The institutes of Vishnu (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1880)

V, 196. CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAW. 41
or even (a Brahnwza) versed in many branches of
sacred knowledge.
190. By killing an assassin who attempts to kill,
whether in public or in private, no crime is com-
mitted by the slayer : fury recoils upon fury.
191. Assassins should be known to be of seven
kinds : such as try to kill with the sword, or with
poison, or with fire, such as raise their hand in
order to pronounce a curse, such as recite a deadly
incantation from the Atharva-veda, such as raise
a false accusation which reaches the ears of the
king,
192. And such as have illicit intercourse with
another man’s wife. The same designation is given
to other (evil-doers) who deprive others of their
worldly fame or of their wealth, or who destroy
religious merit (by ruining pools, or other such acts),
or property (such as houses or fields).
193. Thus I have declared to thee fully, O Earth,
the criminal laws, enumerating at full length the
punishments ordained for all sorts of offences.
194. Let the king dictate due punishments for
other offences also, after having ascertained the
class and the age (of the criminal) and the amount
(of the damage done or sum claimed), and after
having consulted the Brahma^as (his advisers).
195. That detestable judge who dismisses with-
out punishment such as deserve it, and punishes
such as deserve it not, shall incur twice as heavy
a penalty as the criminal himself.
196. A king in whose dominion there exists
neither thief, nor adulterer, nor calumniator, nor
robber, nor murderer, attains the world of Indra.