कल्पान्तरे विश्वासटिप्पन्यः

CHAPTER XIV

ORDEALS

A brief history of ordeals may be get out here. Rg. I. 158. 4-5, wherein 561 the sage Dirghatamas, son of Ucatha, prays that the fire of faggots heaped tenfold may not burn him and that the rivers in which he was thrown bound hand and foot may not engulf him, are regarded by some as a reference to the ordeal of fire and water. Yet in those verses there is probably no reference to ordeals, but to the cruel treatment of Dirghatanas by dūsas headed by Traitana. Rg. III. 53. 22 also, where it 562 is said ‘he beats the axe (or acc. to Sāyana ‘just as the tree is injured by contact with the axe &c.’)’, does not contain a clear or certain reference to the ordeal of holding the heated axe. Atharvaveda 563 II. 12 is held by several Western scholars to contain a reference to the fire ordeal. This also is far from certain, though verse 8 may lend some support to that view $64. The Pancavimśa (or Tāndya ) Brāhmaṇa 14. 6. 6 refers 565 to the story of Vatsa, who was abused by his step-brother that the former was the son of a sūdra woman, against which Vatsa protested, urged that he was a brāhmaṇa, entered fire to prove the truth of his assertion and came out of fire unscathed. This is referred to by Manu VIII, 116. This is probably the earliest

मा मामेधो दशतयश्चितो धाम यहां पद्धस्त्मनि खादतिक्षामनमा गरमयो FRUWAIQTÆT FFATYATTY: 1. I. 158. 4-5. … 562. पर चिदि तपति शिम्भलं चिति श्रति । उखा चिदिन्न येषन्ती मयस्ता #hufat n . III. 53. 22. : - 563. 31 quria T a maria i ufa: quitter TIG TU#

aq 11. 12. 8.

Vide Proceedings of the American Oriental Society, vol. XIII pp. CCXXI-XXVI where, after referring to the views of Ludwig (III. p. 445), Weber (Indische Studien XIIl. p. 164) and Zimmer (Altindische Leben, p. 184) about the mention of the fire ordeal in the above hymn, it is sought to be proved that the hymn refers to re-establishing a soiled reputation and reliance is placed on the Kausikasūtra ( 47. 25 ff) which does not treat it as fire ordeal hymn. .
***** Hujafu foarte # Aur Turiampofe vara पाति। सोबतीतेनानि पवार पतरो मौषमीयानिति । पारसन परसो भतिधेन AuraTOEFT THE WAT I TORAEMTEC 14. 6. 6 …. .362

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and clearest reference in ancient Sanskrit Literature to the fire ordeal. Next comes the reference to holding in the hand the heated head of an axe by a person accused of theft to prove his innocence contained in the Chandogya 566 Upaniṣad VI. 16.1. Ap. Db. S. II. 11. 29. 6 refers to inference and divine proof (quoted above n. 542). In another place (II. 5. 11. 3) Apastamba states that after carefully considering ( the charge before him ) by means of divine proof and questioning ( of witnesses ) the king should get about awarding punishment. Saṅkha-Likhita (n. 552 ) name four ordeals, viz. those of balance, poison, water and holding red-hot iron 567. Manu VIII. 114 mentions only two viz. the holding of fire (i. e, red-hot iron) in the hand or plunging in water, but Nār. IV. 251 states that Manu declared five kinds of ordeals. Yāj. II. 95, Viṣṇu Dh. S. IX-XIV and Nār. IV. 252 mention five viz. balance, fire, water, poison and kośa ( consecrated water ). Narada, however, knew two more viz. taptamāṣa (IV. 343) and tandula (IV. 337). Bphaspati (S. B. E. vol. 33 p. 315 Verses 4 and 5 ) and Pitāmaha speak of nine ( Apararka pp. 628, 694 respectively ).

