from which everything proceeds, and of the advantage of contemplative calmness of the soul over vigorous activity. The more diligently and successfully the Brahmins proved in the Laws of Manu that the existing order is a holy world order that originated from Brahma, the more they praised calm patience, dumb obedience, passive compliance as the highest virtues, the more firmly the people, peaceful by nature and living in the country, became accustomed to , safe from the invasion of enemies, to prefer the peaceful enjoyment of the fruits of their labor to the anxieties of wars and ambitious plans, the more the conviction was strengthened that pious reflections and the exact execution of rites are the most important things of life; - the more fully royal power and state life acquired a character common to all Eastern despotic states, where subjects willingly give themselves into slavish subordination to the king, in order to have the security of life and property under the protection of his omnipotence. Participation in public life political struggle, disputes of parties - all this would interfere with the tranquility of life, similar to vegetation, contemplation, and immersion in Brahma. The patient obedience of the people naturally led to the development of absolutism, to the unlimited sovereignty of kings; but their despotism was not tyrannical and bloodthirsty, because the tyranny of power was inconsistent with the sluggishness of the national character.
The laws of Manu and the power of Indian kings
The idea that security and prosperity are possible only under the protection of the strong power of the king is found already in the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. When nal returns to his kingdom, the elders of the council, with their hands folded on their chests, greet him with the words that now "both citizens and villagers will be safe again." In the Ramayana, the ruler of the chariot, Sumantra, describes in a long elegiac speech how sad the state of the country is when there is no king in it:
“Where the king does not rule, there will not water the drying meadows with heavenly dew, the thunderer crowned with lightning, the god of rain. There they do not make crops, there the son does not follow the father, the wife does not follow the husband. There is no happy man who builds a house for himself, there are no joyful gardens, no temples are built there. “Brahmins do not offer sacrifices there. There they do not dance in the gatherings of the people at joyful holidays, a crowd of attentive listeners does not crowd around the singer, and wise men do not stroll through the groves, talking. Girls in golden dresses do not go there in the evening to the garden to play; do not take wives there loving husbands ride through the forests on fast horses. A rich shepherd or a farmer does not sleep there, carefree with open doors, safe. A merchant from distant places does not travel there on safe roads carelessly, with rich goods. Like a flock without a shepherd, a kingdom without a king. In a land where there is no king, no one has anything of their own; and as a fish devours a fish, people devour each other. And the power of the king keeps the wicked villain, who boldly breaks the chests, from atrocities by fear of punishment. As the eye is constantly looking around, taking care of the body, so the king is the root of virtue and legitimacy for the kingdom. Covered in blind darkness, the world is disordered and confused when the king does not maintain order, does not show what is lawful and what is illegal.
The Mahabharata also says: “Where there is no king, there sacrifices have no power, there it does not rain, the land and people perish.”
Under the influence of the clergy, this thought, expressed in the Laws of Manu, acquired absolute dominion over the minds. The Indian king began to be considered an emanation of a divine being, because Brahma creates a king from the substance of the eight highest guardian gods of the world, and they all live in him, protecting him from all impurity. “The king,” says the Laws of Manu, “is composed of the eternal parts of the highest gods, therefore he is superior to all mortals in majesty. Like the sun blinds from the eye and the heart, no one can bear his gaze. He is fire and air, sun and moon, the ruler of justice, the lord of wealth, waters and the firmament of heaven. A king, even if he is a child, cannot be treated without reverence, as common man because he is a powerful deity who appeared in human form. The fire devours only one who approaches it carelessly, and the wrath of the king devours the whole family and all the property of the family. According to this idea of the king as the viceroy of a deity on earth and of the monarchy as a reflection of the heavenly order, the Laws of Manu attribute to the king all the attributes, all the qualities and powers of the higher gods. “He has the brilliance and majesty of the sun god, pours out an abundance of blessings on humanity; but just as Surya extracts moisture from the earth with his rays for eight months, so the king has the right to extract legitimate taxes from his subjects. Just as the gods Yama, Varuna and Agni reward the pious and just, fetter the villains and sinners with chains, put them to death and perdition, so the king, the supreme judge, the source of justice, should be the “master of justice” for his subjects and punish the criminals. Like light and air, it must penetrate everything; but he must also, like the moon, rejoice hearts with gentle light, and, like the god of wealth, pour out the abundance of his graces on mortals.
The Brahmins tried hard to unite the throne by the closest connection with the church. The Laws of Manu consecrated the absolute power of the king with the authority of religion, constantly convinced the people of its necessity, called passive obedience to the earthly ruler a divine commandment. For their help to the royal power, they were exempted from paying taxes from their lands and received a high position in the state: the administration and judicial power were in their hands, they led the king in his decisions and actions, and acquired for their teaching the powerful patronage of the kings, who understood that their power is based on the belief of the people. Thus, based on the Laws of Manu, the Indian state was a theocracy based on temporal power, or a despotism based on a theocracy. The religious character of despotism made him less tyrannical than he would have been if he had relied on an army. The Brahmins constantly inspired the kings that their duty was to rule meekly and justly, they called paternal mercy to the people the most beautiful virtue of the king. In the Laws of Manu, they liken the relationship of the king to the country to marriage, a comparison that means that the king has moral obligations towards the people, that the people are not deprived of rights. In order for the king to know how to act, the brahmins inspired him that religion imposes on him the duty to make decisions after consulting with a brahmin who knows the Vedas well, and to do things in accordance with the opinion of this adviser.
The laws of Manu show that the absolute power of the king (Raja) had already reached full development at that time, but some remnants of the former communal and tribal life still survived. Giving advice to the king on how he can protect himself from the evils that happened in Indian, as in all other eastern despotic states, and from the unexpected attack of enemies, the Laws of Manu say that he should choose his residence in a place located in the region of a faithful, loyal tribe, inaccessible, protected by forests or a desert, must fortify his palace with ditches, walls, and that the guards in the palace should be reliable people of a “little spirit” who receive a good salary. There are clear traces in the Laws of Manu that ancient Indian partnerships with independent administration still remained at that time, that the primitive free communal organization of villages still survived. Family and tribal unions still remain, deeply rooted in the Indian folk character. Their existence facilitated the preservation of ancient religious rites, traditions and legal customs. These unions are valid in the Laws of Manu at public funerals, the admission of a young "dviji" (twice-born) into the caste by laying a sacred thread, while excluding the impure from the caste by pouring water from a mug, and at other ceremonies; there were even workshops of artisans, merchants and other corporations, which are generally paralyzed and destroyed by despotism.
The affairs of religion were in charge exclusively of the Brahmins; therefore, the king controlled only the administration, the judiciary and the army. The laws of Manu, given to people by God, could not need improvement, so neither the king nor the nation had legislative power. The government was only supposed to supervise the execution of laws.
The Indian State in the Laws of Manu
Government. The government of the Indian state is, according to the Laws of Manu, the king, who is assisted by a royal council of seven or eight members. They should be wise people good origin and impeccable life, knowing the law and experienced in military affairs. The laws of Manu say: the king must consult with them about everything, first separately, and then with all together. After consulting, let him do what he thinks best. On important matters, he must certainly consult with a wise brahmin, and every morning he must listen to the instruction of a brahmin who knows the Vedas well.
Community. The basis of state life in India, which has never reached such a complete centralization as other oriental despotisms, is the village community. From the Laws of Manu it is clear that she, closely united inside and closed from everything external, silently leads an active, independent life under the control of her superiors and with the assistance of servants - judges, water watchmen, field watchmen, etc. - elected by her and receiving maintenance from her. She has little interest in the state and other communities. The government and legislation also interfere little in its affairs. Ten communities form, according to the Laws of Manu, a volost, ten volosts or one hundred communities - a canton, ten cantons - a district, etc. This division also corresponds to the distribution of power between the chiefs ( party- that is, gentlemen) according to the degrees of officialdom from the royal governor to the village foreman. The salary was the product of a piece of land, the value of which corresponded to the degree of the position's height. When the people had no rights before the government, there was a lot of arbitrariness, oppression, partiality, taxes were burdensome, officials robbed the people - in a word, there were all the vices and shortcomings of the bureaucracy, we see this from the many complaints about the injustice of the rulers.
Taxes were levied not from individuals, but from the community and absorbed more than half of the product of the land; they were not used, as in China, for the construction of roads, bridges, canals and other generally useful matters, but came into the personal property of the king, his officials and servants, or were assigned to the expenses of the cult and the maintenance of the clergy. The Indian lived in his community, as if wrapped in a cocoon, and thought little about public affairs. Only those roads that led to holy places were well-arranged and equipped with rest houses.
Police. The laws of Manu show us that, in their concern for order, the kings of India gave a wide development to police control. The chiefs of the districts were supposed to protect public safety, the integrity of boundary signs, community property; they had subordinates who supervised petty trade, determined the market price of food supplies, checked the correct weights and measures, etc. There was also a secret police who had spies and scammers. Drunkenness and gambling, to which the Indians had a strong propensity, were very strictly forbidden by the precepts of religion, which prescribed hellish punishments and feats of repentance for them. The Laws of Manu very insistently demand that the government persecute these vices, and punish the keepers of gambling houses and drinking houses. The excitement of the soul, produced by intoxicating drinks, dice and chess, was sinful, according to Indian concepts of virtue and peace of mind.
Taxes, income of the king. The complex administration, the extravagant splendor of the royal court and the luxurious outfits of the queens, the maintenance of the army and the magnificent cult - all this together required large expenses, so taxes were inevitably burdensome. All property, all products were taxed, and in many kingdoms taxes were often great to the point of ruin. From all works Agriculture a tax was levied up to the fourth share of the harvest; trade was also subject to duties and excises of every kind; among other things, there was a duty for the carriage of goods. Craftsmen, day laborers, servants had to work for free one day a month for the king. In addition, the king, according to the Laws of Manu, could appropriate to himself the exclusive right to produce certain goods or trade them, could take half the income from mines and from the mines of precious stones, or completely make them his monopoly. It seems that there was also a poll tax. No one - especially from merchants - could come to the king without a gift. Burdensome taxes, various extortions, miscalculations, injustices with which the collection of taxes in despotic states is usually combined, oppressed the people so heavily that, despite the wondrous richness of nature and the fertility of the soil, they constantly lived in need and grief. The laws of Manu advise the king to follow the example of a leech that sucks blood little by little, and collect taxes in frequent small installments; this comparison is also suitable to be a characteristic of the methodical sucking of all the juices from the people. “A country is like a grain of sesame,” says the Laws of Manu. “It does not produce oil from itself until it is squeezed, cut, burned or crushed.” Only learned Brahmins should not be taxed by the king, because, says the famous Indian playwright Kalidasa, they pay their share of the harvest by praying for the king.
Court . The laws of Manu attach the greatest importance to good judgment. They say that the first duty of a king is justice; by justice they mean chiefly criminal justice. By the teachings of the Brahmins and the despotic form of government, all independence, all willpower was taken away from people, the yoke of timidity and fear was imposed on the people, so that no one could defend himself. Consequently, it was necessary to maintain the divine order by severe punishments for its violators. Therefore, for any crime against the authorities, for any offense against the king and the authorities, the Laws of Manu appoint the death penalty. The social order, and especially the sacred laws of the hierarchy of castes, were also guarded against unholy transgressions by the threat of very heavy punishments. To carry out criminal justice with inexorable severity is the most important part of royal power. In the theocratic Laws of Manu, the desire to make the king the executor of the decrees of the clergy is noticeable. “In the Laws of Manu,” says Bohlen, “the estate of the Brahmins appears in all its formidable grandeur, humanity must disappear before it, the all-powerful viceroy of the deity. Only that which is in accordance with theology is fair. Every crime is a crime against a god. The concepts of right and virtue are completely merged with the concept of piety. The fear of heavenly and earthly punishments should keep humanity on the prescribed path and make it resignedly bearing the yoke of the clergy. Therefore, the Laws of Manu impose on the king, as a commandment of religion, the duty to mercilessly punish any crime. The established punishment must be executed without regard to the motives of the offender, to the circumstances that alleviate or increase his guilt. “Punishment is a mighty ruler, a wise executor of the law,” says the Laws of Manu. – Punishment rules the human race; only punishment keeps it. Punishment is awake when everything is asleep, punishment is justice. If the king does not tirelessly take care of the punishment of the guilty, then the strong will roast the weak like a fish on a spit, a person from the lowest caste will take the place of the highest. Only where the black, red-eyed punishment destroys the criminal do people live without fear. A person who by nature would do well is hardly to be found. Therefore, justice consists mainly in the execution of criminal laws. And so that the king does not bow out of mercy to mercy, the Laws of Manu say that the inexorable execution of criminal laws is such a merit for which the gods give happiness on earth and a reward in heaven: “By suppressing the evil and protecting the good, the king is purified, like a Brahmin by sacrifice. His kingdom then prospers like a constantly watered tree." For the defense of the good by strict guard sacred order, the king is charged with merit before the gods part of their merit; and by a weak or unjust execution of the laws of punishment, he incurs a part of the guilt in the evil proceeding from that, and is punished for this evil in the present and in the future life.
