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" * The soul itself is the witness of the soul ; the soul is the refuge of the soul; despise not thy own soul, the supreme witness of men. "'The wicked indeed say in their hearts, Nobody sees us. But the gods distinctly see them, and the male within their own breasts. " * The sky, the earth, the waters, the heart, the moon, the sun, the fire, Yama and the wind, the night, the two twilights and justice, know the conduct of all cor- poral beings. ' " (VIII, 79 to 86.) Digitized by Google CHAP. XII.] LAWS. 183 Still more solemn are the injunctions given further on : — " Naked and shorn, tormented with hunger and thirst and deprived of sight, shall the man who gives false evidence, go with a potsherd to beg food at the door of his enemy.* " Headlong, in utter darkness shall the sinful man tumble into hell, who, being interrogated in a judicial enquiry, answers one question falsely. " (VIII, 93, 94.) And it is provided in VIII, 123, that the king should banish all witnesses who give false evidence. A somewhat long list is given of persons who were not competent witnesses, and persons who were ex- empted from being witnesses. Interested persons, friends and enemies of parties, persons previously con- victed of perjury, and men tainted with sin were not competent as witnesses ; while a king, a Srotriya and a student of the Veda, as well as mechanics and actors were exempted. But it is quite clear that these rules were not meant to be strictly applied, and we are told further on that in cases of violence, theft, adultery, defamation, and assault, i.e. y in criminal cases, the rule about the competency of witnesses should not be strictly applied. (VIII, 64, 65, 72.) Manu divides the whole body of substantive law un- der 18 heads, vis. (1) Debts, (2) Deposits, (3) Sale * Sec Vol. II, p. 45. Digitized 1 84 BUDDHIST PERIOD. [BOOK IV. without ownership, (4) Partnership, (5) Resumption of gifts, (6) Non-payment of wages, (7) Non-per- formance of agreements, (8) Rescission of sale and purchase, (9) Disputes between masters and servants. (10) Disputes about boundaries, (11) Assault, (12) Defamation, (13) Theft, (14) Robbery and violence, (15) Adultery, (16) Duties of husband and wife, (17) Inheritence, and (18) Gambling and betting. It will be seen that heads (11) to (15) and the last head relate to criminal law, and the other heads relate to civil Crises. We will however follow the order in which Manu has arranged the subjects, and our remarks un- der each head will be necessarily exceedingly brief. (1) DEBTS. Under this head Manu gives us a list of the weights in use in his time. It begins of course with the theoretically smallest weight Trasarenu, the mote which can be seen when the sun shines through a lattice. 8 Trasarenu 3 Likshi 3 Black mustard grain 6 White mustard seed 3 Barleycorn 16 Masha 4 Suvarna 10 Pala 2 Krishnala of silver 16 Masbaka ••• ••• I Liksha (egg of a louse). I Black mustard grain. I White mustard seed. I Barleycorn. I Krishnala or Raktika. 1 Masha (bean). I Suvarna. I Pala. I Dharana. I Mashaka (silver). . ■ • I Dharana (silver). Digitized by Google CHAP. XII.] 1 Karsha of copper LAWS. I Karshipana or Pana. 10 Dharana (silver) ••• 1 Satamina. 4 Suvaraa I Nishka (VIII, 132, to 137). With regard to interest on loans Manu quotes from Vasishtha's Dharma-Sutra and says that " a money- lender may stipulate, as an increase of his capital, for the interest allowed by Vasishtha, and take monthly the eightieth part of a hundred." This comes to 15 per cent, per annum, and was the interest on security ; but for unsecured loans the interest was 24 per cent, 36 per cent, 48, or 60 per cent, according as the borrower was a Brahman, a Kshatriya, a Vaisya or a SCidra. (VIII, 140 to 142). It is needless to say that this graduated scale is only theoretical,— a money-lender looked more to the competence of the borrower than to his caste. It appears that female slaves could be pledged like other property by persons borrowing money (VIII, 149). When the property pledged was one from which profit accrued (like land), no interest could be charged (VIII, 143). 