Yaj. II. 95-113, Viṣṇu Dh. S. IX-XIV, Nār. IV. 239-348. Kāt. 411-461, Sukra IV. 5. 233,270 treat of the several ordeals Pitamaha contained, as the quotations from the digests show, the most elaborate treatment. That ordeals had attained great vogue in the early centuries of the Christian era is shown by the “Mṛcchakatika Act IX. 43 (where the ordeals of poison, water, balance and fire are expressly named) and by Bāṇa who mentions the same four in Kādambari, para 47 568 Among the digests and commentaries the Mitākṣarā, the Smṛticandrikā, the Divyatattva of Raghunandana, the Vyavahāramayukha and the Vyavahāraprakāśa contain the most elaborate treatment of ordeals 569

The T ara Fagarria agar a पदि तप कर्ता भपति तत पावतमाला कुरुते सोऽवताभिसन्धोऽवनात्मानमतीय परणं

E SETKI Tarsuri uran VI. 16. 1.

UTOT WASTEGHET AT Freur fut I Y. q. by stare 628; Martin निषद रवि कोशच पक्षमः । षठं चमणुला प्रोक्त ससम समाषकम् । अहम फाल foresti *** *** ETI Porta . by U p 694; the same verses aro quoted as r efer’s in ferro p. 574 and re. #. p. 45.
बनकरिणा पारिप्रवेशः …… प्रतिमाममिधारण प्रदाणी तलारोहणमगस्पोदये RE t para 47.
Those interested in the further study of ordeals may consult my translation of and notes on the Vyavahāramayūkha.

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Divya is defined as that which decides a matter (in dispute) not determined by human means of proof ‘(V. Mayukha ) or ’that which decides what cannot be or is not to be decided by human means of proof’ (Divyatattva 570 p. 574). Medhātithi on Manu VII. 116 discusses the question how ordeals can be relied upon for the discovery of truth. The objection is raised that fire and water are natural forces that act in a uniform way and are not intelligent beings which may change their minds by an appeal to them. Therefore, the objector says, ordeals and oaths are like magic and are only meant to frighten the parties into telling the truth. It is further objected that thieves may (by some trick) not be burnt in the fire ordeal and good men are seen to suffer. burns. The reply is: the usefulness of ordeals cannot be negatived by these examples of failures, as they are not frequent and as even direct perception and in ference sometimes lead to uncertain results. No one, however, says that these latter should not be relied upon. Just as one relies on witnesses in deciding a matter (who may for aught one knows be telling lies), 80 reliance can be placed on ordeals. Where there is failure in case of ordeals, it must be held to be due to the results of the performer’s actions in past lives. The general rule as stated by Yāj. II. 2%, Nār. II. 29, IV. 239, Bphas pati 571, Kāt. ( 217 ) and Pitāmaha is that ordeals were to be resorted to only if no human evidence (witnesses, documents, possession) or circumstantial evidence was available. Kāt. (218-219) prescribes that 572 if one party relies on human means of proof and the other on divine proof, the king (or judge ) is to accept human means and not divine and that if human means of proof reach (i.e. are able to establish ) only a part of the allegations (in the plaint), then human means should be accepted and no divine modes of proof, even though they may be complete ( i.e. completely cover all allegations ). When Nār. II. 30 ( = IV. 241 ) states that divine’ means of proof are to be resorted to when a transaction takes place in a forest, in

तर मापमाणानिणेयस्यापि निर्णायकं यत्साहिग्यनिवि लोकप्रसिद्धम् । अपिना ATOSTATTFITUR TEETH T erata mai mare p. 574.
FATIA are rare printing in 27.4. p. 169; ** Ariarat arat anaali va fer u. in frigo II. p. 51; plia vita विषादेत साक्षिणां नास्ति सम्भवः । साहसेषु विशेषेण तव दिल्यानि दापयेत् । पियामह in

ao II. p. 95. .572. योको माषी भूपादन्यो प्रयासु दैनिकीम् । मानुषीं तत्र ग्रहीयादेवी कि सपा ॥ एकदेशपातापि किया रित मानुषी सामाधाम पूर्णापि देविकी पड़ता YTTE TUTO in fhare on op. II. 22 and *. 1. p. 315, a

