He who
without adequate cause, casts off his sire or mother or preceptor, surely
becomes fallen, O thou of Kuru's race, as the conclusion is of the
scriptures. Only food and clothes should be given, as the injunction is,
unto a wife guilty of adultery or one confined in a prison. Indeed, the
vows that are laid down for a male person guilty of adultery should be
caused to be observed by also a woman who is guilty of the same. That
woman who abandoning a husband of a superior caste, has congress with a
vile person (of a lower order), should be caused by the king to be
devoured by dogs in a public place in the midst of a large concourse of
spectators.[478] A wise king should cause the male person committing
adultery under such circumstances to be placed upon a heated bed of iron
and then, placing faggots underneath, burn the sinner thereon. The same
punishment, O king, is provided for the woman that is guilty of adultery.
The wicked sinner who does not perform expiation within a year of the
commission of the sin incurs demerit that is double of what attaches to
the original sin. One who associates with such a person for two years
must wander over the earth, devoting himself to penances and living upon
eleemosynary charity. One associating with a sinner for four years should
adopt such a mode of life for five years. If a younger brother weds
before his elder brother, then the younger brother, the elder brother and
the woman that is married, all three, in consequence of such wedding,
become fallen.
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