Reading section 11

[Footnote 90: Manu, ch. 8, sl. 37, 38.]

[Footnote 91: The Commentator explains--of the whole world!]

[Footnote 92: _i. e._ by any other than the monarch or a _learned_ brahman. (_M._)]

[Footnote 93: The Commentator (referring to Vasishtha and Gautama) reads this,--the finder shall take a sixth, the monarch the residue--such being the converse of the plain language used.]

[Footnote 94: Manu ch. 8, sl. 40: in which, to the monarch who fails to make restitution is imputed the guilt of the thief. Sir Wm. Jones' translation of this passage is too indefinite.]

[Footnote 95: _i. e._ The brahman borrower gives two hundredths, the kshattriya three hundredths, &c. (_M._) But Jagannat'ha, in his Digest (Colebrooke, B. 1, c. 1, s. 28) interprets the text inversely, _viz._ the brahman creditor takes two _suvarnas_ in a hundred, the kshattriya three, and so on. Manu, ch. 8, sl. 140-142.]

[Footnote 96: where there is risk of life or property. (_M._)]

[Footnote 97: as well brahmans as others, (_M._) Manu ch. 8, sl. 157.]

[Footnote 98: _scil._ Notwithstanding the above provisions of the law, where nothing is expressly stipulated, whatever interest is contracted for must be given and taken.]

[Footnote 99: oil, ghee, &c. (_M._)]

[Footnote 100: Manu enumerates five modes of enforcing or recovering a debt; persuasion, law-suits, artifice, worrying, force: ch. 8, sl. 49.]

[Footnote 101: as a fine. (_M._)]

[Footnote 102: to defray the cost of adjudication. (_M._)]

[Footnote 103: This includes one of equal cast (_M._) Manu ch. 8, sl. 177; also ch. 9, sl. 229.]

[Footnote 104: in conformity with the usages of his class. (_M._)]

[Footnote 105: This includes every debtor of superior cast to the creditor. (_M._)]

[Footnote 106: This rule of course (as observed by the Commentator) includes the head or manager of the family himself, if alive. Manu, ch. 8, sl. 166.]

[Footnote 107: for drinking. (_M._)]

[Footnote 108: _e.g._ what is promised to a flatterer, a mountebank, a panegyrist, a prize-fighter, &c. (_M._) Manu ch. 8, sl. 159.]

[Footnote 109: The Commentator explains this to mean, an acknowledgment by the husband on his death-bed or when about to go abroad.]

[Footnote 110: Colebrooke's translation of this passage adds "or son," but this is unauthorised either by the text or the Commentary.]

[Footnote 111: The Commentator adduces in illustration, his being afflicted with incurable disease.]

[Footnote 112: and this, notwithstanding they are wholly without patrimony or estate derived from their father. (_M._)]

[Footnote 113: that there is such a debt.]

[Footnote 114: capable of inheriting and managing. (_M._)]

[Footnote 115: _i. e._ marries.]

[Footnote 116: This is the reading sanctioned by the Commentator, _viz._ _putro' nanya'sritadravyah_, signifying, that, on failure of those before designated, a son who would be otherwise incapable, by reason of blindness, &c. is to be deemed capable. Another reading may be, as suggested by the Commentator, _putro nu'aya'sritadraoyah_, "not the son whose paternal estate another holds," which is adopted by Colebrooke, and by his author, Jagannat'ha, (Dig. B. 1, ch. 5, s. 171)]

[Footnote 117: _e.g._ "Give such a one money, he will not deceive you; he is the son of such a one." (_M._)]

[Footnote 118: "If he do not pay, I will." (_M._)]

[Footnote 119: Manu ch. 8, sl. 160-162.]

[Footnote 120: metaphorically in the original "If all stand under the same shade:" The Commentator explains.]

[Footnote 121: lit. "publicly."]

[Footnote 122: as of a field, garden, &c. (_M._) Manu, ch. 8, sl. 143.]