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trial by ordesit is denied, or whomse, in cases of sūhasa

a lonely place, at night, inside a house, in cages of sūhasa and when a deposit is denied, or when Kāt..(-230 ).prescribes that trial by ordeals is to be resorted to in the case of persons accus ed of committing sūhasa in secret (i.e. by wearing masks &c.), 573 those words only apply where it is impossible to have human evidence. Kāt. (229) states an exception to this viz. when the dispute 574 investigated is about sūhasa or about assault or abuse and defamation and in causes that spring from the use of force there is an option that witnesses or divina proof may be resorted to. Nār. IV. 242 states that divine proof could be resorted to when the chastity of women was in question, in theft and sāhasa and in all cases of the denial of monetary liability. Sita’s ordeal of fire at once comes to mind as an illustration of Nārada’s rule. Bphaspati 575 and Pitāmaha say that in disputes about immoveable property divine. proof should be avoided, which does not forbid divja altogether, but only where the evidence of neighbours or of a document is available and that in the latter case even if the defendant offers to pay a fine if he fails by the divine proof, ditya is not to be resorted to. The ordinary rule was that ordeals were to be administered to the defendant 576 (Kat. 411 =Viṣṇu Dh. S. IX. 21 ). But Yaj. II. 96 gives an option that any one of the two litigants may by mutual agreement undergo an ordeal and the other should agree to pay on defeat a fine or undergo physical punishment. This means that buman proof is adduced to prove a positive proposition, that divine proof may be resorted to prove a negative proposition as well (e. g. a defendant denying the claim for a debt may prove by dirya that he did got borrow a loan). Making an offer to pay a fine or undergo corporal punishment is said to be being sirsakastha 577 or sirastha

TEHERAUTAI P reta: rail et. q. by raat. on . II. 22, fol . II, p. 51.
** #IC#ara giroa

er plage erottiera ATUT! *rur. In fans on up. II. 22, WTAP. 629, fa II. p. 51.

Foratu ituros que viu Taag in har, on T. II. 22, fa II: . 33; #914&T HERE fatemierast fart . q. by TTT p. 629. gr. II.p. 53.
मकश्चिदभियोक्ता दिग्पेषु विनियोजयेत् । अभियुक्ताप दासब्य दिग्य विग्य. fuhr # .9. by s i p. 695, 911. AT. III. 132, 4, 9. p. 172.
On शीर्षकरऽभिषाक्तार (पा. II. 95) the मिता. explains ‘शीर्षक शिरो ग्याहारस्य पतः पादोजपपराजयलक्षणस्तेन च दण्डो लक्ष्यते तत्र तिष्ठतीति शीर्षकरथः my wyruirū: . Siras (bead) indicates the fourth stage of a law-suit via. success or defeat and since fino is imposed on the defeated party, it indicates fing or corporal punishment..

HI)

Employment of the several ordeals

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(in Yaj. 95, Viṣpu Dh. 8. IX. 20, 22, Pitāmaha, Nār. IV. 257, Kat. 412-413). Yaj. IL 95 prescribes that the ordeals of balance, fire, poison and water were to be prescribed in disputes of great value and not elsewhere and in II. 99. he says that all claims above 1000 panas ( of copper ) are to be regarded as of great value, but in charges of treason and of the commit. ting of any one of the five grave sing ( mahāpātakas ) any one of these four ordeals may be resorted to without regard to value and without any offer to pay fine on defeat. So also these four ordeals were to be offered to the defendant where the plaintiff offered to pay a fine on defeat. The ordeal of kosa was allowed in all claims whether of high value or low valne or whether the plaintiff offered to pay a fine on defeat or not.