Judgment, according to the Laws of Manu, must be carried out either by the king himself or by judges appointed by him; but the judge should have advisers - brahmins, versed in the laws and experienced people. The judge must call on the help of the gods to discover the truth, carefully follow the course of the judicial debate, observing how the accused behaves; he must listen to the testimonies of irreproachable people, in doubtful cases demand an oath, even turn to the court of God, a trial by fire and water. In general, witnesses, according to the Laws of Manu, must be of the same caste as the accused; but exceptions were allowed. Testimony was taken from women only about women, from sudras only about sudras. For perjury and perjury, the Laws of Manu determined very heavy earthly and heavenly punishments, which fell not only on the guilty, but also on the relatives of the guilty, and on his entire family. The custom of knowing the truth through the judgment of God, which was in great harmony with the Indians' disposition towards the miraculous and with their conviction that the deity directly intervenes in human affairs, grew stronger with the passage of time. The court was conducted on behalf of the king; therefore, every request could be brought directly to the king and could be appealed to him from the decisions of all other judges. He also had the right to pardon. As judges, as his deputies, the king should appoint, if not Brahmins, then only people from the twice-born. A country where a sudra would be the judge would be like a cow in a swamp.
Criminal penalties in the Laws of Manu
With all the meekness of the character of the Indians, who considered it a grave sin to kill any living creature, their criminal code was written in blood. It is dominated by jus talionis, the principle of the strictest retribution: "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." Shameful punishments, which are important only in the consciousness of the freedom of the individual, were almost non-existent in India. Only one form of them was used, the most rude: forehead branding. This was usually associated with expulsion from the caste. Other criminal penalties under the Laws of Manu were: fine, prison, corporal punishment, amputation different parts bodies, a simple death penalty and its various painful forms. According to the difference of castes, the punishments were also different. The monetary fine was the greater, the higher the caste against which the offense was committed, and the less, the higher the caste of the perpetrator. Only the amount of rewards for theft increased with the height of the thief's caste. Punishments for offenses and injuries in the Laws of Manu were very different for different castes, in order to inspire the lower ones with reverence for the twice-born. Shudra, insulting the twice-born, is punished by cutting off the tongue: if he insulted the words of a Brahmin, a red-hot iron should be put into his mouth; and if he reproaches a brahmana for not fulfilling brahminical duties, then boiling oil is poured into his mouth. If he strikes a Brahmin, both his hands are cut off; if he spit on a Brahmin, his lips are cut off, etc. And the twice-born guilty of such offenses are punished only by a fine, the value of which only varies according to the difference of castes. Rape, adultery, debauchery are usually punished by mutilation, in some cases by death.
Particularly strict and precise in the Laws of Manu are punishments for theft. The thief must pay a reward several times the value of the stolen, and in addition, depending on the size and nature of his crime, is subjected to corporal punishment, or mutilation, or the death penalty by impalement. To suppress theft, the Laws of Manu advise the king to have a secret police to use spies. The one who conceals theft is subject to the same punishment as the thief. For the theft of rural products from the fields, very severe punishments are assigned. Cheating and Gambling The Laws of Manu are equated with theft. In particular, all those guilty of crimes against the king or the Brahmins are subject to the death penalty.
A despotic throne and a tyrannical state system could count on stability only under the condition that “fear in all beings” reigned, that the executioner’s sword constantly threatened the heads of the daring who would dare to rebel against the existing institutions. “Whoever, in the darkness of his mind, discovers hatred of the king,” say the Laws of Manu, “or refuses to obey him, must die.” Further: "whoever forges the king's orders, brings discord among the king's advisers, steals the king's property, must die." The types of death penalty were: cutting off the head with a sword or an ax, burning, drowning, impaling, trampling by elephants. Chandalas were the executioners. The convict was led to execution, decorated like a sacrificial animal; and several times proclaimed, with drumming, the verdict. Brahmins could not be executed; their highest punishment was exile. “Prisons, according to the Laws of Manu, should have been built along the roads, so that they served as a warning.
The Military and Political Duties of a King According to the Laws of Manu
In the Laws of Manu there are also advice and prescriptions regarding the duties of the king as a military leader and as director of the foreign policy of the state; this is all the more surprising since the interests of the Brahmins demanded in every possible way to divert the king from wars that threatened their institutions with danger. But the Laws of Manu had to embrace all aspects of state and public life; and wars could not be completely avoided; therefore the Brahmins introduced them into their legislation; this was all the more necessary because, probably, institutions and memories from the former warlike times still remained, which the Brahmins could not completely eradicate. The war in India was a matter of one thing only, of the caste, and did not concern the rest of the population; Greek writers relate with astonishment that an Indian farmer calmly plows his field, gathers his harvest and garden fruits, while a battle is going on in the neighborhood.
The laws of Manu inspire the king to make conquests, which puts the king in the same merit as the protection of the state. But with the isolation of the country and with the disgust that the Aryans felt for all other peoples, wars could be waged only in India itself; these were wars between states of the same nationality; therefore the Laws of Manu command to wage war without cruelty, humanely. They glorify the brave warrior, whose death in battle is put on a par with the highest sacrifices, they contempt the coward who, by fleeing the battle, deprives himself of all his merits before the deity. But they also contain decrees on mercy to the defeated, unarmed, asking for mercy. The laws of Manu give the king prudent advice to destroy all the supplies that the enemy can use, but forbid devastating the country, cut down trees, forbid other deeds of military barbarism. The rules of the Laws of Manu on how a king should behave towards enemies are highly remarkable: they show that the political cunning, which is now called Machiavellianism, was already known in ancient times. The king must accumulate treasures, constantly train his army in the art of war. But in addition, he must look at each neighbor as an enemy, and consider his neighbor's neighbor as his friend. The laws of Manu advise the king to carefully hide the weaknesses of his state and to find out the weaknesses of the enemy. You can most successfully ferret them out by means of spies; and "feigned ascetics, vicious hermits, ruined merchants, unsustainable peasants, and young people of a daring and shrewd mind" can well serve as spies. Ambassadors are also suitable for this, noble and intelligent people of an insinuating character, who know how to penetrate the plans of opponents with diplomatic subtlety and dexterity. It is very useful to bribe influential comrades-in-arms and high dignitaries of the enemy king for this, to stir up discord in his kingdom, “attracting to your side the relatives of this sovereign who have claims to the throne, or disgruntled dignitaries who fell into disfavor.” In addition, it is necessary to make alliances with the enemy's ambitious neighbors, hungry for conquest.
The advice that the Laws of Manu give concerning the conduct of war is just as prudently and cunningly invented. The king should be an example of courage, boldness, contempt for death. But he must act with the greatest discretion, must take every precaution in advance against unforeseen misfortunes; should try to achieve his goal, not so much by battles, the outcome of which is wrong, but by military tricks, skillful strategy, extracting the benefit from all circumstances that can be harmful to the enemy. The Indian army of those times consisted of infantry, cavalry, war chariots, and elephants, on which archers sat. These departments of the army were located in the order that the Indians gave the pieces of the chess game they invented. The laws of Manu say that one must take into account the nature of the terrain and the weather. They praise the benefits of fortresses. The preference for mental modes of action over physical ones shows that the Laws of Manu are composed by the priesthood. But the rules of the battle, the promise of a heavenly reward to the courageous king who heroically goes into battle, the mention of the brave kshatriyas of Brahmavarta and those lands where the events of the folk epic took place, the advice that these kshatriyas should be placed in the front row of the army are traces of ancient warlike times. There are rules in the Laws of Manu about how to act after defeating the enemy, having conquered his land: “If the king conquers any land, then he must honor the gods and virtuous brahmins, distribute gifts and publish such orders that would eliminate any fear ". Above the conquered land, he must place a king who is obliged to obey him, to be his servant; the laws and institutions of the conquered land he must leave inviolable. This led to the formation of vassal states that paid tribute to the victors; vassal kings at every opportunity tried to get out of a dependent position; the result of this was countless internecine wars, which increased the fragmentation of the country, weakened India and made it easier for foreigners to invade her.
Laws of Manu on the life of kings
The king was the center of any ancient Indian state; all the threads of social life converged in his hands; therefore it is natural that the Laws of Manu are very concerned about his safety; care for it was all the more necessary because despotism, based on fear, had to arouse hostile feelings and plans. The slave will always try to get rid of the violence with which he is bound, even if his attempts do not improve his situation. The whole life of the king from early morning until the time of his night's rest is regulated in the Laws of Manu by innumerable rules of ceremonial and purification, which had a twofold purpose: firstly, to dazzle the people with the splendor of royal furnishings, the honors rendered to the king to keep the people in reverence for him; secondly, to protect the king from intruders. Indian Brahmins, Persian and Egyptian priests, no worse than the advisers of the Byzantine, Spanish and French courts, understood that the most the right way to exalt the greatness of the absolute sovereign - to remove him as much as possible from the crowd and surround him with forms of strict etiquette. And no matter how burdened the sovereigns were with the yoke of shy ceremonialism, which robbed them of all freedom, they obeyed this unpleasant regulation, rightly finding that it raises reverence for them and their power, protects their safety.
According to the Laws of Manu, at the first flicker of the morning, the king should be awakened by specially appointed singers. He must wash the whole body; for this, water is served to him in a golden dish, in which sandalwood is placed. He brings the prescribed sacrifice to the gods, and appears in full royal attire to the people, with the singing of the choir praising him.
All daily occupations, all duties, are prescribed to the king in the Laws of Manu by the most precise and detailed rules. When he sits down to eat or spend time in the pleasures of his wives, he must take the greatest care so that he is not poisoned or struck with a dagger, and "lest the country be widowed." When the king grows old “under the yellow umbrella” and feels the approach of death, the Laws of Manu advise him to transfer power to his son and seek death in battle or choose death from hunger, go on the path to the holy mountain Meru. In general, power passed to the eldest son; but with the polygamy which the Laws of Manu allow the king, disputes and wars for the throne were a frequent occurrence in India. From stories Megasthenes and other Greek writers, we know that the kings carried out with the greatest precision the prescriptions of the Laws of Manu regarding their way of life. The Greeks say that the Indian kings are very rich in gold and silver, elephants and herds, they glorify the splendor of their clothes, their headdresses made of precious stones. They say that the people in ancient India have a deep reverence for the kings, fall to the ground before them, give them divine honors; but they also say that they have taken precautions against evil intentions. Megasthenes says that the king's personal servants are girls bought from their fathers; bodyguards and other warriors stand outside the doors of his chambers. The king does not sleep during the day and considers it necessary to frequently change the room in which he spends the night. He leaves the palace only when he goes to be present in court or at a solemn sacrifice, goes hunting or going to war. He is accompanied to hunting and war by women who know how to ride and fight; they ride around it in chariots and on elephants. Who dares to penetrate before them, they kill him. In the palace, the king was also surrounded by hundreds of women who served him "with eyes like a lotus."
Marriage and family in the Laws of Manu
After the decree on the state and social life, the most numerous in the Laws of Manu are laws on marriage and the family, the basis of moral life. In India, as in China, to marry and have children was a sacred duty, because only a son can make sacrifices for the dead, delivering the soul of the father from hell. Using this belief of the people, the priests subordinated marriage to their power, consecrating it in the Laws of Manu with religious forms. Among the Indians on the Indus, as among other patriarchal peoples, the daughter was the property of the father, and the groom bought his bride from him. The usual payment was a pair of oxen. Under the influence of the priests, this custom changed: the payment to the father turned into a gift to the Brahmins to make a sacrifice. In order to strengthen their power, they began to teach in the Laws of Manu that the happiness and fertility of marriage is determined by the form of its conclusion. If the bride is bought by the groom, or kidnapped by him, or if the marriage is entered into only by mutual inclination, then married life is miserable. According to the Laws of Manu, God blesses with happiness only those marriages that are concluded according to the prescribed form, with the assistance of the Brahmins. But even in the time of the Greek writers, the custom remained among some Indian tribes that when the daughter of poor people became a girl, she was led to be sold to the market. Nearby were musicians playing on horns made of shells and beating timpani. The marriage ceremony was performed before an altar decorated with flowers; the bride and groom, holding hands, walked around him several times. The rite was a complex ceremony, a sacrifice was made, prayers were read.
