Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c8.46

c8.46

Caste, which peeps in here, disgracefully vitiated the law on adultery. For example, adultery with an unguarded Brāhmaṇa woman brought on a Kṣatriya the highest amercement, on a Vaiśya confiscation of all his property, and on a Śūdra, death by being burnt alive, wrapped in mats. Adultery with a low-caste woman was punished with degradation to the same level or banishment with an ignominious brand on the forehead. A Śūdra, or a śvapaka, guilty with a female of low caste, received death, while the woman was deprived of her nose and ears. An iniquitous law provided that if an outcast touched The first of these causes is the natural mixture of nations and characters, especially after the settlement of the barbarians in the Roman provinces. The second is the influence of the Christian religion, which, in its primitive purity, was perhaps less favourable to the spirit of conquest than the polytheism of antiquity. If the public faith of the Romans was corrupted by the introduction of foreign superstitions, it may at least be observed that the virtues of the primitive Christians were of a passive and unresisting nature. The third cause is the decay of the arts and sciences, and the general decline of literature, which accompanied the progress of the empire towards its dissolution. The fourth cause is the enormous weight of the public taxes, which exhausted the industry and patience of the people, and rendered them indifferent to the fate of a government which they could no longer support. The fifth cause is the corruption of the military discipline, and the frequent rebellions of the legions, who were more formidable to their own sovereigns than to the enemies of the state. The sixth cause is the weakness and incapacity of the later emperors, who were often the creatures of the court or the army, and who sacrificed the public interest to their own private ambition or security.