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Vishnu-smriti (Vishnu sutra / Vaishnava Dharmasâstra)
Ordeals
IX.1
1. Now follows (the rule regarding) the performance of ordeals.
2. In cases of a criminal action directed against the king, or of violence2 (they may be administered) indiscriminately.
3. In cases of (denial of) a deposit or of (alleged.)
theft or robbery they must be administered each according to the value (of the property claimed).
4. In all such cases the value (of the object claimed) must be estimated in gold.
5. Now if its value amounts to less than one Krishnala, a Sûdra must be made to swear by a blade of Dûrvâ grass, (which he must hold in his hand);
6. If it amounts to less than two Krishnala, by a blade of Tila;
7. If it amounts to less than three Krishnala, by a blade of silver;
8. If it amounts to less than four Krishnala, by a blade of gold;
9. If it amounts to less than five Krishnala, by a lump of earth taken from a furrow;
10. If it amounts to less than half a Suvarna, a Sûdra must be made to undergo the ordeal by sacred libation;
11. If it exceeds that amount, (the judge must administer to him) any one of the (other) ordeals, viz. the ordeal by, the balance, by fire, by water, or by poison, considering duly (the season, &c.)
12. If the amount (of the matter in contest) is twice as high (as in each of the last-mentioned cases), a Vaisya must (in each case) undergo that ordeal which has (just) been ordained (for a Sûdra);
13. A Kshatriya (must undergo the same ordeals), if the amount is thrice as high;
14. A Brâhmana, if it is four times as high. He is, however, not subject to the ordeal by sacred libation.
15. No judge must administer the (ordeal by) sacred libation to a Brâhmana;
16. Except if it be done as a preliminary proof of his dealing fairly in some future transaction.
17. Instead of (administering the ordeal by) sacred libation to a Brâhmana (in suits regarding an object, the value of which amounts to less than two Suvarnas), let the judge cause him to swear by a lump of earth taken from a furrow.
18. To one formerly convicted of a crime (or of perjury) he must administer one of the ordeals, even though the matter in contest be ever so trifling.
19. But to one who is known (and esteemed) among honest men and virtuous, he must not (administer any ordeal), even though the matter in contest be ever so important.
20. The claimant must declare his willingness to pay the fine (which is, due in case of his being defeated);
21. And the defendant must go through the ordeal.
22. In cases of a criminal action directed against the, king, or of violence (an ordeal may be administered) even without (the claimant) promising to pay the fine (due in case of defeat in ordinary suits).
23. To women, Brâhmanas, persons deficient in an organ of sense, infirm (old) men, and sick persons, the (ordeal by the) balance must be administered.
24. But it must not be administered to them while a wind is blowing.
25. The (ordeal by) fire must not be administered to lepers, to infirm persons, or to blacksmiths;
26. Nor must it ever be administered in autumn or summer.
27. The (ordeal by) poison must not be administered to lepers, bilious persons, or Brâhmanas;
28. Nor during the rainy season.
29. The (ordeal by) water must not be administered to persons afflicted with phlegm or (another) illness, to the timid, to the asthmatic, nor to those who gain their subsistence from water (such as fishermen and the like);3
30. Nor during (the two cold seasons) Hemanta and Sisira (or from middle of November to middle of March);
31. The (ordeal by) sacred libation must not be administered to atheists;
32. Nor when the country is afflicted with disease or pestilence.4
33. Let the judge summon the defendant at the time of sunrise, after having, fasted on the previous day and bathed in his clothes, and make him go through all the ordeals in the presence of (images of) the gods and of the (assessors and other) Brâhmanas.
X.5
1. Now follows the (rule regarding the ordeal by) balance.
2; The transverse beam, by which the balance is to be suspended, should be fastened upon two posts, four Hastas above the ground (each), and should be made two Hastas long.6
3. The beam of the balance should be made of strong wood (such as that of the Khadira or Tinduka trees), five Hastas long, and the two scales must be suspended on both sides of it, (and the whole suspended upon the transverse beam by means of an iron hook).7
4. A man out of the guild of goldsmiths, or of braziers, should make it equal on both sides.8
5. Into the one scale the person (who is to be tried by this ordeal) should be placed, and a stone (or earth or bricks) or some other (equivalent) of the same weight into the other.
6. The equivalent and the man having been made equal in weight and (the position of the scales) well marked, the man should be caused to descend from the balance.9
7. Next (the judge) should adjure by (the following) imprecations the balance
8. And the person appointed to look after the weighing:
9. Those places of torture which have been prepared for the murderer of a Brâhmana, or for a false witness, the same places are ordained for a who person appointed to look after the weighing, who acts fraudulently in his office.
10. 'Thou, O balance (dhata), art called by the same name as holy law (dharma); thou, O balance, knowest what mortal., do not comprehend.
11. 'This man, being arraigned in a cause, is weighed upon thee. Therefore mayest thou deliver him lawfully from this perplexity.'
12. Thereupon the judge should have him placed, into the one scale again. If he rises in it, he is freed from the charge according to law.
13. In case of the strings bursting, or of the splitting of the transverse beam, the man should be placed in the scale once more. Thus the facts will be ascertained positively, and a just sentence be the result.
XI.10
1. Now follows the (rule regarding the ordeal by) fire.
2. He must make seven circles, sixteen Angulas in breadth each, the intervals being of the same breadth.11
3. Thereupon he must place seven leaves of the holy fig-tree into the hands of the person (about to perform the ordeal), who must turn his face towards the east and stretch out both arms.12
4. Those (leaves) and his hands he must bind together with a thread.13
5. Then he must place into his hands a ball made of iron, red-hot, fifty Palas in weight, and smooth.
6. Having received this, the person must proceed through the (seven) circles, without either walking at a very hurried pace, or lingering on his way.