In the Laws of Manu there are many advices and decrees on how to choose a bride, in what degrees of kinship marriage is not allowed, for what reasons divorce is allowed, and a husband can drive his wife away. But from everything it is clear that marriage among the Indians did not have such a high moral significance as among other civilized peoples; a woman was considered a passive field, the value of which is given only by the fertilizing seed. Manu's laws on marriage were concerned not so much with the morality of family life as with the protection of the caste system and inheritance rights; they did not forbid polygamy, but only determined the rights and relations arising from it, resolving all issues in a sense favorable to the strengthening of the caste system. The laws of Manu glorified monogamy, but allowed main wife minor wives and concubines, whose children were granted less rights than the children of the main wife. Seducing someone else's wife was a crime only if a person from a lower caste seduced the wife of a person of a higher caste: a brahmin and a kshatriya were punished for having an affair with someone else's wife only a fine, a vaishya - loss of property, a sudra - death. The cheating wife was punished more severely than her seducer.
The main purpose of marriage in the Laws of Manu is the acquisition of offspring. “In the son, the father must be reborn from the womb,” just as the world originated from Brahma. If the husband died childless, his brother or other close relative was obliged to cohabit with his widow so that she would give birth to an heir to the deceased. This custom, which also existed among the Jews, and is called levirate in science, led in India to the emergence of polyandry, traces of which are already found in the Mahabharata. Draupadi was the common wife of all five sons of Pandu. - The wife's barrenness gave the husband the right to divorce her, or give preference to other wives over her. The laws of Manu take care of maintaining the importance of the race; to this end, they assign to the eldest son a larger share of the inheritance than to others and strive to limit the division of the family property by rules that do not allow the inheritance to be divided into too many shares.
The position of women according to the Laws of Manu
In India, as in the whole East, the wife was placed in complete subordination to her husband, and her freedom was very limited. The law of Manu has never recognized woman as an independent entity; therefore she could not have her property. Before marriage, she was under the authority of her father or brother; after marriage - under the authority of her husband; after the death of her husband, under the authority of her sons or next of kin. Mentally, the wife was generally lower than her husband, as is self-evident from the difference between her and his years: “A thirty-year-old man should marry a twelve-year-old girl, and a twenty-four-year-old eight-year-old,” say the Laws of Manu. “The younger son should not marry before the eldest, the youngest daughter should not marry before the eldest.” A wife must be devoted and obedient to her husband. “A wife must,” say the Laws of Manu, “respectfully serve her husband all her life and remain faithful to him even after his death. And if a husband behaves badly and turns his love to other women, a virtuous wife must still honor him as a god. A wife should not do anything unpleasant to her husband, either during his lifetime or after death. She must even willingly sacrifice her own life when his good requires it. - In addition to love for her husband and fidelity to him, the Laws of Manu oblige the wife to be strictly moral, do a good housework and be cheerful. If she preserves the purity of her body, thoughts and deeds, if she is the goddess of happiness and joy for her husband and remains faithful to him after his death, then she will unite with him in heaven. And if she violates loyalty and the rules of modesty, she must expect herself in real life shame, and after death - rebirth in the body of a low animal. But the Laws of Manu also strictly instruct the husband that he must respect his wife and be tender towards her. He should give her gifts so that she dresses up and pleases him. If a husband disrespects or grieves his wife, the marriage will remain childless, the fire of their hearth will soon be extinguished by their death, and the house will be cursed, the whole will be destroyed.
Despite polygamy and the too crude legal definition in the Laws of Manu of the purpose of marriage, the position of women in India was not humiliating, at least not in ancient times. Women prayed together with men in temples, they were not excluded from male society; on the contrary, men and women gathered together, women did not wear veils. There are many examples of tenderness in Indian poetry. conjugal love, many noble female characters. In the Ramayana, girls, beautifully dressed, walk in the cool of the evening through the groves of Ayodhya, attend festivals, participate in processions, sita follows Rama into the wilderness of the forest; Damayanti in skimpy clothing, he shares exile and poverty with Nal. “But to prevent the free participation of women in male society from leading to abuse, the Laws of Manu impose severe penalties to protect the chastity of girls and married women. For an attempt to seduce a woman, even for touching a woman with a hand, the guilty person was subjected to severe punishment. If the wife died before the husband, he had to extinguish the sacred flame of his hearth. But he could enter into a second marriage, and the fire on the hearth was lit again. And if the husband died before the wife, she could not remarry. “A widow must not even speak the name of another man,” says the Laws of Manu. “A widow who has maintained perfect chastity goes straight to heaven after death, and a widow who, in her desire to have children, has become unfaithful to the memory of her husband, is scorned here and is not allowed into the heavenly dwelling where her husband soars.” A widow is to live simple, chaste and secluded until her death.
The self-immolation of widows, which has received such a wide, tragic development in later centuries, is still completely unknown to the Laws of Manu. But during the time of Alexander the Great, it was already a custom. It has always been considered voluntary female love and limited to the two highest castes. The belief that it gives salvation to the soul, and the public contempt for the widow, who did not want to burn herself, gave this terrible custom such breadth and strength that it has not been completely eradicated to this day. In the early days of British rule in India, there were, it is believed, up to 30,000 women each year who voluntarily set themselves on fire. This sacred custom, traces of which are not visible in the Laws of Manu, but are already in the Indian epic, constitutes a logical conclusion from the teaching that the wife unconditionally belongs to her husband, must have eternal love, eternal devotion, and that the mortification of her body, self-destruction is a charitable deed. Invoking the gods, the widow, dressed up and fragrant with cosmetic oil, ascended the fire; her son or close relative lit the fire. She hugged the body of her husband, said that she was offering herself as a sacrifice to atone for his sins, and without any expression of pain she endured the torments of fiery death in order to enter with her husband into the bliss of paradise, where their ancestors were waiting for them.
a) province
d) province
e) tribal union
26. Name the systems of courts that existed in Ancient India:
a) urban
b) rural
c) royal and intracommunal
d) district
e) provincial
27. What was the most famous empire in Ancient India?
A. The Mauryan Empire.
B. Empire of Justinian.
C. The Empire of Alexander the Great.
D. Empire of Hammurabi.
28. "Which of the laws ancient world gave the right to divorce if the wife does not give birth to children in the eighth year; if she gives birth to children dead - on the tenth, if she gives birth only to girls - on the eleventh, if she is obstinate - immediately "
A. Laws of the XII tables.
B. The Guyanese Constitution
C. Laws of Manu.
D. Laws of Hammurabi.
A Vaishya, having scolded a Brahmin, is subject to the laws of Manu.
A. Corporal punishment.
B. Death penalty.
C. A fine of two and a half hundred (shares).
D. Penalty of one hundred (shares)
Kshatriyas, having scolded a brahmana, are subject to. Laws of Manu.
A. A fine of two and a half hundred (shares).
B. Death penalty.
C. Corporal punishment.
D. A fine of one hundred (shares).
31. Protecting a woman from an attack, the guard of the sacrificial gifts killed the attacker. What punishment should he be subjected to according to the laws of Manu?
A. Such a person shall pay a fine to the king.
C. Such a person commits no sin and is not subject to punishment.
C. Such a person commits a grave sin and should be subjected to severe
punishment with imprisonment.
D. Such person shall be put to death
32. The usurer Tarba entered into an agreement with 12-year-old Sagga to sell him an expensive bracelet given to her by her parents. Saggi's parents demanded the return of the bracelet, but the loan shark refused. How is this dispute resolved according to the laws of Manu?
A. Parents do not have the right to claim back the item sold.
Q. Parents have the right to redeem the bracelet.
C. Parents can demand the return of the bracelet only if Sagta entered into a contract without their consent.
D. The contract is void, the bracelet must be returned.
What was the content of the Laws of Manu based on.
A. On the laws of kings.
B. On custom.
C. On moral standards.
D. On records of judgments.
33. A thief who steals at night, according to the Laws of Manu, must be:
A. Make amends and be subjected to corporal punishment.
V. Executed.
C. The degree of punishment is determined by its origin.
D. Pay a fine and repair the damage caused.
34. According to what principle was the society divided in Ancient India?
A. According to the administrative-territorial principle.
B. According to the principle of dividing society into slaves and slave owners
C. According to the caste principle.
35. The responsibility that the brahmins bore for killing:
A. They carried repentance.
B. They paid fines.
S. They were sentenced to death.
36. The rite of "sati" meant:
A. The act of self-immolation of a widow.
B. Divorce procedure.
C. The coming of age of a Brahmin.
37. "Once-born" according to the Laws of Manu were recognized:
A. Vaishii.
S. Kshatriyas.
38. Not included in the varnas of Ancient India:
A. Brahmins. V. Chandala. V. Kshatriyas.
39. Which varnas were "twice-born":
A. Brahmins.
S. Kshatriyas.
D. Vaishya.
40. Varnas and castes were they one and the same?
41. Who participated in the government of the state:
V. Areopagus.
S. Parishad.
D. Galea.
42. What extenuating circumstances are highlighted in the Laws of Manu:
A. Break in the wall of the house.
B. Night theft.
C. The child committed theft.
D. Extra large size.
C. A state of mental confusion.
43. Did the wife have the right to divorce:
44. What punishment were the Brahmins subjected to:
A. The death penalty, but it can pay off.
C. Hound dogs in a crowded square.
D. Shameful punishments.
45. What were the ancient Indian legal collections called:
A. Code of Laws.
B. Ancient Indian Truths.
S. Dharmashastra.
46. Make a comparative table on the Laws of Hammurabi and the Laws of Manu, comparing one of the proposed bases:
A) the institution of property: (methods of acquiring property rights, forms of ownership, restriction of the use of property, ways of losing property rights, ways of protecting property rights);
B) the institution of obligation: (the concept of obligation and contract, the conditions for the validity of the contract, the role of the state in contractual relations, types of contracts, termination of contracts);
C) marriage and family: (features of marriage, conditions for concluding marriage, rights and obligations of spouses, conditions for dissolution of marriage, legal status children, the order of inheritance of property);
D) crime and punishment: (concept of crime, classification of crimes, goals and types of punishments);
E) court and litigation: (judicial institutions, grounds for initiating a process, type of process, rights of the parties, evidence, appeals against decisions).
comparison table INSTITUTE OF PROPERTY.
Comparative table "Marriage and family":
Comparison table " Criminal law»
Make up the rest of the tables yourself, taking into account the proposed samples.
Tasks and assignments
1. Analyze the rules governing personal and property relations in the ancient Indian family according to the Laws of Manu.
2. What is the essence of the division of varnas in Ancient India? How was the system of varnas reflected in the Laws of Manu?
3. The usurer T. entered into an agreement with twelve-year-old S. to sell him an expensive bracelet given to her by her parents. S.'s parents demanded the return of the bracelet, but the pawnbroker refused. How is this dispute resolved according to the laws of Manu?
4. Protecting the woman from attack, the guard of the sacrificial gifts killed the attacker. What punishment should he be subjected to according to the laws of Manu?
5. Sudra M. scolded the brahman P.. The brahman went to court. What is the punishment for Sudra M. according to the laws of Manu?
6. A Brahmin wanted to marry a Shudryan woman, but his relatives categorically objected. What are the consequences of such a marriage?
7. What punishment deserves a Brahmin woman who has noble relatives and an excellent var position, cheating on her husband?
8. Shudra returned home and learned that his boss-boahman ordered to take away his pets and all labor equipment. Are these actions legal?
9. The wife and husband have been legally married for 4 years. During this time, the wife became pregnant once and gave birth to a dead child. The husband really wanted to have an heir and as soon as possible. So he decided to divorce and take another wife. Is it possible?
10. After the death of the father and mother, two sons and two daughters remained. What is the order of inheritance? What is the share of the inheritance of each of the children?
Another important monument of the law of the countries of the Ancient East is the code of ancient Indian laws of Manu. Their compilation dates back to the 2nd century. BC. 1st century AD The authors of the laws were the Brahmins (priests), who gave them the name of Manu, the mythical patron of the ancient Hindus. The laws are written in the form of couplets (shlok), which makes it easier to memorize them. In total, there are 2685 articles in the laws. The content of the laws of Manu goes beyond the law, because. they contain provisions related to politics, morality, religious precepts, etc. Legal norms and religious institutions often represented a single whole. Therefore, it is common for these laws to combine a legal sanction with a precisely formulated consequence that awaits the violator of the law, in earthly and afterlife. The mixture of legal norms and religious prescriptions gave the laws of Manu a special power of influence.
In terms of content, the laws of Manu have many features in common with the Lawyer of Hammurabi. But at the same time, there are significant differences. Of greatest interest are those articles that deal with the situation of various groups of the population. All free inhabitants of ancient India were divided into four social hereditary groups (varnas): Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. Representatives of the first three estates were considered twice born. The totality of religious and legal prescriptions for members of each varna was called a drachma. The upper class included the Brahmins, allegedly born from the mouth of a god.