Yaj. II. 98 states that the ordeal of balance should be given to women, a minor (under 16 ), a very old person (above eighty years), the blind, the cripple, brāhmaṇas and the diseased; the fire ordeal (i. e. heated ploughshare and heated māṣa) to kṣatriyas, water ordeal to vaiśyas, poison to sūdras. Nār. IV. 335 assigns ordeals to the different varṇas similarly. Nār. IV. 256 presoribes that ordeals should not be undergone by those who are observing a vow, who are much distressed or who are performing austerities, and by women. Pitāmaha quoted by Mit. (on Yāj. II. 98) adds minors and old persons to these. The Sm. O. II. p. 103 explains this ag referring to the ordeals of fire, poison and water only. Another Smrti (q. by Mit. on Yāj. II. 98) prescribes that the ordeals of balance and kośamay be offered to women, minors and the others mentioned above. There is in all these rules a spirit of tolerance, kindness and concern for the weaknesses of mankind. Kāt. (423) holds 578 that persons of the higher castes who are cowherds, traders, artisans, bards, domestic servants and usurers should be given ordeals as if they were sūdras. Kāt. (422) allows all ordeals to members of all castes, except that brāhmapas are not to undergo the poison ordeal Kāt. (424-426) prescribes that the ordeal of fire should not be offered to blacksmiths or those who are leprous nor of water to those who ply boats or who suffer from diffi. culty in breathing or cough, nor poison to those who are experts in incantations and yogic practices or who suffer from (excess

nutarimus galeure pour agrante de # FTTT. g. by a P. 698, F. ft. R. 180.

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of) bile or phlegm, nor kosa to those who are drunkards, to persons fond of women, to gamblers and to those who are atheists. Viṣṇu Dh. 8. IX. 25, 29 and Nār. IV. 255, 332 contain similar provisions. Kāt. (427-430) further provides that no ordeal should be allowed to be performed personally by the following persons, viz. those charged with the murder of their father, mother, a brāhmaṇa, their teacher, a minor, a woman and the king; those guilty of the (five) grave sins; particularly those that are atheists; those who wear (or subsist by ) peculiar sect marks; great rogues; those who are experts in incantations and yoga practices; those who are the progeny of unions of persons of different varṇas; those who repeatedly engage in sin; in the case of these the king should offer ordeals to good men appointed by them on their behalf and if such good men are not willing then they should appoint their own relatives. Saṅkha-Likhita also refer to the appointment of friends or relatives as representatives (Aparārka p. 842) 579. Kāt (433) 580 lays down the following rather remarkable pro Vision, viz. when untouchables, men of lowest castes, slaves, mlecchas and those born of mixed unions in the reverse order of the castes are guilty of crimes, the determination of their guilt (by the above mentioned ordeals) should not be made by the king; he should indicate such ordeals as are in vogue among them. The Sm. C. and Par. M. say that this applies

348 at 2: Shand a great sma 242 at P.

H eartfea ferox ’ stuu : FATTATO ar privaat i duratsfūnt or rapporte q. by 3r p. 842.

580.WEETY TATAY or Tutorials ETH Foratet * THAI APATA fata na ang pare sa il frut. q. by far. on . II. 99, Fluo II. p. 104, 07. #r. III. p. 161; MATA na #duarener’ ITETET . 579 ; *.. 180’ TATIA H UITA Fa Frita. In the Gadag Inscription of Vikramaditya VI dated 1098 A, D. (E. I. vol. 15 p. 348 at p. 360 there is this passage “we handle boiling water, we strike with the hand a great snake placed in a jar or we may well mount the balance’. In I. A, vol. 19 p. 242 at p. 246 it is stated in an inscription dated 1208 A, D, of the Mahamandalesvara Kārtavirya IV that Candrika (or Candaladevi), the queen of Laksmidbara of the Rattas of Sugandbavarti (Saundatti) was a pativratā and got success by ghatasarpa na STEUUTI पतिव्रततया देवी चिरं चन्द्रिका संमाता घटसर्पजातविजयं लक्ष्मीधरमेयसी’. The Bombay Gazetteer vol. I part 2. p. 556 a. 5 gives a quotation from the Asiatic Researches vol. I. where the ordeal of putting a riag or coin in a vessel in which a spake bas been already placed and asking a person to take it ont is mentioned. Vide also Report of South Indian Epigraphy for 1924 para 66 for the ordeal of dipping the fingers in boiling ghoe or oil,