7. Finally, after having passed the seventh circle, he must put down the ball upon the ground.
8. That man whose hands are burnt ever so little, shall be deemed guilty; but if he remains wholly unburnt, he is freed from the charge.
9. If he lets the ball drop from fear, or if there exists a doubt as to whether he is burnt or not, let him take the ball once more, because the proof has not been decided.
10. At the beginning (of the whole ceremony) the judge shall cause the person to rub some rice in his hands, and shall mark (with red sap, or the like, the already existing scars, eruptions of the skin, &c., which will thus have become visible). Then the judge, after having addressed the iron ball (with the following prayer), shall place it in his hands: 'Thou, O fire, dwellest in the interior of all creatures, like a witness. O fire, thou knowest what mortals do not comprehend.
12. 'This man being arraigned in a cause, desires to be cleared from guilt. Therefore mayest thou deliver him lawfully from this perplexity.'
XII.14
1. Now follows the (rule regarding the ordeal by) water.
2. (The defendant must enter) water which is free from mud, aquatic plants, (crabs and other) vicious animals, (porpoises or other) large rapacious animals living in water, fish, leeches, and other (animals or plants),
3. The water having been addressed with the Mantras (mentioned hereafter), he must enter it, seizing the knees of another man, who must be free from friendship or hatred, and must dive into the water up to his navel.
4. At the same time another man must discharge an arrow from a bow, which must neither be too strong nor too weak.
5. That arrow must be fetched quickly by another man.
6. He who is not seen above the water in the mean time is proclaimed innocent. But in the contrary case he is (declared) guilty, even though one limb of his only has become visible.
7. 'Thou, O water, dwellest in the interior of all creatures, like a witness. O water, thou knowest what mortals do not comprehend.
8. 'This man being arraigned in a cause, desires to be cleared from guilt. Therefore mayest thou deliver him, lawfully from this perplexity.'
XIII.15
Now follows the (rule regarding the ordeal by) poison.
2. All (other) sorts of poison must be avoided (in administering this ordeal),
3. Except poison from the Sringa tree, which grows on the Himâlayas.
4. (Of that) the judge must give seven grains, mixed with clarified butter, to the defendant (while reciting the prayer hereafter mentioned).
5. If the poison is digested easily, without violent symptoms, he shall recognise him as innocent, and dismiss him at the end of the day.
6. 'On account of thy venomous and dangerous nature thou art destruction to all living creatures; thou, O poison, knowest what mortals, do not comprehend.
7. 'This man being arraigned in a cause, desires to be cleared from guilt. Therefore mayest thou deliver him lawfully from this perplexity.'
XIV.16
1. Now follows the (rule regarding the ordeal by) sacred libation.
2. Having invoked terrible deities (such as Durgâ, the Âdityas or others, the defendant) must drink three handfuls of water in which (images of) those deities have been bathed,
3. Uttering at the same time the words, 'I have not done this,' with his face turned towards the deity (in question).
4. He to whom (any calamity) happens within a fortnight or three weeks (such as an illness, or fire, or the death of a relative, or a heavy visitation by the king),
5. Should be known to be guilty; otherwise (if nothing adverse happens to him), he is freed from the charge. A just king should honour (with presents of clothes, ornaments, &c.) one who has cleared himself from guilt by an ordeal.
Footnotes
1. 2. Y. II, 96, 99.--II. M. VIII, 114, 115; Y. II, 95.--20-22. Y. II, 95, 96, 99.--23. Y. II, 98.--33. Y. II, 97. The whole section on ordeals (IX-XIV) agrees very closely with the corresponding section of the Institutes of Nârada (5, 107-9, 8).
2. See VIII, 2, note.
3. Nand. infers from a text of Nârada (not found in his Institutes), that the plural is made use of in this Sûtra in order to include women, children, sickly, old, and feeble persons.
4. According to Nand., the particle ka is used here in order to include fire, wind, grasshoppers, and other plagues.
5. 5, 6. Y. II, 100.
6. One Hasta, 'cubit,' the modern 'hath,' equals two Vitasti, 'spans,' and 24 Angulas, 'digits,' the modern Angul. See Prinsep, Useful Tables, p. 122.
7. See the plate of balance, according to the statements of Indian legislators, in Professor Stenzler's Essay, 'Über die ind. Gottesurtheile,' journal of the German Oriental Society, IX.
8. Nand. infers from the use of the plural number and from a passage of Pitâmaha and Nârada (see the Institutes of the latter, 5, 122), that merchants may also be appointed for this purpose.
9. Nand. refers the term sukihnitau kritvâ to the man and to the equivalent, both having to be marked 'with the king's seal or in some other way, in order that no one may suspect the weight of the equivalent or of the man to have been increased or lessened by the addition or removal of other objects, or of clothes, ornaments, and the like.' 'Others' explain the term in the way in which it has been rendered above.
10. 2-9. Y. II, 103, 105-107.--11. Y. II, 104.
11. See X, 2, note.
12. Nand. takes the term tatah, 'thereupon,' to imply that he {footnote p. 58} must previously examine the hands of the person about to perform the ordeal and mark existing scars or eruptions of the skin, as prescribed in Sûtra 10.
13. The particle ka implies, according to Nand., that he must further place seven Samî leaves, unbroken grains, Dûrvâ leaves, and grain smeared with sour milk upon his hands, as ordained in a passage of Pitâmaha.
14. 3-6. Y. II, 108, 109.
15. 3, 5-7. Y. II, 110, 111.
16. 2, 4, 5. Y. II, 112, 113.
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