Only they could study and preach religion, interpret Holy Bible and laws, perform rituals and give advice to representatives of other varnas. Brahmins were exempted from all taxes, duties and corporal punishment. Everyone had to reckon with the opinion of the Brahmin, even the kings, who were supposed to "give him pleasures and valuable things." The Brahmin had to speak the truth or remain silent, show an example of impeccable behavior, avoid emotions, empty talk, anger, greed... and not associate with outcasts and sudras. If a sudra touched him, then the brahmin had to immediately perform a purification ceremony. The personality of a brahmin was inviolable.
Kshatriyas, according to the laws of Manu, are allegedly created from the hands of God. Their duty is to protect others. Kings, officials and military nobility belonged to this varna. The first two varnas were privileged, although marriages between brahmins and kshatriyas were forbidden. The law called for the consent and cooperation of both estates: "Brahmins and kshatriyas, united, prosper both in this and in the next world."
Vaishyas appeared, allegedly, from the thighs of the god. This category of inhabitants, the most numerous, was supposed to be engaged in trade, agriculture, and handicrafts.
According to the laws of Manu, one-born sudras are created from the feet of a god. These included hired workers, servants. Their main duty is humble service to the twice-born. The laws of Manu forbade marriages between people of different varnas. At the lowest rung among the free people were the "untouchables", born of mixed marriages. The legislator in India argued that the state could perish from the mixing of varnas and the king was recommended to use violence so that "the lower would not seize the places of the higher." The varna system had a significant impact on legal regulation various social relations.
Ancient Indian law knew seven legitimate ways of acquiring property: 1) receiving an inheritance; 2) find; 3) purchase; 4) production; 5) a loan at interest; 6) performance of work; 7) receiving gifts. The first three ways were legal for all varnas, the fourth only for kshatriyas, the fifth and sixth for vaishyas, the seventh only for brahmins. Much attention is paid to the laws of Manu contract law. In particular, the maximum amount of interest on loans was set (2% per month for a Brahmin, 3% for a Kshatriya, 4% for a Vaishya and 5% for a Shudra). In the presence of several loans, the priority in paying the debt was established, first of all, it was necessary to pay off the state and the brahmin. A debtor of an equal or lower varna than the creditor was obliged to work off the debt, a debtor of a higher varna could pay off the debt gradually. When inheriting property, the belonging of the sons' mother to one or another varna was of decisive importance. For example, if a Brahmin had children from wives belonging to different varnas, then in this case the son of a Brahmin woman received 4 shares, the son of a Kshatriya woman 3 shares, the son of a Vaishya woman 2 shares and the son of a Shudra woman 1 share.
When entering into a first marriage, a Brahmin and a Kshatriya were obliged to take a wife of equal varna with them. In subsequent marriages, it was allowed to marry women of lower varnas. The eldest wife was considered equal with the husband of Varna.
The norms of criminal law protected the social system of Varnas. Anyone who lived according to the rules of another varna was immediately excluded from his own. A sudra was severely punished, who, having appropriated the distinguishing signs of a brahmin, pretended to be a teacher. A person of a lower varna who dared to take a seat next to a person of a higher varna was subjected to corporal punishment. In most cases, the one who committed a crime against a person of the highest varna was subject to mutilation punishment. At the same time, for an identical crime, the guilty person from the highest varna paid only a monetary penalty. The person who defended the Brahmin and killed the attacker did not commit a crime. During interrogation in court, the Brahmin was not subjected to torture. People of a lower varna could not be witnesses in a criminal case against a person of a higher varna. In case of disagreement between the witnesses, the judge had to believe the person from the highest varna. When there was no reliable evidence, they resorted to oaths. The Brahman swore by "truthfulness", the kshatriya by "chariot and weapons", the vaishyas by "cows, grain and gold", the sudra by "all crimes".
So, the ancient Indian legislation legally fixed a peculiar system of varnas, from which castes of persons of homogeneous professions arose over time.
Kshatriyas, brahmana circles, are subject to according to. Laws of Manu.
Name an outstanding monument of the legislation of Ancient Babylon.
Mancipation in Ancient Rome
The Vaishyas, the circles of the Brahmin, are subject to the laws of Manu.
The principle of talion, when sentencing in the Ancient World meant
HISTORY OF THE STATE AND LAW OF FOREIGN COUNTRIES
PART 1
1. Killing a cat in Ancient Egypt:
A. Was not considered a criminal act.
B. Considered as a crime of a religious nature.
C. Causing property damage.
D. Minor misdemeanor.
2 The first code of laws, as a record of customary law, was made in Athens:
A. Pericles.
V. Dragon.
S. Cleisthenes.
D. Sopon.
A. The principle of compensation for damage (retribution).
B. Intimidation.
C. Reeducation.
D. Appeal for mercy to the gods.
4. What was the most famous empire in Ancient India?
A. The Mauryan Empire.
B. Empire of Justinian.
C. The Empire of Alexander the Great.
D. Empire of Hammurabi.
5. ʼʼWhich of the laws of the Ancient World gave the right to divorce if the wife does not give birth to children ‣‣‣ in the eighth year; if she gives birth to children dead - on the tenth, if she gives birth only to girls - on elevenths, if she is obstinate - immediately. ʼʼ
A. Laws of the XII tables.
B. The Guyanese Constitution
C. Laws of Manu.
D. Laws of Hammurabi.
6. What is the subject of discipline ʼʼHistory of state and law foreign countriesʼʼ?
A. The study of the state and law of individual countries in the process of their emergence and
development in chronological order in a specific
historical setting.
C. The study of the state and law within the framework of an abstracted historical process
regardless of historical events.
C. The study of the patterns of development of society as a whole.
D. The study of legal norms governing certain aspects of public life.
A. Corporal punishment.
B. Death penalty.
C. A fine of two and a half hundred (shares).
D. Penalty of one hundred (shares)
A. A series of mandatory formal actions accompanying the emergence of a right
ownership of the thing.
B. Procedure for disposing of the contract.
C. Form of contract.
D. Form of filing a claim with the court.
9. According to the Laws of Manu, a woman can dissolve a marriage if:
A. In the event of a long, unknown absence.
B. In case of unfaithfulness of the husband.
C. She has no such right.
D. In case of inability to support a family.
10. What was the polis form of the state?
A. A specific variety of the ancient slave state.
B. State structure of the empire of Alexander the Great.
C. A kind of slave state.
D. Variation of the slave-owning state in the Ancient East.
11. What does it mean official name Roman state res puolica?
A. Common cause (public cause) - the supremacy of the power of the people.
B. Belonging to the authority of the master.
C. Ownership of power by slave owners.
D. Patrician power.
A. Laws of King Hammurabi.
V. ʼʼBook of Lawsʼʼ.
C. Laws of Manu.
D. Laws of the XII tables.
13. Lacidonosor brought a marriage gift (deposit) to his father-in-law's house and paid the ransom. A month later, the girl's father announced that he would not marry his daughter to Lacidonosor. and keep the deposit and the redemption fee. How should a property dispute be resolved according to the Laws of King Hammurabi?
A. The girl's father must return everything in triple size.
B. The girl's father must return everything in double size.
C. The girl's father must return the deposit and the purchase price.
D. The girl's father must return the ransom fee, but may keep the deposit.
A. A fine of two and a half hundred (shares).
B. Death penalty
C. Corporal punishment.
D. A fine of one hundred (shares).
15. According to the laws of the XII tables in Ancient Rome, for a judge convicted of taking a bribe, they were sentenced to punishment in the form of:
A. A monetary penalty equal to 12 times the value of the claim.
B. Death penalty.
C. Corporal punishment and a fine in the amount of the value of the claim.
D. Resignations.
16. Protecting a woman from an attack, the guard of the sacrificial gifts killed the attacker. What punishment should he be subjected to according to the laws of Manu?
A. Such a person shall pay a fine to the king.
C. Such a person commits no sin and is not subject to punishment.
C. Such a person commits a grave sin and should be severely punished with
deprivation of liberty.
D. Such person shall be put to death.
17. What new forms of regulation of public relations are used by emerging states?
A. Moral.
B. Religion.
S. Right. .
D. Traditions.
18. The usurer Tarba entered into an agreement with 12-year-old Sagga to sell him an expensive bracelet presented to her by her parents. Saggi's parents demanded the return of the bracelet, but the loan shark refused. How is this dispute resolved according to the laws of Manu?
A. Parents do not have the right to claim back the item sold.
Q. Parents have the right to redeem the bracelet.
C. Parents may demand the return of the bracelet, only if Sagta
entered into a contract without their consent.
D. The contract is void, the bracelet must be returned.
19. The builder, having built the house, sold it. But the house was not built firmly, soon collapsed and crushed the owner to death. What is the punishment in the Laws of Hammurabi?
A. The builder must restore the house at his own expense.
C. He must make amends and be subjected to corporal punishment.
C. The builder must be killed.
D. He must restore the house at his own expense and pay damages.
Kshatriyas, brahmana circles, are subject to according to. Laws of Manu. - concept and types. Classification and features of the category "Kshatriyas, districts of a Brahmin, subject to. Laws of Manu." 2017, 2018.
1. “The king, wishing to consider court cases; let him be prepared for judgment along with brahmins and experienced counselors.
2. There, sitting or standing ( in especially important cases), raising his right hand, in modest clothes and jewelry, it is necessary to consider the cases of litigants,
3. pertaining to the eighteen departments, individually, daily, by means of inferences [based] on the customs of the country and the indications of the sastras.
4. Of these, the first is non-payment of a debt, [then] mortgage, sale of someone else's, complicity in a [trade or other] association, failure to return this,
5. non-payment of wages, violation of the agreement, cancellation of purchase and sale, dispute between the owner and the shepherd,
6. dharma in a border dispute, slander and insult by action, theft, violence, and adultery,
7. The dharma of husband and wife, division of inheritance, gambling and betting are the eighteen litigations in this world.
8. Based on the eternal dharma, one should decide the affairs of people arguing mainly on these [eighteen] points.
9. But if the king does not deal with cases personally, then a learned brahmin should be appointed to deal with them.
10. He, having come to the high court, surrounded by three judges, let him decide the cases of that [king], sitting or standing.
11. The place where the three brahmins who know the Veda and the learned brahmin appointed by the king sit is called the "court of Brahma."
12. But where dharma afflicted by adharma enters the court and the judges do not stop the crime, there the judges are afflicted [by the same adharma].
13. Either one should not come to court, or one should speak correctly; a person who does not speak or lies is a sinner.
14. Where before the eyes [of the judges] dharma is destroyed by adharma, and the truth by falsehood, there the judges [themselves] perish.
15. A broken Dharma destroys, a preserved Dharma protects, therefore Dharma should not be broken so that the broken Dharma does not punish us.
16. Sacred dharma - bull; who hinders him, the gods called contemptible; therefore dharma cannot be violated.
17. The only friend that accompanies even after death is dharma, for everything else goes to equal death, along with the body.
18. A quarter of the guilt from [committing] adharma goes to the culprit, a quarter to the [false] witness, a quarter to all judges, a quarter to the king.
19. But the king and the judges are innocent and freed [from sin], but the guilt falls on the one who committed [the crime], when the one worthy of condemnation is condemned.
20. At the request of the king, the interpreter of dharma [may be] a brahmin living by his origin [but unlearned] or only calling himself a brahmin [although his origin is unknown], but never a sudra.
21. The country of the king, for whom the sudra, with his knowledge, makes the definition of dharma, perishes like a cow in a bog.
22. That country, which is inhabited mainly by Shudras, full of unbelievers, devoid of twice-born, quickly perishes, exhausted by hunger and disease.
23. Having taken a place in the court, [properly] dressed, concentrated, honoring the guardians of the world, [the king] can begin to consider cases.
24. Knowing the benefits and harms, especially dharma and adharma, one must consider all cases of litigants, following the order of the varnas.
25. The inner mood of people must be recognized by external signs: by the sounds [of the voice], the color [of the face], movements, eyes and gestures.
26. By the expression of the face, by the movements, gait, gestures, speech, by the change [expression] of the eyes and face, the innermost thought is caught.
27. The king is supposed to protect the property of the child - inheritance and so on - until he returns [from the house of the guru] or leaves infancy ( up to 16 years).
28. Guardianship should be established for childless women who have lost their families, for wives ( whose husbands are absent) and widows, faithful husbands, and for the sick.
29. A virtuous king should punish as thieves those relatives who seize [their property] during their lifetime.
30. The king should be forced to keep for three years the property, the owner of which has disappeared; before the expiration of three years - the owner can receive, after - the king can take.
31. He who says: "This is mine" - must be tested according to the rule; [only] informing appearance, number, etc., the owner receives the right to this property.
32. He who does not know correctly the place, time, color, shape and size of the lost deserves a fine equal [in value] to that [lost].