Time for administering ordeals

367

only when they cannot secure relatives or other persons appointed by them to undergo the usual ordeals on their behalf. The Vyavahāratattva (p. 579) explains that the ordeals referred to among mlecchas and others are the snake in the jar and the like. This seems to have consisted in taking out a ring or coin with the hand from a jar in which a snake was placed; if there was no snake bite or no effect even if the snake bit, the person was declared innocent. Vide note 580. Yāj. II. 97 and Nār. IV. 268, 320 prescribe that all ordeals are to be administered by the chief justice in the morning at sunrise or in the forenoon in the presence of the king, the sabhyas and brāhmaṇas. The Mit. adds that a Sunday is the proper day according to the usage of respectable people ( śiṣṭas). Pitamaha specially provides that the water ordeal should be administered in the noon and poison in the last watch of the night (Mit. on Yāj. II. 97). Certain seasons and months were either appro priate or inappropriate to certain ordeals e. g. Nār. IV. 254 states that the fire ordeal should be given in the rainy season, balance in the winter ( sisira), water in summer, poison when the season is cool. Nār. IV. 259 prohibits water ordeal in the cold season, fire in summer, poison in the rainy season and balance while the wind blows violently. The Mit. (on Yaj. II. 97) and Par. M. III. 162 quote Pitāmaha to the effeot that the months of Caitra, Vaisakha and Mārgasirsa are common to all ordeals, kośa and balance may be administered in all months.

As regards the place, Pitamaha prescribes that ordeals are to be administered by the king or the judge appointed by the king in the presence of learned brāhmaṇas and the public (or the ministers ) 581 Kat. ( 434-35 and 437 ) provides : 582 ordeals should be administered in some well-known temple in the cage of men accused of grave sins and near the royal gate in the case

प्रत्यक्ष वापपेक्षियं राजा पाधिकतो.प वा । बामणानां शुतवता प्रकृतीना तष yurgare la qT. AT. III. 164, F. it. p. 183.
TIPSPORTATI RETTarifi ant gouri Internat Torera 991 जयेत् ॥ प्रातिलोम्यानाम दियं देवं चतुष्पथे । अतोन्येषु सभामध्ये विन्य देष विधा। भदेशकालदत्तानि पहिर्वासकतानियाभिचारं सदार्थेषु कुर्वन्तीह न संशयः ॥ कारया. in al. (on 91. II. 99), 017. #f. III. 163, para II. p. 105, . . p. 183,

UPUTA reewareware . II. p. 104 and #. f. p. 183 ; ‘77 i TOTEUTY P o . 576; TTT TA’ . 4. p. 182. For the festival of the banner of Indra, vide H. of Db, vol. II. p. 398, 825-826, On refere &c. tbe finere says ‘Referannuated farqarataeftaret ध्याहस एप

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of those charged with treason; in a public place where four roads meet in the case of those bora of mixed unions in the revarse order of castes, in oases other than these in the hall of justice. When ordeals are administered in an improper place or at an improper time and when they are performed outside human habitation (in a lonely place ) they fail as to the matter in hand ( i, e. they cease to be decisive ). Nār. IV. 265 prescribes that the balance should be planted in the hall of justice or at the royal gate or near a temple or where four roads meet.