[Footnote 123: fire, water, &c. (_M._)]

[Footnote 124: The Commentator excludes from this exception a culpable act of the monarch, but the text is general.]

[Footnote 125: Even though there be a written memorial of the pledge, and attested; yet, without actual acceptance and possession, it is incomplete. (_M._)]

[Footnote 126: _charitrabandhakam. charitra_ (the mode or the subject of pledge) is defined by the Commentator to be either, moral worth, or, the merit earned by performance of religious rites, such as ablution in the Ganges, &c. We have rendered it as the mode, not subject, of pledge. See Jagannat'ha's Digest (Colebrooke), Bk. 1, ch. 3, sec. 2, text cxxiv.]

[Footnote 127: Receiving on one's plighted word (_satyankara_) signifies, borrowing on a solemn promise to repay. The application is,--where, at the time of handing over the pledge, it was expressly declared by the debtor, that the loan should be repaid, even if increased to two-fold the original sum, and the pledge not abandoned; in such case also, the debtor should be made to repay twice the amount of the debt contracted.(_M._)

The Commentator adds another meaning or application of the latter words of this sloka, in which, reciting the first part, _viz._, pledging upon the guarantee of character, or, a pledge of religious merit, he goes on to say--It is here laid down, that one who receives on his word, _scil._ words ratifying a bargain of sale and purchase, &c., for instance, receiving a gold ring, &c., as earnest, shall be made to repay twice the value of the thing so given, on breach of the contract: if the party depositing the ring, &c., break off the bargain, he forfeits what he gave as earnest; if the other party break off, he is to be compelled to refund double the value of the earnest received by him.]

[Footnote 128: punishable as a thief. (_M._)]

[Footnote 129: to one of the family who is a fit person. (_M._)]

[Footnote 130: The Commentator implies, that where the usufruct has done more than this, still the transaction is closed by return of the pledge.]

[Footnote 131: Manu, ch. 8, sl. 180.]

[Footnote 132:90 ibid, sl. 189.]

[Footnote 133: _yachita_, _e.g._ ornaments, clothes, &c. lent on occasion of festivals. (_M._)]

[Footnote 134: _anvahita._ We have followed the Commentator in translating this indefinite term.]

[Footnote 135: This qualification too is the Commentator's. The term used _nyasa_ is simply, a deposit.]

[Footnote 136: which are those given in the presence of (_i. e._ personally to) the depositee. (_M._)]

[Footnote 137: such as gold &c. given to be worked (_M._)]

[Footnote 138: _tapaswi_, the third in rank of the Hindu religious orders.]

[Footnote 139: The four objects of living being, in the creed of the Hindu, virtue, wealth, pleasure, and final liberation of the soul.]

[Footnote 140: Manu, ch. 8, sl. 62, 63.]

[Footnote 141: The terms used are _jati_ and _varna_ which are somewhat ambiguous; but the sense is evidently as rendered, and is so explained by the Commentator. Manu adds,--Women should be witnesses for women, ch. 8, sl. 68.]

[Footnote 142: _i. e._ if the regular and more appropriate witnesses are not available. (_M._)

After sloka 69 the Calcutta edition has the following:--Those learned in the Vedas, ascetics, the aged, devotees, and the like, are incompetent witnesses, because so declared by law; no other ground [of incompetency] is assigned.

We do not insert this additional sloka for the reasons stated in note [79] supra.]

[Footnote 143: of not less than eighty years.(_M._)]

[Footnote 144: possessed of devils. (_M._) The expression used by the Commentator may be also translated--under planetary influence.]

[Footnote 145: which the Commentator explains _nirgranthi prabhritayah_, by which probably are indicated those of the Hindu community who disbelieve the Vedas, _e.g._ the Jains.]

[Footnote 146: the slayer of brahman, and such heinous criminals. (_M._) Manu ch. 11, sl. 54. See Note [155].]