33. Then the king, remembering the dharma of the pious, can take a sixth of the found lost, a tenth or even a twelfth ( depending on storage time).
34. Lost, [and then] found property should be left in the care of [special] servants; whom he at the same time denounces as thieves, those must be ordered to take their lives by means of an elephant ( those. trampling by an elephant).
35. If any person correctly says about the [found] treasure: "This is mine," the king can take from him a sixth or twelfth part.
36. But the one who tells a lie deserves a fine [in the amount of] an eighth of his property, or - taking into account that [found] treasure - a smaller part.
37. A learned brahmana, having found a previously [hidden] treasure ( hidden by his ancestors), can take him even completely, since he is the ruler of everything.
38. But if the king finds any ancient treasure hidden in the earth, then he, having given half to the twice-born ( here - brahmanam), can put half in the treasury.
39. The king receives half of the ancient treasures and ores [found] in the earth, as a result of the protection [of the country] and since he is the ruler of the earth.
40. Property stolen by thieves must be returned by the king to all varnas; the king who appropriates it takes [on himself] the guilt of the thief.
41. Knowing the dharma, having considered the dharmas of the castes of the regions, the dharmas of shreni ( associations of artisans, merchants, etc.) and families, let him establish the dharma proper to them.
42. People, even those who are far away, doing their own deeds, adhering to their own deeds, are pleasing to the people.
43. Let neither the king himself nor his servant induce [others] to start a lawsuit, and do not stop in any case a claim brought by others.
44. As a hunter searches for the trace of an animal by drops of blood, so the king must discover the trace of dharma through investigation.
45. Guided by the rules of legal proceedings, one must keep in mind the truth, the subject [of the claim], oneself, the witness, place, time and circumstances.
46 What is in the practice of the virtuous and just twice-born, that which does not contradict the [customs] of the country, families and castes, must be established [as a law].
47. At the request of the creditor for the return of the value [given] to the debtor, it is necessary to force the proven value to be transferred from the debtor to the creditor.
48. By what means the creditor can get his property, by those means, forcing, let [the king] force the debtor to pay.
49. Dharma, judicial persecution, cunning, coercion, and fifthly, by force, it is possible to obtain this [on loan] property.
50. That creditor who himself returns [his] property from the debtor, should not be persecuted by the king after he returns his property.
51. Denying [that he borrowed] property, but convicted, must be forced to give the property of the creditor and a small part in the form of a fine in accordance with the capabilities [of the debtor].
52. When the debtor denies, to whom it is said in court: “Give it back,” the plaintiff is supposed to indicate the place or bring [other] evidence,
53. [The plaintiff] who indicates the wrong place, and having indicated, opens, who does not notice the contradictory meaning of earlier and later [his testimony],
54. who, having announced the evidence, eludes, [who], asked about the case, [previously] properly stated, does not adhere firmly to [previous testimony],
55. who speaks with witnesses in a place where it is forbidden to speak, who does not want to [answer] the question posed and leaves,
56. [Who], asked: "Speak," does not speak, [previously] does not confirm what was said and does not know the preceding and following, he is deprived of the property [which he claims].
57. If, having said: "I have witnesses" - and the interrogated: "Indicate", - does not indicate, the judge for these reasons declares him deprived [of the right to sue].
58. If the plaintiff does not speak, he shall be subjected to corporal punishment and fined according to the law; if [the defendant] does not acquit himself within a month and a half, he loses the case.
59. Whoever falsely rejects any claim or any [falsely] affirms, both of them, acting contrary to the dharma, shall be compelled by the king to pay a double [compared to the amount of the claim] penalty.
60. [The defendant] brought by the plaintiff, when questioned, and denying [the validity of the claim], must be exposed by at least three witnesses in the presence of a brahmin appointed by the king.
61. [Now] I will tell about the witnesses who should be represented by creditors in legal proceedings, and how they should tell the truth.
b2. Households with children, indigenous people, kshatriyas, vaisyas and sudras called by the plaintiff are worthy to testify, I am not everyone - except in extreme circumstances.
63. In court cases, witnesses worthy of trust, from all varnas, who know the whole dharma, who are alien to greed, but possessing the opposite qualities, should be avoided.
64. Neither those interested in the claim, nor relatives, nor accomplices, nor enemies, nor [previously] exposed ( in perjury), neither diseased nor defiled ( committed grave sins).
65. Neither a king, nor a craftsman (due to dependence on his clientele it is difficult for him to be impartial), nor an actor, nor a scholar of the Veda, nor a student of the Veda, nor a renouncer of worldly bonds, can be admitted as a witness,
66. no slave ( by birth), neither condemned by people, nor dasyu, nor indulging in unlawful activities, nor an old man, nor a child, nor a low-born ( chandala, etc.), neither devoid of any sense organ,
67. neither the poor, nor the drunk, nor the insane, nor the tormented by hunger and thirst, nor the weary, nor the tormented by love, nor the angry, nor the thief.
68. Let them testify about women - women, about twice-born - the same twice-born, honest sudras - about sudras, about low-born - low-born.
69. But an eyewitness, whoever he may be, may testify about the litigants [at the event] in inner peace, in the forest, and also in danger of life.
70. In the absence of [proper witnesses, testimony] must be given by a child, an old man, a student, or even a relative, a slave or a servant.
71. But the testimony of children, the elderly, the sick, who speak incorrectly during interrogation, should be considered unreliable, just like [people] with a confused mind.
72. In all cases of violence, theft and adultery, in case of insult in word and deed, it is not necessary to check the witnesses [too carefully].
73. In case of disagreement [in the testimony] of witnesses, the king should prefer [the opinion] of the majority, in case of equality - endowed with outstanding qualities, in case of disagreement between excellent ones - Brahmins.
74. Witness testimony [based on] seen with one's own eyes or heard is considered important; at the same time, the witness who speaks the truth is not deprived of dharma and property ( is not deprived of spiritual merit and is not fined).
75. A witness who, in a noble judgment, speaks differently from what he saw and heard, after death falls into hell and is deprived of heaven.
76. Even if [someone], not called [as a witness], sees or hears something, then, being questioned, let him speak as he saw, as he heard.
77. One disinterested man can be a witness, as well as other [many men], not burdened with vices, but not women, [even if] honest, even if there are many of them, due to the inconstancy of the female mind.
78. What [witnesses] say naturally ( not under pressure, intimidation, etc.), then it must be taken to legal proceedings; therefore, what they say otherwise, according to dharma, is unsuitable.
79. The judge must address the witnesses gathered in court in the presence of the plaintiff and the defendant with the following order:
80. "What do you know about the incident between these two in this case? Tell all this in truth, for you are witnesses in this [case].
81. A witness who speaks the truth in testimony reaches the highest worlds, and in this world - the highest glory; such speech is respected by Brahma.
82. He who speaks untruth at the testimony of a witness is tightly bound by the fetters of Varuna, being helpless for a hundred existences; Therefore, when testifying, you must tell the truth.
83. By truth we purify the witness, by means of truth dharma grows; that is why the truth must be told by witnesses from all varnas.
84. The soul itself is the witness of the soul, the soul is also the refuge of the soul; do not despise your soul, the highest witness among men.
85. Villains think: "No one sees us," but the gods see them, as well as their conscience.
86. Heaven, earth, water, soul, moon, sun, fire, Yama, wind, night, morning and evening twilight and dharma - know the behavior of all beings endowed with a body.
87. [Judge], having cleansed himself, even in the presence of the gods ( in front of the images or symbols of the gods) and the brahmins in the morning will ask for the correct indication from the purified twice-born, facing north or east.
88. Brahman should be asked: "Say!"; kshatriya - "Tell the truth"; vaisya - [by declaring to him that perjury is as criminal as stealing] cows, grain and gold; sudra - [threatening him with] punishment, as for any crime that deprives the caste.
89. "Those places that are prescribed [after death] for the killer of a brahmana and for the killers of women and children, for the betrayer of a friend and for the ungrateful, those will be [the place after death] for the one who speaks falsely.
90. Whatever good deed you do, good man, [the merit from it] all goes from you to the dogs if you speak wrong.
91. If you, virtuous one, think: “I am alone,” [then know that] in your heart there is always a conscience, an observer of merit and bad deeds.
92. If you do not have discord with that son of Vivasvat, the divine Yama, who lives in your heart, you can not go either to the Ganges or to the [inhabitants] of the Kuru ( because it gives no less spiritual merit).
93. He who gives false testimony, naked, shaved, collecting alms with a bowl, suffering from hunger and thirst, goes to the house of the enemy.
94. Head down, in total darkness, a sinner falls into hell, who speaks a lie [in response to] a question asked during a trial.
95. A person who, having come to court, tells a lie about a case of which he was not an eyewitness, is like a blind man who eats fish with bones.
96, The gods do not know a better person in this world than one whose knowing soul, when he testifies, does not feel anxiety.
97. Listen now, friend, how many relatives, with what testimony, are killed telling lies; [these types of false witness] are listed in due order.
98. Five he kills by perjury concerning livestock, ten he kills by perjury concerning cows, a hundred he kills by perjury concerning horses, a thousand by perjury concerning people.
99. He who speaks falsely in a matter concerning gold, kills the born and the unborn, he kills everything when bearing false witness regarding the earth: do not lie about the earth.
100. [False witness] regarding water ( ponds, wells, etc.), enjoyment and intercourse with women, regarding jewels born in water, and all stones are considered equal [false witness] regarding the earth.
101. Keeping in mind all these misadventures [that occur], when an untruth is spoken, speak exactly as you heard and as you saw."
102. Brahmins who tend cattle, engage in trade, as well as [Brahmin] artisans, actors, servants and usurers should be treated as sudras.
103. A person who, out of pious motives, speaks in a case otherwise than he knows, is not deprived of heaven and the world; such speech is called divine.
104. If a sudra, a vaishya, a kshatriya, or a brahmana can die as a result of a truthful testimony, one should tell a lie, for such a [untruth] is preferred to the truth.
105. Those who make complete atonement for the sin of this lie, let them offer sacrifices to Saraswati with boiled rice dedicated to the goddess of eloquence.
106. Or, according to the rule, one must bring cow butter on fire, [accompanying this with the utterance of] magical formulas, a Vedic verse dedicated to Varuna (RV I, 24, 15), or a threefold hymn praising water (RV, X, 9, 1) .
107. A person who, without being sick, does not testify for three crescents regarding a debt and the like, let him answer for this debt and [pay] a tenth of everything.
108. A witness who testified and who, within seven days, falls ill, has a fire or the death of a relative, must be forced to pay a debt and a fine ( misfortune is considered evidence of guilt).
109. In the absence of witnesses in litigation between two arguing parties, [a judge], who does not know exactly the truth, can force her to open, even by oath.
110. And oaths were given by great rishis and gods for [decision] of the matter; even Vasistha swore to the king, the son of Pijavana.
111. A wise person should not take a false oath, for he who takes a false oath perishes after death here too.
112. There is no crime causing loss of caste by [false] swearing in cases involving women ( false vows in love affairs are not considered a sin), marriages, fodder for cows, fuel [for sacrifice], and rendering assistance to a brahmin.
113. One must make a brahmin swear by [his] truthfulness, a kshatriya by chariots and weapons, a vaishya by cows, grain and gold, a sudra by all grave crimes.
114. Or one should force [the accused] to take fire, plunge into water, or touch the heads of his wife and sons separately.
115. He whom the blazing fire does not burn, whom the water does not cause to rise up, and [with whom] misfortune does not soon happen, should be considered clean in an oath.
116. For there was a time when Vatsa, accused by his younger brother, fire, the observer of the world, did not burn a single hair because of truthfulness.
117. In whatever dispute a false testimony is made, the decision must be annulled, and the executed one should be considered not performed.
118. Testimony [given] out of greed, out of stupidity, out of fear, friendship, love, anger, ignorance and carelessness, is considered incorrect.
119. The punishments for one who gives false testimony for one of these reasons, I will set out in due order.
120. [He who bears false witness] out of greed shall be fined a thousand [panes], out of stupidity, a lower fine, out of fear, a double average fine, out of friendship, a fourfold lower fine,
121. out of love, ten times the lowest, out of anger, twice the highest, out of ignorance, two full hundred [pans], and out of heedlessness, a hundred.
122. They announced [that] these punishments for perjury are established by the sages to strengthen dharma and curb adharma.
123. Guilty of perjury members of the three ( higher) a just king needs to expel a varna, having fined, expel a brahmana - only expel.
124. Manu, descended from the Self-existent, has named ten objects of punishment, but a Brahmin can retire unharmed.
125. [These objects] are: the organ of procreation, the womb, the tongue, both hands and the fifth - both legs, [as well as] the eye, nose, both ears, property and torso.
126. Having known the cause, as well as the place and time in truth, and considering the state of the [guilty] and [essence] of the crime, it is necessary to impose punishment on those who should be punished.
