arguments; fince from those two proceeds the ⚫ whole system of duties.

II. 'Whatever man of the three highest

claffes, having addicted himself to heretical books, fhall treat with contempt those two 'roots of law, he must be driven, as an Atheist ⚫ and a scorner of revelation, from the company ' of the virtuous.

12. The fcripture, the codes of law, ap'proved usage, and, in all indifferent cafes, ' self-satisfaction, the wife have openly declared ⚫ to be the quadruple defcription of the juridical system.

13. A knowledge of right is a fufficient in'centive for men unattached to wealth or to fenfuality; and to those who seek a knowledge of right, the fupreme authority is divine re' velation ;

14. But, when there are two facred texts • apparently inconfiftent, both are held to be law; 'for both are pronounced by the wife to be valid ' and reconcileable;

15. Thus in the Véda are these texts: "let the facrifice be when the fun has arifen," and, 'before it has rifen," and, "when neither fun nor ftars can be feen:" the facrifice, therefore, may be performed at any or all of those

16. He, whofe life is regulated by holy 'texts, from his conception even to his funeral pile, has a decided right to study this code; but ' no other man whatsoever.

17. BETWEEN the two divine rivers Saraf wati and Dhr fhadwati lies the tract of land, ' which the fages have named Brahmáverta, be'cause it was frequented by Gods:

18. The custom, preferved by immemorial ⚫ tradition in that country, among the four pure claffes, and among those which are mixed, is • called approved usage.

19.

Curucfbétra, Matfya, Panchála, or Cányacubja, and Súraféna, or Mat'burà, form the region, called Brahmarshi, distinguished from • Brahmáverta:

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20. From a Bráhmen, who was born in that 'country, let all men on earth learn their feveral ufages.

21. 'That country, which lies between Himawat and Vindhya, to the east of Vinas'ana, and to the west of Prayága, is celebrated by the title of Medhya-défa, or the central region.

22. As far as the eastern, and as far as the 'western, oceans between the two mountains 'just mentioned, lies the tract, which the wise have named Ariáverta, or inhabited by refpect• able men.

23. • That land, on which the black antelope

'naturally grazes, is held fit for the performance of facrifices; but the land of Mlech'has, or • those who speak barbarously, differs widely from

it.

24. Let the three first claffes invariably 'dwell in thofe before-mentioned countries; but a Súdra, diftreffed for fubfiftence, may fojourn

' wherever he chufes.

25. Thus has the origin of law been fuccinctly declared to you, together with the formation of this univerfe: now learn the laws of the feveral claffes.

26. WITH auspicious acts prescribed by the Véda, muft ceremonies on conception and fo 'forth, be duly performed, which purify the

⚫ bodies of the three claffes in this life, and qualify them for the next.

27. By oblations to fire during the mother's pregnancy, by holy rites on the birth of the child, by the tonfure of his head with a lock

of hair left on it, by the ligation of the facri'ficial cord, are the feminal and uterine taints of 'the three claffes wholly removed :

28. By studying the Véda, by religious ob'fervances, by oblations to fire, by the ceremony ' of Traividia, by offering to the Gods and Manes, by the procreation of children, by the great facraments, and by folemn facrifices,

• five

⚫ this human body is rendered fit for a divine state.

29. Before the fection of the navel string a ceremony is ordained on the birth of a male:

he must be made, while facred texts are pro'nounced, to taste a little honey and clarified 'butter from a golden spoon.

30. Let the father perform or, if abfent, caufe 'to be performed, on the tenth or twelfth day after the birth, the ceremony of giving a name; or on fome fortunate day of the moon, at a lucky hour, and under the influence of a star with good qualities.

31. The first part of a Bráhmen's compound name should indicate holiness; of a Cshatriya's, power; of a Vaifya's, wealth; and of a Súdra's,

contempt:

32. Let the fecond part of the priest's name imply profperity; of the foldier's, preservation; of the merchant's, nourishment; of the fervant's, humble attendance.

33. The names of women fhould be agreeable, foft, clear, captivating the fancy, aufpicious, ending in long vowels, resembling words ' of benediction.

34. In the fourth month the child should be carried out of the house to see the sun: in the 'fixth month, he should be fed with rice; or that may be done, which, by the cuftom of the family, is thought most propitious.

35. By the command of the Véda, the cere

mony

of tonfure fhould be legally performed 'by the three firft claffes in the first or third ' after birth.

year

36. In the eighth year from the conception of a Bráhmen, in the eleventh from that of a Chatriya, and in the twelfth from that of a Vaifya, let the father inveft the child with the 'mark of his class:

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37.

• Should a Brahmen, or his father for him, 'be defirous of his advancement in facred knowledge, a Chatriya of extending his power, or 'a Vaifya of engaging in mercantile business, 'the inveftiture may be made in the fifth, sixth, 'or eighth years respectively.

38. The ceremony of inveftiture hallowed 'by the gayatri must not be delayed, in the case ' of a priest, beyond the fixteenth year; nor, ' in that of a foldier, beyond the twenty-fecond; ' nor in that of a merchant, beyond the twenty' fourth.

39.

After that, all youths of thefe three claffes, "who have not been invested at the

proper time, 'become vrátyas, or outcafts, degraded from the 'gayatri, and contemned by the virtuous:

40. • With fuch impure men, let no Bráhmen, even in distress for fubfiftence, ever form a 'connexion in law, either by the study of the Véda, or by affinity.

41. Let ftudents in theology wear for