The procedure common to all ordeals and described in the Mit. on Yāj. II. 97 and 99, the V. May. pp. 52-55, V.P. pp. 183-186 (all relying on Pitāmaha ) and Vyavahāra-nirṇaya pp. 148-53 (relying on Prajāpati, Pitamaha, Br.) is briefly as follows In ordeals the chief justice is to do every thing at the king’s bidding as the adhuuryu priest does in all sacrifices. He should observe a fast and the sodhya (person undergoing the ordeal to clear himself) is also to do the same. Both are to bathe in the morning and the sodhya was to have his wet clothes on. The Chief Judge is to invoke the gods to the accompaniment of music and to offer flowers, sandal-wood paste and incense. He should fold his hands, face the east and invoke Dharma to be present at the ordeal (Dharma being the principal deity in ordeals ) and assign places to Indra, Yama, Varuna and Kubera in the four principal quarters from the east and to Agni and other guardians of quarters in the corners of the principal quarters. He is to contemplate on the eight deities of the eight quarters as having different colours (viz. Indra as yellow, Yama as dark &c.). He is to assign the eight Vasus (repeat ing their names) to the south of Indra, the twelve Adityas (repeating their names) between Indra and Iśāna (i. e, between east and north-east), assign a place to the eleven Rudras to the west of Agni, assign a place to the seven Mother goddesses between Yama and Nirsti ( between south and south west), assign a place to Ganesa to the north of Nirsti, to the Maruts ( seven) to the north of Varuṇa; to the north of the balance (or the place of other ordeals) he should invoke Durgā. All these deities are to be invoked with appropriate Vedic mantras (set out in. V. May.). . He should offer the geveral:items of worship from arghya ( water offered by way of honour) to ornament to Dharma (as the principal deity) and then to the subsidiary deities from Indra to Durgā (according to appropriateness ) and then sandalwood paste, flowers, incense, lamp and naivedya to the deities from Dharma to Durgā. The

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flowers for Dharma are to be red. Up to this is the work of the Chief Justice. Sacrificial priests should offer into fire in the four quarters 108 oblations of clarified butter, boiled rice and fuel sticks with syllable Om and the Gayatri and with ‘Om’ and ‘svāha’ at the end of each. Having written down on a leaf the subject matter for which the party is undergoing ordeal the leaf should be placed on the head of the sodhya with the mantra, 583 ’the sun, the moon, the wind, fire, heaven and earth, waters, the heart, Yama, day and night, the two twi. lights and Dharma know ( see or mark) the deeds of men’.

The several ordeals will now be briefly described.

First comes tula or dhata (balance). A sacrificial tree (such as khadira or udumbara ) should be cut to the accompani ment of vedic mantras ( employed in making a sacrificial post). Two wooden posts made of that tree should support a trans Verse beam (called akṣa ). The posts should be fixed in the ground, the part above ground being four cubits and that below being two cubits. This frame should face the east (i. e. the posts must be in the south and north). Then the beam of the balance was to be made from the same tree and was to be suspended from the transverse beam of the frame by means of a hook. Three iron rings were to be fastened to the beam of the balance, two at the end and one in the middle for suspending the balance from the transverse beam by means of a chain or string. Two scales were to be suspended at the two ends of the beam by hooks and strings from the iron rings fixed at the ends of the beam. On the two sides of the balance there should be two arohes in which the scales should move and whioh should be ten angulas higher than the balance. There should be two perpendicular pendants made of clay hanging down from the arches and touching the upper surface of the balance In the pan to the west the sodhya should be placed and weighed against clay, bricks and stones placed in the other pan. Then traders or goldsmiths or braziers should examine the balance and bring it ott a level with the two pendants hanging down from the arches and examine the perfect horizontality of the

The #rxis SITECTET@orso ahoracat THW I * tif** T F WATTO nama PET THE N r 74, 30. It is to be noted that foamne quoted by the Faate regards this verse of the mind as a Hry and Prajāpati quoted by the Vyavabāranirṇaya p. 153 does the same. Compare for & similar verse Manu VIII, 86.