127. An unjust punishment destroys honor and destroys glory among people, and in the other world it deprives heaven, so this should always be avoided.
128. A king who punishes those who do not deserve it, but does not punish those who deserve it, takes upon himself great dishonor and goes to hell.
129. First you should make a remark, after it - a reprimand, the third [comes] a fine, [and only] after that the highest - corporal punishment.
130. But if he cannot keep them even with corporal punishment, then all these should be applied to them - four [types of punishment] together.
131. Names [weight units] of copper, silver and gold, which are used on earth in commercial transactions, I will state in full.
132. A tiny speck of dust, which is visible in a ray of sun passing through a trench grate - a trasaren - is considered the first of these measures of weight.
134. six grains of [white] mustard - an average grain of barley, three grains of barley - krishnale ( 0.122 g), five krishnal - mache, those sixteen - suvarne,
135. four suvarnas - pale, ten fell - dharane. The silver mashaka should be counted as two krishnalas taken together,
136. those last sixteen for the silver dharana or purana; karshapan should be considered a copper pan, equal in weight to karsha ( 9.76 g).
137. One should know that ten dharanas [are equal to] a silver shataman, four suvarns are considered equal in weight to a niche.
138. Two hundred and fifty panas are considered the first fine, five [hundreds] should be considered the average, a thousand - the highest.
139. If [in court] it is recognized that the debt should be returned, [the debtor] is obliged [to pay in the form of a fine] five hundred and a half; if he denies [and he is reproved] - twice: this is the prescription of Manu.
140. The usurer may receive a percentage that increases wealth, established by Vasistha - take the eightieth of a hundred per month ( those. 15% per annum).
141. Or, remembering the dharma of virtuous people, he can take two hundred hundred [per month] ( in the event that the usurer does not receive collateral that he can use), for he who takes two hundred from a hundred does not become a sinner for the sake of profit.
142. Exactly two, three, four and five percent of a hundred per month are supposed to be taken according to the order of varnas ( from a Brahmin - 2%, etc.).
143. But if the pledge is profitable, it is not supposed to receive interest on the loan; surrender and sale of [such] collateral cannot take place, [even if] kept for a long time.
144. A pledge cannot be used against the will of [the debtor]; using [it so] - loses interest or is obliged to satisfy [the debtor by paying] the cost; otherwise he will be [considered] the thief of the pledge.
145. Neither collateral nor deposit is lost over time; both of them are subject to return, even if they remain for a long time [with the one who accepted for storage].
146. [Objects] used with the consent of the [debtor] - a cow, a camel, a riding horse and an [animal] accustomed to work - never disappear for him.
147. If an owner nearby silently observes how something is used by others for ten years, he has no right to receive it [back].
148. If the [property] of one [who] is not weak-minded and of full age was used with [his] knowledge, it is lost to him according to custom; the user is entitled to this property.
149. Pledge, border of land, property of children, contribution, open ( property handed over for storage with the right to use on certain terms agreed with the owner) or sealed ( property handed over for safekeeping in a box or bag sealed and sealed by the owner), women ( slave girls), the property of the king and the property of the knower of the Veda are not lost due to the use [of others].
150. Whoever, foolish, uses a pledge without the permission of the owner, he must give up half the interest as a reward for its use.
151. The interest on a money loan, [and the debt], paid together, [cannot] exceed twice the [amount of the debt] ( those. A cash loan is considered repaid if the debtor has paid interest twice the amount of the debt); for fruit grain, wool and beasts of burden - [cannot] exceed fivefold.
152. An additional [interest] to that established by custom, contrary to [the law], is not valid; it was declared usury; [the lender] is entitled to five out of a hundred.
153. It is not supposed to take interest for more than a year, neither unapproved, nor compound interest, nor periodic interest, nor established ( over the size), nor corporal ( paid by physical labor).
154. Whoever, being unable to pay the debt [within the agreed time], wishes to conclude a deal again, he, having paid the debt interest, may renew the contract.
155. If [the debtor] renews [the contract] without paying the money, he must give as much as the [increased] interest.
156. A person who agrees to remuneration for transportation at a precisely established place and time [of delivery] and who violates the [conditions regarding] place and time does not receive remuneration.
157. What price will be set by those who know sea voyages and understand a lot about place, time and product, that in in this case [and is considered legal] upon payment.
158. The person who vouched here for the appearance [in court] of someone ( debtor) and did not ensure his appearance, it is supposed to repay the debt from his property.
159. [Father's duty] due to guarantee, due to frivolous donation ( getters, singers, fist fighters, etc.), because of a loss, because of drunkenness, the son is not obliged to pay the rest of the fine or duty.
160. This rule just mentioned applies to surety to appear [in court]; if the one who guaranteed the payment died, even the heirs must be forced to pay.
161. On what grounds can the creditor later demand after the death of [the surety from the heir] the debt of the surety, - [but] without [condition] payment [of the debt], - whose affairs are well known?
162. If the guarantor received money from the one for whom he vouched, sufficient to pay, then let him pay [the heir surety] who received them: this is the rule.
163. A contract entered into by a drunken, insane, suffering [from illness, etc.], slave, child, old, and also unauthorized, is invalid.
164. An agreement, even if supported by [written documents, bail, etc.], is not true if it is concluded in violation of the dharma accepted in business relations.
165. A fraudulent pledge or sale, a fraudulent gift or acceptance [of it] - everything where fraud is visible must be abolished.
166. If the debtor dies, and the expense is made for his family, [the debt] must be paid by relatives, even separated ones, from [belonging to them] property.
167. Even if a slave enters into a contract for the benefit of the family, then the elder [in the house], whether living in his own country or outside it, is not supposed to refuse it.
168. Given under compulsion, used by violence, as well as written under duress - all deeds committed under duress, Manu declared invalid.
169. Three suffer for the sake of others - a witness, a guarantor, a judge; but four get rich - the priest, the usurer, the merchant, the king.
170. A king, even an impoverished one, should not take what is not supposed to be taken, and even a prosperous one should not refuse what is supposed to be taken, even the smallest thing.
171. The taking of what is not supposed to be taken, and the refusal of what is supposed to be taken, are regarded as weakness of the king, and he perishes even after death in this world.
172. From the collection of what is due to him, from [preventing] the mixing of varnas, from protecting the weak, the power of the king arises, and he prospers even after death in this world.
173. Therefore, a sovereign like Yama, having discarded sympathies and antipathies, should act like Yama, suppressing anger, curbing his feelings.
174. That evil-minded king who foolishly decides judicial decisions not according to dharma is quickly subdued by his enemies.
175. Besides, who, curbing love and hatred, decides matters according to dharma, subjects tend like rivers to the ocean.
176. Whoever complains to the king about a creditor seeking [payment of a debt] arbitrarily, should be forced by the king to pay a fourth part [of the debt as a fine] and the amount of the debt to that [creditor].
177. The debtor is supposed to perform for the creditor equal [duty] even with work, [if he is] of equal or lower origin, but if of a higher one, he can pay gradually.
178. According to this rule, the king must fairly decide the cases of people arguing among themselves, proven by witnesses and [other] data.
179. A prudent person should give a contribution to a well-born, well-behaved, knowledgeable dharma, truthful, having many relatives, rich, respectable.
180. In what form a person delivers any thing into the hands of another, in the same form it must be received [back by the owner]; as delivered, so [should be] returned.
181. Whoever does not return the deposit to the depositor at his request, must be interrogated by the judge in the absence of the depositor.
182. In the absence of witnesses [it is necessary to check the defendant] through spies of the appropriate age and appearance, actually placing gold [under one or another] pretext with him.
183. If he returns [the contribution] in the form in which it was delivered, then nothing of what he was accused of by his enemies is confirmed.
184. But if he does not return that gold to them as is due, then he must be forced to return both [deposits] by force: such is the rule of dharma.
185. An open or sealed deposit should not be returned to a close relative [of the depositor during the latter's lifetime], because if [this recipient of the deposit] dies without returning it to the owner, both [deposits] disappear, but if he does not die, they do not disappear.
186. Whoever returns the contribution to the relative of the deceased [depositor], he should not be prosecuted [by court] either by the king or by the relatives of the depositor.
187. [In doubtful cases] one should try to get this object without cunning, friendly, or, having inquired about the behavior of [who brought the contribution], one should settle the matter by agreement.
188. This rule applies to the settlement of all [cases] with open deposits; with a sealed deposit, [the one who accepted the deposit] should not be subjected to [reproaches] if he did not take anything from it.
189. If the [deposit] is stolen by thieves, carried away by water or burned by fire, [the one who accepted the deposit] may not return anything if he did not take anything from the [deposit].
190. One who appropriates a contribution and [requires it, but in fact] has not made it, must be checked by all means, as well as by Vedic oaths.
191. The one who does not return the deposit, and the one who demands [it] without handing it over - both of them should be punished like thieves, and forced to pay a fine equal to [the value of the object, withheld or demanded].
192. The king is supposed to make him pay a fine equal to [the contribution of both] the one who appropriates the open contribution, and equally the one who appropriates the sealed contribution.
193. He who defrauds another's property must be publicly punished with various [types of] corporal punishment along with accomplices.
194. As the contribution was made by someone in the presence of witnesses, so it must be [on return]; lying is subject to a fine.
195. If [something] is given in private or received in private, it must be returned in private: as delivered, so [should be] returned.
196. The king should decide on the property pledged or given [for use] mercifully, without causing damage to the person who accepted the pledge.
197. Whoever sells the property of another without being the owner and without the consent of the owner, that thief, [even] who thinks he is not a thief, should not be allowed to testify.
198. If [he] is a relative, then he shall be fined six hundred [pans]; [if] not a relative [and] cannot present excuses, then he incurs the guilt of theft.
199. A gift or sale made by a non-owner must be declared null and void under the rule of law.
200. Where the use is evident, but the right to possession is not visible, there the right to possession [should be] evidence [of property] - not use: such is the rule.
201. Whoever receives any thing by selling it in the presence of witnesses, he receives the thing honestly and according to the law of purchase.
202. If the true [seller] cannot be represented, [the buyer], being justified by the public sale, is released by the king without punishment, [and the former owner], who has lost the thing, receives [it].
203. Must not sell [commodity], mixed with another, neither of poor quality, nor insufficient [by weight], neither available nor hidden.
204. If, after one girl has been shown to the groom, another is given to him, he may marry them both for the same price: thus said Manu.
205. Who gives [a girl in marriage], having previously declared [her] shortcomings, whether she will be insane, leprous or lost her virginity, he is not subject to punishment.
20b. If [one of] the priests chosen for the sacrifice leaves his service [due to illness, etc.], he should be given a share [of reward] by others corresponding to the work [done by him].
207. He who leaves his ministry, when the sacrificial gifts have been distributed, let him receive the entire share, and finish the service by appointing a substitute.
208. But if a [special] reward is established for different parts of the rite, should the one [who] performs each [part] receive them, or is it supposed to use everything?
209. Adhvaryu - let him get a chariot, brahmadhana - a horse, hotar - also a horse, udgatar - a wagon [used] to buy [soma].
210. The chief priests among all, having the right to half, [receive] half, the next [four] - half of this, having the right to the third part - the third, having the right to the fourth part - the quarter.
211. In accordance with this rule, the distribution of the share in this world by people who perform their work together should be carried out.
212. If someone gave money for the [fulfillment] of dharma to someone who asked for it, and then they are used for other purposes, the donation is not considered as such.
213. But if [the recipient] refuses to return them due to pride or greed, he must be forced by the king to pay suvarna as an expiation for this theft.
214. Thus, the non-returning of the given is expounded in full accordance with Dharma; Now I will talk about non-payment of salaries.
215. A hired worker who, without being sick, out of impudence does not perform the prescribed work, should be fined eight krishnalas, and his salary should not be paid to him.
216. But if he is ill, and if, having recovered, he performs [the work] as previously agreed, he can receive a salary even [after] a very long time.
217. Whether he is sick or well, [but] if he has not done the agreed work, he should not be paid a salary, even for work [only] a little unfinished.
218. Thus, the dharma regarding non-payment of wages for [undone] work is stated in full; I will now state the dharma regarding treaty breakers.
219. A person who, having concluded an agreement sealed with an oath with a community, with a village or district, violates [it] out of greed, the king should be expelled from the country.
220. Having seized the violator of the agreement, one must make him pay six nishkas, four suvarnas and a silver shataman.
221. A just king should apply this [aforementioned] rule of punishment to those who violate the agreement with the villages and tribal communities.
222. If anyone in this world, having bought or sold something, repents of it, he can give or receive this thing within ten days.
223. But after ten days he can neither give nor demand return; the receiver and the giver shall be fined six hundred [pans] by the king.
