265 If the boundary cannot be ascertained by any evidence, let a righteous king with the intention of benefiting them all, himself assign his land to each; that is the settled rule.

266 Thus the law for deciding boundary disputes has been fully declared; I will next propound the manner of deciding cases of defamation.

267 He who has defamed a learned and honourable person shall be fined one hundred panas; if the offender be a man of repute and means, one hundred and fifty or two hundred; if he be without means, he shall suffer corporal punishment.

268 For defaming an ordinary honest person the fine shall be twelve panas.

269 For offences between persons of equal standing the fine shall be also twelve panas; for speeches which ought not to be uttered, that and every fine shall be double.

273 He who through arrogance makes false statements regarding the learning of a fellow-man, his country, his lineage, or his calling, shall be compelled to pay a fine of two hundred panas.

274 He who even in accordance with the true facts contemptuously calls another man one-eyed, lame, or the like names, shall be fined at least one karshapana.

275 He who defames his mother, his father, his wife, his brother, his son, or his teacher, and he who gives not the way to his preceptor, shall be compelled to pay one hundred panas.

276 For mutual abuse between two persons a fine must be imposed by a discerning king in proportion to the gravity of the insult.

278 Thus the rules for punishments applicable to cases of defamation have been truly declared; I will next propound the decision of cases of assault.

279 With whatever limb a man wrongfully does hurt to another, retribution may be taken on that limb; that is the teaching of Manu.

284 He who breaks the skin of an equal or fetches blood from him shall be fined one hundred panas, he who cuts a muscle six nishkas, he who breaks a bone shall be banished.

285 According to the usefulness of the several kinds of trees a fine must be inflicted for injuring them; that is the settled rule.

286 If a blow is struck against men or animals in order to give them pain, the judge shall inflict a fine in proportion to the amount of pain caused.

287 If a limb is injured, a wound is caused, or blood flows, the assailant shall be made to pay to the sufferer the expenses of the cure, or the whole, both the usual amercement and the expenses of the cure as a fine to the king.

288 He who damages the goods of another, be it intentionally or unintentionally, shall give satisfaction to the owner and pay to the king a fine equal to the damage.

289 In the case of damage done to leather, or to utensils of leather, of wood, or of clay, the fine shall be five times their value; likewise in the case of damage to flowers, roots, and fruit.

290 They declare with respect to a carriage, its driver and its owner, that there are ten cases in which no punishment for damage done can be inflicted; in other cases a fine is prescribed.

291 When the nose-string is snapped, when the yoke is broken, when the carriage turns sideways or back, when the axle or a wheel is broken,

292 When the leather-thongs, the rope around the neck or the bridle are broken, and when the driver has loudly called out, "Make way," Manu has declared that in all these cases no punishment shall be inflicted.

293 But if the cart turns off the road through the driver's want of skill, the owner shall be fined, if damage is done, two hundred panas.

294 If the driver is skilful but negligent, he alone shall be fined; if the driver is unskilful, the occupants of the carriage also shall be each fined one hundred panas.

295 But if he is stopped on his way by cattle or by another carriage, and he causes the death of any living being, a fine shall without doubt be imposed.

296 If a man is killed, his guilt will be at once the same as that of a thief; for large animals such as cows, elephants, camels or horses, half of that.

297 For injuring small cattle the fine shall be two hundred panas; the fine for beautiful wild quadrupeds and birds shall amount to fifty panas.

298 For donkeys, sheep, and goats the fine shall be five mashas; but the punishment for killing a dog or a pig shall be one masha.

299 A son, a slave, a pupil, and a younger brother of the full blood, who have committed faults, may be corrected with a rope or a split bamboo,

300 But on the back part of the body only, never on a noble part; he who strikes them otherwise will incur the same guilt as a thief.

301 Thus the whole law of assault and hurt has been declared completely; I will now explain the rules for the decision in cases of theft.

302 Let the king exert himself to the utmost to punish thieves; for, if he punishes thieves, his fame grows and his kingdom prospers.

303 That king, indeed, is ever worthy of honour who ensures the safety of his subjects; for the long act of devotion which he, as it were, performs thereby ever grows in length, the safety of his subjects representing the offering.

