Ordeal, Trial By

Trial by ordeal was one of the traditional
means for establishing a person’s guilt or
innocence. Ordeals were considered a
“divine” proof, but could only be used in
cases when human proofs such as evidence or eyewitness testimony were
inadequate or unobtainable. Crimes
committed in secret or in lonely places,
questions of sexual consent, or money
left for deposit were proven by these trials, following a carefully established ritual procedure. The trial could be done in
four different ways: fire, water, balance,
or poison.
The fire ordeal entailed carrying a
red-hot iron ball, licking a red-hot plowshare, or removing a ring or coin from a
vessel of boiling oil, with guilt or innocence established by whether or not one
was burned. The water ordeal entailed
remaining underwater for a specified
length of time, with guilt determined by
the inability to do so. The balance ordeal
was done by successive weighings, with
the conviction that a guilty person
would become progressively heavier.
The poison ordeal was performed either
by consuming poison, or by safely
removing a coin from an earthen pot
containing a cobra; innocence was
established by surviving.
There were fairly strict prescriptions
governing which of these ordeals certain
people were allowed to perform.
Women, the elderly, and the infirm were
subjected to the test of balance; brahmins were generally forbidden from
undertaking ordeal by poison. In every
case the actual ordeal was preceded by
the person proclaiming his or her innocence, followed by declarations praising
the saving power of truth and the
damning force of untruth. Historians
speculate that these required declarations helped make the ordeal more reliable. For instance, in the ordeal of
licking a red-hot plowshare, a guilty person might be significantly more nervous
and thus have less moisture on the
tongue. Similarly, the nervousness during the water ordeal may have impeded
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Ordeal, Trial By
a person’s ability to hold his breath.
Whether or not these speculations have
any merit, the most important feature in
the original Hindu context was the belief
in the power of truth itself.