224. Whoever betrays a deficient girl without notifying him, let the king himself fine him ninety-six panas.
225. But that person who, out of malice, says about a girl: "She is not a girl" - [and] does not prove her guilt, is subject to a fine of a hundred [pan].
226. Marriage mantras are established only for girls, but nowhere among people for non-girls, since they are deprived of legal rites.
227. Marriage mantras are the determining evidence of marriage, but their effectiveness is recognized [only] after the seventh step.
228. If anyone in this world is left with regret about any deal made, the king should keep him on the lawful path according to the above rule.
229. [Now] I will set forth, as I must, in accordance with the dharma [rules for resolving] a dispute between owners and shepherds in the neglect of cattle.
230. During the day, the responsibility for the safety [of cattle lies] with the shepherd, at night - with the owner, [if the cattle is] in his house; if otherwise, the responsibility [totally] lies with the shepherd.
231. A shepherd who receives a reward in the form of milk may, with the permission of the owner, milk one best [cow] out of ten for his own food; such shall be the wages of the shepherd, in the absence of any other reward.
232. [An animal] due to the lack of care on the part of the shepherd, lost, stricken with worms, bitten by dogs, died in a pit [during a fall], is supposed to be compensated to the shepherds.
233. A shepherd is not obliged to compensate for what was taken away by thieves if he raised the alarm and if he announces to his master the time and place.
234. If the animals have fallen, he is supposed to present the owner with ears, skins, tails, bladders, tendons, bile and show his distinguishing marks.
235. If goats and sheep are surrounded by wolves, but the shepherd does not go [to help them], and the wolf, having attacked, kills some, the shepherd is to blame for this.
23b. But if one of these [sheep and goats], grazing in a herd in the forest, is suddenly killed by a wolf, then in this case the shepherd is not to blame.
237. On all sides of the village, one must have a space of common land of one hundred dhanus, or three throws of a stick, near the city - three times more.
238. If cattle poison the unfenced grain here, let the king in this case not punish the shepherds.
239. [The owner of the field] should build a hedge here, through which a camel could not look, and close up every hole through which a dog or a pig could put its head.
240. [If cattle], accompanied by a shepherd, [causes harm] in a fenced field, [located] near a road or near a village, [the shepherd] must be fined; let [the owner of the plot] drive away cattle not accompanied by a shepherd.
241. [In case of injury] in other fields [for each head] of cattle must pay a fine of one pan and a quarter; The [value of the spoiled] crop must be reimbursed to the owner of the field in all cases: this is the established rule.
242. Manu declared that he should not pay a fine for [loss caused by] a cow within ten days after calving, bulls and cattle consecrated to the gods, whether he is accompanied by a shepherd or not.
243. In case of [damage to the crop due to] the negligence of the owner of the field, a fine ten times the share of [the king] is due, and half the fine - [in case of negligence] of the workers, if the owner of the field was not aware of this.
244. Let the just king adhere to this rule, in violation of [the rights of others] by the owners, cattle and shepherds.
245. If there is a dispute between two villages about the boundary, the boundary should be determined in the month of Jyaistha, when the boundary markers are clearly visible.
246. It is supposed to place trees along the borders - nyagrodha, ashvattha, kinshuka, shalmali, sala, palm trees and trees that give milky juice,
247. bushes, various species of bamboo, shami, creepers, mounds of earth, reeds, kubjak bushes; under such measures, the border is not destroyed.
248. Ponds, wells, reservoirs, canals should be built on common borders, as well as temples.
249. Seeing in the world the constant enmity of people because of ignorance of borders, it is necessary to force other secret border signs to be made,
250. [using] stones, bones, cow hair, straw, ashes, potsherds, cow dung, bricks, coals, gravel, sand
251. and other substances of a similar kind, which the earth does not absorb for a long time; let him force them to be placed discreetly at the junctions of the frontiers.
252. [Guided] by these signs, prescription of use and - always - by the flow of water, the king should determine the border in a dispute between two [sides].
253. If doubts arise even in the presence of signs, the decision of the dispute regarding the boundary must be left to the witnesses.
254. Witnesses [in a dispute about] the boundary must be questioned about boundary markers in the presence of a large number villagers and both disputing parties.
255. How they, when asked, unanimously decide on the border, just so it is necessary to fix the border and [write down] all of them by name
256. They, putting earth on their heads, in wreaths and in red clothes, having sworn by their good deeds, let them determine [the border] in accordance with the truth.
257. Properly identifying, they are purified [as] testifying to the truth, but, misidentifying, they must be subjected to a fine of two hundred [panas].
258. In the absence of witnesses, the four living in neighboring villages, pious, let them decide on the border in the presence of the king.
259. In the absence of neighbors - indigenous people - [as] witnesses about the border, even the following people living in the forest should be used:
260. hunters, bird-catchers, shepherds, fishermen who dig roots, fishermen of snakes, gatherers of ears, and others who live in the forest.
261. The king must force them to establish [the borders] between two villages correctly, just as they, when asked, will show their signs regarding the position of the borders.
262. When deciding on boundary markers for the boundaries of fields, wells, ponds, gardens and houses, the opinion of neighbors should be obtained.
263. If neighbors speak falsely when people are arguing over a boundary mark, each of them should be subjected to the average punishment by the king ( sakhas fine).
264. He who appropriates by intimidation a house, a pond, a garden or a field shall be fined five hundred [pans]; if [he appropriated] out of ignorance, - a fine of two hundred [pan].
2b5. If the boundary is indefinable, let the king, who knows the dharma, designate the land himself for their benefit: that is the rule.
266. Thus the dharma concerning the determination of boundaries is declared in full; now I will announce the decision [of cases] of insult by word.
267. A kshatriya who curses a brahmana is liable to a fine of one hundred [pans]; vaishya - two and a half [hundred panas], but a sudra is subject to corporal punishment.
268. When offending a kshatriya, a brahmin should be fined fifty panas, a vaisya twenty-five panas, a sudra twelve panas.
269. In the event of a transgression by the twice-born in relation to members of the same varna, twelve [pans]; when making speeches that should not be made, the penalty becomes double.
270. He who is born once, who denounces the twice-born with terrible abuse, deserves to have his tongue cut out, because he is of the lowest origin.
271. An iron hot rod twelve fingers long must be thrust into the mouth of one who speaks insultingly of their name and origin.
272. Into the mouth and ears of the arrogantly instructing the Brahmins of their Dharma, let the king order boiling oil to be poured.
273. He who speaks falsely out of insolence about learning, country, origin and cleansing ceremonies for the body should be forced to pay a fine of two hundred [pan].
274. Calling [another] crooked, lame, and other similar [word], even if this is true, should be forced to pay a fine of at least karshapana.
275. Whoever offends mother, father, wife, brother, son, guru and does not give way to the guru shall be fined one hundred [pan].
276. [For mutual strife] between a brahmin and a kshatriya, a fine should be imposed by a shrewd king on the lower brahmin, on the kshatriya - the middle one.
277. The application of punishment to Vaishyas and Shudras is the same, [but] without cutting off [the tongue]: such is the decision.
278. Thus, the rules concerning punishment for verbal insult are reported exactly; I will now present the decision regarding assault by action.
279. That member with which the lower man strikes the higher one, - it is he - must be cut off from him, such is the prescription of Manu.
280. Having raised his hand or stick, he deserves to have his hand cut off; he who kicks his foot in anger deserves to have his foot cut off.
281. An inferior who tries to take a place next to a superior should be expelled with a brand on his thigh; his butt needs to be cut off.
282. The one who spat out of impudence [on the higher ones] should be ordered to cut out both lips, the one who poured urine - the genital member, the one who spoiled the air - the anus,
283. One who grabs hair, legs, beard, neck, crotch must be forced to cut off both hands.
284. The one who scratched the skin and caused blood to appear should be fined one hundred [pans], the one who damaged the meat - six niches, the one who broke the bone should be expelled.
285. What is the use of all trees, such a fine should be imposed when they are damaged: such is the established rule.
28b. When a blow is struck for the purpose of [causing] injury to people and animals, a penalty corresponding to the size of the injury must be imposed.
287. In case of damage to [any] member with injury and bleeding, [the inflictor of injury] should be forced to pay the cost of treatment or the entire fine [to the king].
288. Who spoils the property of someone intentionally or even unintentionally, he is supposed to compensate [damage] and pay the king [a fine] equal to [damage].
289. [In case of damage to] leather or articles made of leather, wood and clay - a fine five times their value; [this also applies to spoiling] flowers, roots and fruits.
290. Ten cases have been named, relating to the wagon, the driver, and the owner, when no fine is collected; the rest is subject to a fine.
291. When the bridle is broken, when the yoke is broken, when the wagon is overturned on its side or backwards, when the axle or wheel is broken,
292. when the harness straps break, as well as the girth and reins, if [the driver] shouted "Get out of the way!" - Manu announced that the fine is not [charged].
293. But if the wagon overturns because of the incompetence of the driver, then if damaged, the owner must be fined two hundred [pan].
294. If the driver is skillful, [but careless], the driver should be fined; if he is inept, those in the cart should be fined - each one hundred [pan].
295. But if he collides on the road with cattle or [another] wagon and causes death to a living being, then a fine is established:
29b. when killing a person [his] guilt is immediately equated with the guilt of a thief, [when killing] large animals - cows, elephants, camels, horses, etc. - half [of her];
297. for causing harm to small domestic animals - a fine of two hundred [pan]; for beautiful wild animals and birds [in this case] a fine of fifty is due;
298. For donkeys, goats, sheep, a fine of five mashas is due and a fine of one mash for killing a dog or a pig.
299. A wife, son, slave, student and brother who has committed a misdemeanor may be beaten with a rope or a bamboo stick,
300. but [only] on the back, by no means on the noble; therefore, he who strikes otherwise commits [the same] sin, [as] a thief.
301. Thus, the decisions regarding assault with an act are set out in full; I will now state the rule in determining the punishment of a thief.
302. Let the king show extreme diligence in curbing thieves; from curbing thieves, his fame increases and the country prospers.
303. The king who provides security should always be honored, for his sattra always increases, [moreover] security is a sacrificial gift.
304. The king, guarding [properly subjects], is the sixth share of the dharma of all [them]; the one who does not protect gets the sixth share of adharma.
305. By properly guarding [subjects], the king receives a sixth share of that [spiritual merit that each of them acquires when he] studies the Veda, makes a sacrifice, gives gifts and honors [the gods and gurus].
306. The king, who according to Dharma protects living beings and executes those who deserve punishment, [by this, as it were] performs daily sacrifices with hundreds of thousands of donations.
307. A king who, without guarding [subjects], collects [taxes] bali, kara, shulka, pratibhoga and fines, immediately goes to hell.
308. The king, who does not protect [subjects, but] receives a share in the form of a tax, was declared to take upon himself all the uncleanness of the people.
309. One must know that a king who does not observe the rules of conduct, who is unbelieving, greedy, who does not protect [his subjects], who destroys them, goes to hell.
310. The king must carefully curb the lawless with three measures - imprisonment, shackling in chains, and various types of corporal punishment.
311. By curbing the evil and protecting the good, the king is constantly cleansed, like the twice-born by sacrifices.
312. A king who cares about his own good should show indulgence towards people who swear at the examination of their affairs, towards children, the elderly and the sick.
313. He who, offended by the afflicted, forgives, thanks to this he is glorified in heaven, and who, [proud of his] power, does not forgive, thanks to this he goes to hell.
314. The thief must run to the king with his hair loose and announce that theft, [saying]: "I did it, punish me!"
315. and taking on his shoulder a club or stick made of khadir wood; a spear pointed at both ends, or an iron stick;
316. Whether the thief is punished or forgiven, he is released from the [guilt] of theft, but the king, without punishing him, assumes the guilt of theft.
317. The guilt of the killer of a Brahmin passes to the one who eats the food of that [killer], unfaithful wife- for a husband, a disciple and a donor - for a guru, a thief - for a king.
318. People who have committed crimes but are punished by kings go to heaven, being pure, just like the pious who have done good deeds.
319. Whoever takes away a rope or a vessel from a well, whoever spoils the room where a traveler receives water, let him be subject to a fine of one masha and return [carried away] there.
320. For those who steal more than ten kumbhas of grain [required] corporal punishment, in other cases [a fine] must be paid, eleven times [the value of the stolen], and [returned] to that [owner] his good.
321. [For the one who steals] more than a hundred [falls], measured by the weight of gold, silver, etc., and best clothes corporal punishment is also required.
322. [For the one who steals] more than fifty [fell], cutting off the hands is due; in other cases, it is necessary to impose a fine, eleven times the original value of the stolen.
323. When stealing well-born people, and especially women, as well as the best precious stones, [the criminal] deserves the death penalty.
324. When stealing large animals, weapons and medicinal herbs the king should impose punishment, considering the time and circumstances of the case.