304 A king who duly protects his subjects earns a great reward from God; if he does not protect them, he bears the sin of his neglect.

306 A king who protects the created beings in accordance with the sacred law and smites those worthy of corporal punishment, daily offers, as it were, offerings of great worth.

307 A king who does not afford protection, yet takes his share in kind, his taxes, tolls and duties, daily presents and fines, will after death soon sink into Hell.

308 They declare that a king who affords no protection, yet receives the sixth part of the produce, wrongs his whole people and is unjust.

309 Know that a king who heeds not the rules of the law, who denies God, and is rapacious, who does not protect his subjects but devours them, will sink low after death.

310 Let him carefully restrain the wicked by three methods, by imprisonment, by putting them in fetters, and by various kinds of corporal punishments.

311 For by punishing the wicked and by favouring the virtuous, kings are constantly purified, just as devout men by offerings made in God's name.

312 A king who desires his own welfare must always forgive litigants, infants, aged and sick men, who inveigh against him.

313 He who, being abused by men in pain, pardons them, will in reward of that act be exalted in the Garden; but he who, proud of his kingly state, forgives them not, will for that reason sink into Hell.

314 A thief shall, running, approach the king, with flying hair, confessing that theft and saying, "Thus have I done, punish me;"

315 And he must carry on his shoulder a pestle, or a club of Khadira wood, or a spear sharp at both ends, or an iron staff.

316 Whether he be punished or pardoned, the thief is freed from the guilt of theft; but the king, if he punishes not, takes upon himself the guilt of neglecting justice.

318 But men who have committed crimes and have been punished by the king, if they have repented, go to the Garden, being pure like those who performed meritorious deeds.

319 He who steals the rope or the water-pot from a well, or damages a hut where water is distributed, shall pay one masha as a fine and restore the article abstracted or damaged in its proper place.

320 On him who steals more than ten kumbhas of grain corporal punishment shall be inflicted; in other cases he shall be fined eleven times as much, and shall pay to the owner the value of his property.

321 So shall corporal punishment be inflicted for stealing more than a hundred palas of articles sold by the weight, that is, of gold, silver, and so forth, and of most excellent clothes.

322 For stealing more than fifty palas it is enacted that the hands of the offender shall be cut off; but in other cases, let him inflict a fine of eleven times the value.

323 For stealing men of noble family and especially women and the most precious gems, the offender deserves corporal or capital punishment.

324 For stealing large animals, weapons, or medicines, let the king fix a punishment, after considering the time and the purpose for which they were destined.

325 For stealing cows, for piercing the nostrils of a barren cow, and for stealing other cattle, the offender shall forthwith lose half his foot.

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

327 Vessels made of bamboo or other cane, salt of various kinds, earthen vessels, earth and ashes,

328 Fish, birds, oil, clarified butter, meat, honey, and other things that come from beasts,

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

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

331 For husked grain, vegetables, roots, and fruit the fine shall be one hundred panas if there is no connexion between the owner and the thief, fifty panas if such a connexion exists.

332 An offence of this description, which is committed in the presence of the owner and with violence, will be robbery; if it is committed in his absence, it will be theft; likewise if the possession of anything is denied after it has been taken.

333 On that man who may steal any of the above-mentioned articles, when they are prepared for use, let the king inflict the first or lowest amercement; likewise on him who may steal a fire out of the room in which it is kept.

334 With whatever limb a thief in any way commits an offence against men, even of that the king shall deprive him in order to prevent a repetition of the crime.

335 Neither a father, nor a teacher, nor a friend, nor a mother, nor a wife, nor a son, nor a domestic counsellor must be left unpunished by a king, if they do not keep within their duty.

336 Where another common man would be fined one karshapana, the king shall be fined one thousand; that is the settled rule.

337 In a case of theft the guilt of a labourer shall be eightfold, that of a trader sixteenfold, that of a ruler two-and-thirty fold,

338 That of a learned scholar sixty-fourfold, or quite a hundredfold, or even twice four-and-sixtyfold; each of them knowing the nature of the offence.

