lOi HISTOEY OF INDIA. [Book IV.
AD. —
wife, a son, a servant, a pupil, and a whole brother may be corrected, when they commit faults, with a rope or the small shoot of a cane ; but on the back part of their bodies, and not on a noble part by any means."
'iheft. In introducing the subject of theft and robbery, the code labours to impress
the king with the importance of the duty of restraining them, reminding him that " by restraining thieves and robbers his fame and domain are increased ;" and that a king " who receives taxes in kind or in value, market duties and tolls, the small daily presents for his household, and fines for offences," Avithout protecting his people by the punishment of offenders, "falls directly to a region of horror." On the other hand, it is gravely asserted, not only that " by restraining the bad and by encouraging the good, kings are perpetually made pure," but that " men who have committed offences, and have received from kings the punish- ment due to them, go pure to heaven, and become as clear as those who have done well." Minor thefts are punished by fine, and it is very remarkable that this is a penalty which the king himself may incur, for it is expressly said that " where another man of lower birth would be fined one pana} the king shall be fined a thousand." " This," it is added, " is a sacred rule." But who, it may be asked, was to enforce it? The commentator answers: "He shall give the fine to the priests, or cast it into the river." In more serious cases of theft a fine was not considered sufficient, and imprisonment, confinement by fetters, and various kinds of corporal pmiishment were added. These last, according to the usual practice, consisted of mutilations, such as the amputation of a hand or a limb. It deserves to be noticed, that in imposing fines for theft the rule adopted is much more equitable than in the case of assault, inasmuch as the amount is increased with the rank of the criminal, the fine of a Sudra being only eight fold, while that of a Vaisya is sixteen, that of a Cshatriya two-and- thirty, and that of a Brahmin four-and-sixty fold." The object, doubtless, was to deter the Brahmin from the commission of a crime by which, as it is essen- tially mean and despicable, he reflected disgrace on his order.
Violence. The ncxt braucli of criminal law considered in the code is that relating to
crimes of violence. It is disposed of in a few sentences, and is only deserving of notice on account of the manner in which a just self-defence is sanctioned. While it is said that " neither on account of friendship, nor for the sake of great lucre, shall the king dismiss the perpetrators of violent acts, who spread terror on all creatures," it is distinctly intimated that "the twice -born may take arms when their duty is obstructed by force," and " in their own defence ;" and that " in a war for a just cause and in defence of a woman or a priest, he who kills justly commits no crime." That there may be no mistake as to what is meant by killing justly, it is explained to be " killing an assassin who attempts to kill, whether in public or in private."
The subject of adultery is treated at large, and, it must be confessed, with
' Thepana weighs about four dwts., and if of copper, is at present equal in value to eighty cowries.
