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VIII, 365.
ADULTERY.
317
361. Let no man converse with the wives of others after he has been forbidden (to do so); but he who converses (with them), in spite of a prohibition, shall be fined one suvarna.
362. This rule does not apply to the wives of actors and singers, nor (of) those who live on (the intrigues of) their own (wives); for such men send their wives (to others) or, concealing themselves, allow them to hold criminal intercourse.
363. Yet he who secretly converses with such women, or with female slaves kept by one (master), and with female ascetics, shall be compelled to pay a small fine.
364. He who violates an unwilling maiden shall instantly suffer corporal punishment; but a man who enjoys a willing maiden shall not suffer corporal punishment, if (his caste be) the same (as hers).
365. From a maiden who makes advances to a (man of) high (caste), he shall not take any fine; but her, who courts a (man of) low (caste), let him force to live confined in her house.
361. Yågñ. II, 285.
362. Baudh. II, 4, 3. I translate kârana according to the commentators by actors and singers,' but it may also be the name of a caste which is well known in Western India
363. Female ascetics,' i.e. Rakshakâs (?), Sîlamitras (?), and so torth' (Medh.), or Buddhist nuns' (Gov., Kull., Râgh.). Når. says 'female mendicants.' It deserves to be noted that according to a passage attributed by Gov. and Nar. to Baudhayana, but not found in our text, 'some' permitted even orthodox females to become ascetics. Female ascetics were probably in ancient India as common as they are now, and were considered equally disreputable.
364-368. Yagñ. II, 288.
365. From a maiden,' i. e. from her relatives or guardians' (Medh.). According to Kull. and Nar. the girl is to be fettered, according to Medh, to be guarded by her relatives. The confinement is to last until she is cured of her attachment.
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