Indeed, Brahman legislators have painted themselves worse than they really were. In order to point out the vast distinction between themselves and the Sudras, they prescribed monstrous punishments for the latter, which, it is safe to assert, always remained an empty threat, and were meant as a threat only. If a Sudra spoke evil of a virtuous person belonging to one of the first three castes, his tongue was to be cut out, and a Sudra who assumed an equal position with those castes was to be flogged. Similarly we are told that a Sudra who reviled a twice-born man or assaulted him with blows should lose the limb with which he offended; that if he listened to a recitation of the Veda, his ears should be stopped with molten lac or tin; that if he recited the Veda, his tongue should be cut out; and if he remembered Vedic texts, his body should be split in twain.
A Kshatriya abusing a Brahman must pay 100 karshapanas, and one beating a Brahman pays 200 karshapanas. A Vaisya abusing a Brahman is fined 150 karshapanas, and we suppose pays 300 for beating him. But a Brahman has to pay only 50 karshapanas for abusing a Kshatriya, 25 for abusing a Vaisya, and for abusing a Sudra—nothing!
Death or corporal punishment seems to have been the punishment for theft, at least in some cases; and the thief is directed to appear before the king with dishevelled hair, holding a club in his hand, and proclaiming his deed. If the king pardons him and does not slay him or strike him, the guilt falls on the king.
