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A STUDY IN KARMA
nature of things. In spite of his autocracy, he is bound by the supreme Law, which will crush him if he disregards it. Weakness oppressed is said to be the most fatal enemy of Kings; the tears of the weak sap the foundation of thrones, and the suffering of the nation destroys the ruler. The physical and the super-physical worlds in. terpenetrate each other, and causes set going in the one bring about results in the other. The King and his Council in ancient India made the laws of the State, but these were artificial, not natural, laws: they were binding on the subjects, and were enforced by penalties, but such laws differ wholly from natural law. It seems a pity that one word should be used for two things so different as natural and artificial laws, yet they are clearly distinguishable by their characteristics.
Artificial laws are changeable : those who make them can alter them or
