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400
LAWS OF MANU.
IX, 324.
324. Thus conducting himself (and) ever intent on (discharging) his royal duties, a king shall order all his servants (to work) for the good of his people.
325. Thus the eternal law concerning the duties of a king has been fully declared; know that the following rules apply in (due) order to the duties of Vaisyas and Sudras.
326. After a Vaisya has received the sacraments and has taken a wife, he shall be always attentive to the business whereby he may subsist and to (that of) tending cattle.
327. For when the Lord of creatures (Pragâpati) created cattle, he made them over to the Vaisya ; to the Brâhmana, and to the king he entrusted all created beings.
328. A Vaisya must never (conceive this) wish, 'I will not keep cattle;' and if a Vaisya is willing (to keep them), they must never be kept by (men of) other (castes).
329. (A Vaisya) must know the respective value of gems, of pearls, of coral, of metals, of (cloth) made of thread, of perfumes, and of condiments.
330. He must be acquainted with the (manner of) sowing of seeds, and of the good and bad qualities of fields, and he must perfectly know all measures and weights.
331. Moreover, the excellence and defects of commodities, the advantages and disadvantages of (different countries, the (probable) profit and loss on merchandise, and the means of properly rearing cattle.
332. He must be acquainted with the (proper)
326. Regarding the business whereby a Vaisya may subsist," see below, X, 77-78.
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