339 The taking of roots and of fruit from trees, of wood for a fire, and of grass for feeding cows, Manu has declared to be no theft.

340 A scholar, seeking to obtain property from a man who took what was not given to him, either by officiating for him or by teaching him, is even like a thief.

341 A man who is travelling and whose provisions are exhausted shall not be fined, if he takes two stalks of sugar-cane or two esculent roots from the field of another man.

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

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

344 A king who desires to gain high honour in the next world and imperishable eternal fame, shall not, even for a moment, neglect to punish the man who commits violence.

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

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

347 Neither for friendship's sake, nor for the sake of great lucre, must a king let go perpetrators of violence, who cause terror to all creatures.

348 Men may take up arms when they are hindered in the fulfilment of their duties, when destruction threatens the community in evil times,

349 In their own defence, and in order to protect women and the helpless; he who under such circumstances kills in the cause of right, commits no sin.

350 One may slay without hesitation an assassin who approaches with murderous intent, whether he be one's teacher, a child or an aged man, or a scholar deeply versed in the scriptures.

351 By killing an assassin the slayer incurs no guilt, whether he does it publicly or secretly; in that case fury recoils upon fury.

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

353 For by adultery is caused a confusion of lineages among men; thence follows sin, which cuts up even the roots and causes the destruction of everything.

354 A man formerly accused of such offences, who secretly converses with another man's wife, shall pay the first or lowest amercement.

355 But a man, not before accused, who thus speaks with a woman for some reasonable cause, shall not incur any guilt, since in him there is no transgression.

356 He who addresses the wife of another man at a river-landing, outside the village, in a forest, or at the confluence of rivers, shall suffer the punishment for adulterous acts.

357 Offering presents to a woman, romping with her, touching her ornaments and dress, sitting with her on a bed, all these acts are considered adulterous acts.

358 If one touches a woman in a place which ought not to be touched or allows oneself to be touched in such a spot, all such acts done with mutual consent are declared to be adulterous acts.

359 An adulterer ought to suffer a severe punishment for adultery; for the wives of all must always be carefully guarded.

360 Mendicants, bards, men engaged in ritual service, and artisans are not prohibited from speaking to married women.

361 Let no man converse with the wives of others after he has been forbidden to do so; but he who converses with them, in spite of a prohibition, shall be fined one suvarna.

362 This rule does not apply to the wives of actors and singers, nor of those who live on the intrigues of their own wives; for such men send their wives to others or, concealing themselves, allow them to hold criminal intercourse.

363 Yet he who secretly converses with such women, or with female slaves kept by one master, and with female ascetics, shall be compelled to pay a small fine.

364 He who violates an unwilling maiden shall instantly suffer corporal punishment; but a man who enjoys a willing maiden shall not suffer corporal punishment, if they are equal in standing.

366 He who makes love to a maiden shall marry her and give her the dower, if her father consents.

367 But if any man through insolence forcibly contaminates a maiden, two of his fingers shall be instantly cut off, and he shall pay a fine of six hundred panas.

368 A man of equal standing who defiles a willing maiden shall not suffer the amputation of his fingers, but shall pay a fine of two hundred panas in order to deter him from a repetition of the offence.

369 A damsel who pollutes another damsel must be fined two hundred panas, pay the double of her dower, and receive ten lashes with a rod.

370 But a woman who pollutes a damsel shall instantly have her head shaved or two fingers cut off, and be made to ride through the town on a donkey.

371 If a wife, proud of the greatness of her relatives or her own excellence, violates the duty which she owes to her husband, the king shall cause her to be punished with a public flogging in a place frequented by many.

372 Let him cause the male offender likewise to be publicly flogged.

373 On a man once convicted, who is again accused within a year, a double fine must be inflicted; even thus must the fine be doubled for repeated intercourse with a woman of ill repute.

381 No greater crime is known on earth than the unjust slaying of a righteous person; a king, therefore, must not even conceive in his mind the thought of killing the innocent.

386 That king in whose town lives no thief, no adulterer, no defamer, no man guilty of violence, and no committer of assaults, attains the Garden.

