The law of slander is carefully laid down.

Crimes of violence are also minutely described, and here the _Lex Talionis_ comes in.

If a man strikes a human being or an animal so as to inflict much pain, he shall be struck himself in the same way.

A man is allowed to correct with a small stick his wife, son, or servant, but not on the head or any noble part of the body.

The Brahmans, however, are protected by special laws.
"Never shall the king flay a Brahman, though convicted of all possible crimes: let him banish the offender from his realm, but with all his property secure and his body unhurt." "No greater crime is known on earth than flaying a Brahman; and the king, therefore, must not even form in his mind the idea of killing a priest." The Ninth Book relates to women, to families, and to the law of castes.