The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c21.55

v1.c21.55

Civil law is in general discussed in the Sūtras under the head of royal duties; for it is assumed that the king administers justice both civil and criminal. It is his part to pay attention to the special laws of districts, castes (*jāti*), and families, and make the four orders (*varṇas*, castes in a general sense) fulfil their duties. The summary, in the following order, includes punishing those who wander from the path of duty, not injuring trees that bear fruit, guarding against falsification of weights and measures, not taking for his own use the property of his subjects (except as taxes), providing for the widows of his soldiers, exempting from taxation a learned priest, a royal servant, those without protectors, ascetics, infants, very old men, students, widows who have returned to their families, unmarried girls, wives of servants, and *pradattās* (doubtful, perhaps girls promised in marriage); but first and foremost, the king is to protect all in his realm (Vasishṭha, xix, 1–24). This quaint summary of royal duties does not even belong to the early Sūtra period but derives from a text, which in some regards is practically, as it is called, a law-book (Çāstra). It reflects, as do the elaboration of details and additions casually made, the fact that even at this comparatively late period the king was still a small local rāja, not an emperor.