325. [When stealing] cows belonging to a Brahmin, when piercing the nostrils of a barren cow, when stealing [small] animals, [the offender] should immediately be deprived of half a leg,
326. [For stealing] yarn, cotton fiber, fermentants, manure, molasses, curdled milk, milk, whey, water and grass,
327. utensils made of bamboo and reeds, various kinds of salt, earthen [vessels], clay and ashes,
328. fish, poultry, vegetable oil, cow butter, meat, honey and other [products] of animal origin
329. and others of the same kind, spirits, boiled rice and all kinds of boiled food - a fine double the value of [stolen].
330. For flowers, green grain, bushes, creeping plants, trees, small amounts of unrefined [grain], a fine of five krishnas is due,
331. For peeled grain, herbs, roots and fruits - a fine of one hundred [pan], if there is no acquaintance [between the owner and the thief], or fifty [pan], if there is an acquaintance.
332. An act that is committed in the presence of [the owner] and was accompanied by violence - robbery, if [it is committed] in his absence - theft, [even if] it is denied after the commission.
333. On that person; who steals these things prepared [for consumption], the king must impose the first fine, as well as on the one who steals the fire from the house.
334. Let the king, in order to prevent [the repetition of the crime], take from the thief exactly that part of the body with which he acts against people.
335. Neither father, nor teacher, nor friend, nor mother, nor wife, nor son, nor purohita should remain unpunished; for the king, the name of [one] who does not fulfill his dharma means nothing.
336. If any ordinary person should be fined one karshapana, then [for the same crime] the king should be fined a thousand: this is the established rule.
337. But the fault of a sudra in the theft is eight times greater, a vaisya sixteen times, a kshatriya thirty-two,
338. brahmana - sixty-four, or completely one hundred times, or twice as many as sixty-four, [according to] the understanding [of each of them of the essence] of good and evil.
339. [Collecting] roots and fruits from trees, wood for fire, grass for feeding cows Manu declared not to be theft.
340. A Brahman who seeks to obtain, for the performance of a sacrifice or for teaching, property from the hands of [a person] who appropriates [property] not given to him, is the same as a thief.
341. A traveler twice born, deprived of means of subsistence, who takes two stalks of sugarcane or two [edible] roots from a foreign field, should not pay a fine.
342. He who binds [cattle belonging to others] that is not tethered, frees the tethered one, takes away a slave, horse or wagon becomes guilty of theft.
343. A king who restrains thieves in accordance with this rule achieves glory in this world, and after death the highest bliss.
344. A king who wants to reach the seat of Indra and imperishable glory, let him not miss even a moment [for punishment] of a person who has committed violence.
345. A person who has committed violence should be considered a worse villain than a scolder, a thief, and a hitter with a stick.
346. But the king who forgives the perpetrator of violence quickly goes to ruin and is subjected to hatred [of the people].
347. Neither because of friendship, nor for the sake of great gain, let the king let the violators free, who strike terror into all beings.
348. The twice-born must take up arms when there is an obstacle to their fulfillment of their dharma, and when the time of disaster comes for the twice-born varnas.
349. The one who kills, protecting himself, while protecting sacrificial gifts, while protecting women and a Brahmin, according to the law, does not commit a sin.
350. It is possible to kill without hesitation an attacking murderer - [even] a guru, a child, an aged person or a brahmin who is very learned in the Veda.
351. The killing of a murderer, openly or secretly, is never a sin for the killer; in this case, rabies attacks rabies.
352, Men who seek other people's wives should be driven out by the king, subjected to punishments that inspire awe.
353. For [adultery], arising from this, gives rise to a mixture of varnas, due to which [arises] adharma, destroying the roots and causing death to everything.
354. If a person previously accused of sins [associated with adultery] secretly talks with someone else's wife, he must pay the first fine.
355. But a previously unaccused person who is talking about a case should not be considered guilty, since there is no crime on his part.
356. Whoever has courtesy with a strange wife [in secluded places] - where they take water, in a forest, in a grove or at the confluence of rivers - should be considered guilty of adultery.
357. Helpfulness, flirting, touching jewelry and clothes, as well as sitting together on a bed - all [this] is considered adultery.
358. If anyone touches a woman in the wrong place - or allows her to touch him - everything [performed] by mutual agreement is considered adultery.
359. A non-Brahmin guilty of adultery deserves the death penalty: the wives of [all] four varnas must always be guarded.
360. Beggars, storytellers, people who perform preparatory rites for sacrifices, artisans may converse with women if it is not forbidden to them.
361. One should not start a conversation with other people's wives who has not received permission; whoever speaks without obtaining permission to do so is worthy of a fine of one suvarna.
362. This rule [does not apply] to the wives of wandering actors and those who live off their wives - because they force [them] to give themselves to [others]: remaining hidden themselves, they encourage [wives] to have sinful connections.
363. An incoming conversation in a secluded place with such women, with servants dependent on one [master], or with hermits - should be forced to pay some fine.
364. Whoever dishonors a girl against her will is immediately subject to corporal punishment; but a person who has dishonored with her consent is not subject to corporal punishment if he is equal to her.
365. A girl who has come together with a [man] of higher [by origin] should not be forced to pay anything, but who had a relationship with a lower one should be forced to live imprisoned in the house.
366. The lower one, having come down with the higher one, deserves corporal punishment; the one who has come down with an equal is supposed to pay the marriage reward, if the father agrees.
Zb7. But if any man brazenly dishonors a girl, two of his fingers must be cut off and he deserves a fine of six hundred [pan].
368. An equal who has dishonored a girl is not subject to cutting off his fingers, but must be forced to pay two hundred [panas] to prevent a repetition [of the crime].
36 9. For a girl who corrupts another girl, a fine of two hundred [pans] is due, let her pay double the marriage reward, and also let her receive ten rods.
370. And a woman who corrupts a girl deserves to have her head shaved immediately, two fingers cut off, and also to be taken on a donkey.
371. If a woman, impudent due to the nobility of her relatives and [her] superiority, is unfaithful to her husband, let the king order her to be hounded with dogs in a crowded place.
372. Let him order to burn a male criminal on a red-hot iron bed; let him throw firewood under him until the villain burns.
373. For a guilty [once and again] accused within a year - a double fine; the same for cohabitation with a vrata and a chandalka.
374. A Shudra cohabiting with a [woman] of twice-born varnas, guarded or unguarded, is deprived: if with an unguarded one, of a child-bearing member and all property, if with a guarded one, of everything, [even life].
375. A Vaishya should be fined on all property [belonging to him] after being imprisoned for a year; a kshatriya should be fined one thousand [panas] and shaved with urine.
376. But if a Vaishya or a Kshatriya has an affair with an unguarded Brahmin woman, the Vaishya should be fined five hundred [pan], and the Kshatriya one thousand.
377. But if both of them have sinned with a guarded brahmana, they should be punished like a sudra, or burned on a dry grass fire.
378. A brahmin who meets with a guarded brahmin against her will should be fined a thousand; who came together with a voluntarily agreed - five hundred.
379. Shaving [the head instead of] the death penalty is due to a Brahmin; for other varnas, the death penalty can be applied.
380. One should never kill a Brahmin, even one who is mired in all sorts of vices; it is necessary to expel him from the country with all his property without [bodily] injury.
381. There is no act on earth more inconsistent with dharma than killing a Brahmin, so a king should not even think about killing him.
382. If a Vaisya meets a guarded Kshatriya woman, or a Kshatriya meets a Vaishya woman, both of them are subject to punishment, as in the case of an unguarded Brahmin woman.
383. A Brahmin consorting with guarded women of these two [varnas] must be compelled to pay a fine of a thousand [panas]; for a kshatriya and a vaishya [for association with a guarded] Shudra woman, a fine of a thousand is due.
384. A fine [imposed] on a Vaishya [for association] with an unguarded Kshatriya woman, five hundred [panas]; but a kshatriya can choose either shaving his head with urine, or the same fine.
385. A Brahmana who associates with an unguarded Kshatriya, Vaishya or Shudra woman should be fined five hundred [panas], but with a low-born woman, one thousand.
386. The king, in whose city there is neither a thief, nor an adulterer, nor a slanderer, nor a robber, nor a rapist, is rewarded with the peace of Shakra.
387. The control of these five in his country secures for the king the position of supreme ruler among his equals and glory in the world.
388. If the sacrificer leaves the priest or the priest leaves the donor, each of them must pay a fine of a hundred [pan], if the sacrificial rite could be performed correctly.
389. Neither mother, nor father, nor wife, nor son should be left; leaving them, if they are not outcasts, shall be fined six hundred.
390. In the litigation of the twice-born, arguing among themselves [about the rules relating] to the ashrams, the king, who wants well-being for himself, should not talk about dharma [hurriedly].
391. Having honored them as it should be, and having first reassured them with affectionate speech, the king, together with the Brahmins, must explain to them their dharma.
392. He who does not treat the brahmins - the neighbor and the next after him - who deserve it, at a festival at which twenty brahmins are present, deserves a fine of one mash.
393. A scholar of the Veda who does not treat a virtuous scholar of the Veda at happy solemn rites should be forced to pay double the cost of his food and a golden masha [to the king].
394. A blind man, an imbecile, a cripple, an old man of seventy years of age, and one who renders favors to experts in the Veda should not be compelled by anyone to pay a tax.
395. A king should always be merciful to an expert in the Veda, sick or unfortunate, a child, an aged, poor, noble and distinguished.
396. A laundresser should wash carefully on a board made of shalmali wood, not replace clothes with [other] clothes, not allow [their non-owner] to wear.
397. A weaver who [receives] ten pals [of yarn] is supposed to return [fabrics by weight] one more pal; therefore, whoever does otherwise must be compelled to pay a fine of twelve [pans].
398. The king may collect [in the form of duty] one twentieth of the value of the goods, which is determined in the customs by people who know and understand all kinds of goods.
399. The king should confiscate all the property of a [merchant] who, out of greed, exports [out of the country] goods [trade in which] is declared [monopoly] by the king, as well as those prohibited for export.
400. Anyone who avoids customs, who buys and sells at the wrong time, who speaks falsely when calculating [the value of the goods] should be forced to pay eight times the [value] of the damage [that he could cause by this].
401. Having determined the places of arrival and departure, the time of storage, profit, and costs, one should fix the buying and selling [price] for all goods.
402. Every time after five nights or two weeks have passed, the king must set prices in their presence.
403. Scales and measures must always be well marked, and they must be checked every six months.
404. For the crossing of an [empty] wagon, a pana must be paid, for a person [with a burden] - half a pana, for an animal and a woman - a quarter of a pana, and for a person without a burden - half a quarter.
40 5. For the transport of wagons full of goods, one must pay according to the value of the cargo, for [wagons] with empty vessels [it is supposed to take] a little, as well as for people without luggage [or without companions].
406. Let the payment for transportation correspond to the place and time. One must know that this [applies] to the banks of rivers; there is no definite [rule] for the sea.
407. Women who are pregnant from two months, as well as a wandering ascetic, a hermit who studies the Vedubrahmanas, should not be forced to pay for transportation.
408. Everything that is damaged on the ship through the fault of the carriers must be returned by the carriers, [each] according to his share.
409. Thus, the decision of the court case [relating to] those traveling in a ship, due to the negligence of carriers on the water, is announced; in case of [misfortune that happened] by the will of the gods, no fine is due.
410. Vaishyas should be encouraged to engage in trade, usury, agriculture, and cattle breeding; sudra - service to the twice-born.
411. If a Brahmin, out of mercy, supports a Kshatriya or a Vaishya who is in need of means of sustaining life, then he can force them to perform the work appropriate to their [position].
412. A Brahman who, due to his superiority, coerces out of greed the twice-born, who have received initiation against their desire, to [degrading] service, shall be fined by the king six hundred [panas].
413. But a sudra, bought or not bought, he can force to perform [such] service, for he was created by the Self-existent to serve a brahmana.
414. Shudra, even released by the master, is not released from the duty of service; for it is inborn in him, so who can free him from it?
415. Captured under a banner, a slave for maintenance, born in a house, bought, donated, inherited, and a slave by virtue of punishment—such are the seven categories of slaves.
416. Wife, son and slave - three are considered to have no property; whose they are, and the property they acquire.
417. A Brahmin can confidently appropriate the property of a sudra [slave], because he has no property, because he is the one whose property is taken by the master.
418. Vaishyas and Shudras must be zealously urged to do their own deeds, because by avoiding their own deeds, they shake the world.
419. It is necessary to check daily the performance of work, means of transportation, ordinary income and expenses, mines and treasury.
420. The king, who brings all these things to an end, having eliminated every sin, reaches the highest goal.”
Such is the dharmashastra of Manu, expounded by Bhrigu, the eighth chapter.