60 per cent, was the very highest rate of interest which could be recovered (VIII, 152); but special rates were allowed in the case of merchants going on sea voyages, probably to cover the insurance on risks (VIII, 157). And lastly, we are told that contracts made under intoxication, or contrary to law and usage, or fraudulently, or by force, were void (VIII, 163 to 168). Digitized by Google 1 86 BUDDHIST PERIOD. [BOOK IV. (2) Deposits. A person with whom an open or sealed deposit was made was compelled under the law to restore it, except when the deposit was stolen by thieves, washed away by water, or burnt down by fire. It would appear that fraudulent demands of things never deposited, and fraudulent refusal to return de- posits were by no means unknown, and in both cases the guilty persons were punished as thieves. (VIII, 191). (3) Sale without Ownership. Such sales were to be considered null and void, and the seller, if a kins- man of the real owner, to be fined 600 panas, — and if not a kinsman, he was to be treated as a thief (VIII, 198, 199). (4) Partnership. It appears that disputes often arose among priests who performed a religious rite in common, and could not agree in sharing the fee or re- ward. Manu decides that the Adhvaryu should take a chariot, the Brahman a horse, the Hotri also a horse, and the Udg&tri a cart. And on this principle, says the legislator, should shares be allotted among all men working conjointly. The principle, which is some- what obscure, is the natural one that each man is to be paid according to the amount and nature of his work. (VIII, 209 to 211.) (5) Resumption of Gifts. A gift made for a pious purpose could be revoked if the money was not used for the purpose for which it was given. (VIII, 212.) Digitized by Google CHAP. XII.] LAWS. I87 (6) Non-payment of Wages. The law is very simple, viz., that a workman was not to be paid unless he did his work completely according to agreement. (VIII, 217.) (7) Non-performance of Agreements. The breaking of an agreement after swearing to it was very severely punished ; the offender was to be banished, imprisoned and fined six nishkas of four suvarnas each, and one satamana of silver. (VIII, 219, 220.) (8) Rescission of Sale and Purchase. There is a most remarkable rule that a purchaser or a seller if ^ he repented of his bargain might return or take back the chatel within ten days. Commentators add that this rule applied only to things not easily spoilt like land, copper, &c. (VIII, 222). (9) Disputes between Owners of Cattle and Servants. Frequent cases probably arose between owners and keepers of cattle, and the law on the subject has been somewhat minutely laid down. The responsi- bility for the safety of the cattle was with the herdsman during the day, and with the owner during the night, i e., if the cattle were in his house by night ; and the hired herdsman could in the absence of other wages take the milk of one cow in ten. He was res- ponsible for all animals lost by his negligence. Thus, if sheep and goats were attacked by a wolf, and the herdsman did not try to save them, he was responsible Digitized by Google 1 88 BUDDHIST PERIOD. [BOOK IV for the loss. There was a healthy rule of keeping pas- ture lands round every village and every town, which has, unfortunately, disappeared in these days. On all sides of a village, lands to the width of 100 dhanus was to be kept for pasture, and thrice that space was to be reserved round towns. If cattle did any damage to any unfenced crops on that common, the herdsman was not responsible. Fields situated away from the common were not fenced, and if cattle strayed there and did damage to crops, a fine was imposed of one pana and a quarter per head of cattle, and the actual damage done had also to be made good. (VIII, 230 to 241.) (10) Disputes about Boundaries. We have a curious glimpse into the state of villages and agriculture in the laws on this subject. The month of Jaishtha (May-June) is the driest in the year in India, and it is laid down that all disputes regarding boundaries of contiguous villages should be decided in that month. Such boundaries were generally marked by an Asvathva, Kinsuka, or other tree, by tanks, wells, cisterns and fountains. Hidden marks were to be left to determine boundaries, and stones, bones, pebbles, &c, were to be buried where such boundaries met. When a boundary question could not be decided on the existing landmarks the villagers were to be ex- amined, and on failure of villagers, hunters, fowlers, herdsmen, fishermen, root diggers, snake catchers, glean- ers and foresters could be examined. If all these Digitized by Google CHAP. XII.] LAWS. 189 resources failed, the king was directed to generously make good out of his own demesnes any possible loss to either of the contending villages. (VIII, 245 to 265.) (11) and (12) Assault and Defamation. We now come to Criminal Law properly so called, and there we meet once more the influence of that baneful system which has cast its shadow over every phase of Hindu civilization and life. A Br&hman should be fined fifty panas for defaming a Kshatriya, twenty-five panas for defaming a Vaisya, and twelve panas for defaming a Sfidra, but a Stidra who defamed a Br&hman should have his tongue cut out, * for he is of low origin." And if he mentioned the names and castes of the twice born with contumely, an iron nail ten fingers long should be thrust red-hot into his mouth. (VIII, 268 to 271.