1. That the Indians were apt to yield to the temptation of drink
is asserted by the Greek writers on India, who also mention that,
in spite of the prohibition of their religion, wine was an article
of their import trade. See Lassen, ii. 606; iii. 50, and 345, 346.
2. That the wife should give herself to be burned with the body of
her husband was a very ancient custom, as it is alluded to as such
by the Greek writers on India. Nevertheless it was far from universal.
3. Comp. Mânu, dh. sh. viii. 29, concerning the punishment of the
false witness.
4. Shaving off the hair was reckoned the most degrading of
punishments. (Lassen, vi. 344.)