387 The suppression of those five in his dominions secures to a king paramount sovereignty among his peers and fame in the world.

388 A man who forsakes the leader of his devotions, and a leader who forsakes the man he serves, each being able to perform his work and not contaminated by grievous crimes, must each be fined one hundred panas.

389 Neither a mother, nor a father, nor a wife, nor a son shall be cast off; he who casts them off, unless guilty of a grievous crime, shall be fined by the king six hundred panas.

390 If men dispute among each other concerning the duty of their stages of life, a king who desires his own welfare should not hastily decide what is the law.

391 Having shown them due honour, he should, with the assistance of scholars, first soothe them by gentle speech and afterwards teach them their duty.

392 A scholar who does not invite his next neighbour and his neighbour next but one, though both be worthy of the honour, to a festival at which twenty scholars are entertained, is liable to a fine of one masha.

393 A learned scholar who does not entertain a virtuous scholar at auspicious festive occasions, shall be made to pay him twice the value of the meal and a masha of gold as a fine to the king.

394 A blind man, an idiot, a cripple who moves with the help of a board, a man full seventy years old, and he who confers benefits on scholars, shall not be compelled by any king to pay a tax.

395 Let the king always treat kindly a learned scholar, a sick or distressed man, an infant and an aged or an indigent man, a man of high birth, and an honourable man.

396 A washerman shall wash the clothes of his employers gently on a smooth board of Salmali-wood; he shall not return the clothes of one person for those of another, nor allow anybody but the owner to wear them.

397 A weaver who has received ten palas of thread, shall return cloth weighing one pala more; he who acts differently shall be compelled to pay a fine of twelve panas.

398 Let the king take one-twentieth of that amount which men, well acquainted with the settlement of tolls and duties and skilful in estimating the value of all kinds of merchandise, may fix as the value for each saleable commodity.

399 Let the king confiscate the whole property of a trader who out of greed exports goods of which the king has a monopoly or the export of which is forbidden.

400 He who avoids a custom-house or a toll, he who buys or sells at an improper time, or he who makes a false statement in enumerating his goods, shall be fined eight times the amount of duty which he tried to evade.

401 Let the king fix the rates for the purchase and sale of all marketable goods, having duly considered whence they come, whither they go, how long they have been kept, the probable profit and the probable outlay.

402 Once in five nights, or at the close of each fortnight, let the king publicly settle the prices for the merchants.

403 All weights and measures must be duly marked, and once in six months let him re-examine them.

404 At a ferry an empty cart shall be made to pay one pana, a man's load half a pana, an animal and a woman one quarter of a pana, an unloaded man one-half of a quarter.

405 Carts laden with vessels full of merchandise shall be made to pay toll at a ferry according to the value of the goods; empty vessels and men without luggage some trifle.

406 For a long passage the boat-hire must be proportioned to the places and times; know that this rule refers to passages along the banks of rivers; at sea there is no settled freight.

407 But a woman who has been pregnant two months or more, an ascetic, a hermit in the forest, and scholars who are students of the scripture, shall not be made to pay toll at a ferry.

408 Whatever may be damaged in a boat by the fault of the boatmen, that shall be made good by the boatmen collectively, each paying his share.

409 This decision in suits brought by passengers holds good only in case the boatmen are culpably negligent on the water; in the case of an accident caused by the decree of God, no fine can be inflicted on them.

410 The king should direct the merchants to trade, to lend money, to cultivate the land, or to tend cattle, and the labouring people to serve the community.

411 Some wealthy scholar shall compassionately support both a warrior and a merchant, if they are distressed for a livelihood, employing them on work suitable for them.

412 But a scholar who, because he is powerful, out of greed makes honourable men against their will do the work of slaves, shall be fined by the king six hundred panas.

418 Let the king carefully compel merchants and labourers to perform the work prescribed for them; for if these two classes swerved from their duties, they would throw this whole world into confusion.

419 Let him daily look after the completion of his undertakings, his beasts of burden, and carriages, the collection of his revenues and the disbursements, his mines and his treasury.

420 A king who thus brings to a conclusion all the legal business enumerated above, and keeps away from wrongdoing, reaches the highest state of bliss.