The wicked, therefore, should not be uprooted. The extermination of the wicked is not quite of a piece with eternal practice. By punishing them gently, by depriving them of all their riches, by chains and imprisonment, by disfiguring them they may be made to expiate their offences. Their relatives should not be punished by the infliction of capital sentences on them. If in the presence of the priest and others, they give themselves up to him from desire of protection, and swear, saying,-0 Brahmana, we shall never again commit any sin,-they would then be discharged without any punishment. This is command of the Creator himself. Even the Brahmana who puts on a deer-skin and the wand and has his head shaved, should be punished.