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beam of the balance by spilling a little water on the beam. When the person sitting in one pan is equal in weight to the materials ( olay &o.) in the other, a line should be drawn with chalk by the experts on the arch ( to show the exact position of the pans). Then the man is made to get down from the pan and he is to invoke the balance as stated in Yaj. II. 101-102,

O balance, you are the abode of truth, you were created by the gods for this purpose, declare the truth, free me from this (cloud of) suspicion, Mother! if I am a sinner then take me lower, if I am pure take me upwards’. The person is then to hear exhortations about the result of untruth after putting the writing on his head (vide Nār. IV. 276 and Viṣṇu Dh, S. X. 9), then he is again to be placed in the pan to the accompaniment of invocations (Nār. IV. 278–279, Viṣṇu Dh. S. X. 10-11). A worthy brahmana learned in astronomy is to calculate the time of five palas 584 or vinā līs. Then his weight is again to be marked. If the person goes up (i. e. is found lighter than what he formerly weighed) he is declared innocent (acc. to the com. on Nār. IV. 283, V. Mayūkha p. 60, Dipakalikā on Yāj. II. 102); if he weighs the same or goes down (i. e. weighs more) he is guilty. Then the person concerned is to distribute gifts to the judge, the brāhmaṇas and sacrificial priests and take leave of the deities invoked. Bșhaspati (SBE vol. 33 p. 317 v. 19) states that he who weighs the same should be weighed once more. If the pan or the beam or the hooks break or the ropes give way owing to some visible cause then the procedure was to be repeated, but if the breaking is due to an unseen cause or accident, the person was to be declared guilty. . The ordeal of fire is as follows –Nine circles with cowdung are to be drawn from west to east, they being meant for Agni, Varupa, Vāyu, Yama, Indra, Kubera, Soma, Savitr and all gods. Each circle was to be 16 angulas in diameter and the space between two circles was to be 16 angulas. In each circle kusa grass was to be spread and the person to be tested was to plant his feet on them ; ghee was to be offered into fire 108 times. A blacksmith by birth should heat in fire a ball of iron weighing 50 palas (16 palas 585 in the case of a weak man) and eight

A vināđi is the time required for reciting 60 long syllables and 60 vinādis make one ghagikā. So five vinādis will be equal to two minutes, *** 585. A pala weighed 320 gufljās according to the Liāvati (1. 4). Acc. to Divyatattva (p. 608) 20 palas were equal to 66 tolakas, five māṣas and 4 guðjās, which, while accepting the view that a pala is equal to 320 guðjās, gives the rather modern measurement into tolākas (tolas).

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Procedure of fire ordeal

angulas in length till it becomes red-hot and emits sparks. Then all the details described above ending with the placing of the writing on the head of the śodhya are to be gone through by the judge and the fire (in the red-hot piece ) is to be invoked with several mantras (such as Yaj. II. 104586 and Viṣṇu Dh. S. XI. 11-12). The sodhja should stand in the first circle facing the east. Having niade red marks on all sores of the hands of the sodhya on which grains of rice have been rubbed, he (the judge ) should place seven leaves of the asvattha tree on them and also grains of rice and curds and should fasten round them threads. Then the judge should carry the red-hot iron piece by means of a pair of tongs and place it in the hands of the sodhya (that are covered with leaves). Then the sodhya holding in both his hands the red-hot piece should walk from the first to the eighth circle not hurriedly but slowly and at ease. Having reached the 8th 597 circle he should throw the red-hot iron piece on to the 9th circle. Then the judge should rub on the hands of the sodhya rice grains and wben the latter shows no hesitation at the rubbing and no injury on his hand at the end of the day he is declared to be innocent. Kat. ( 441 ) and Yāj. II. 107 provide that if the red-hot piece falls earlier (i. e. before reach ing the 8th circle) or there is a doubt ( whether his hands are injured or not) or if he loses his footing or is burnt elsewhere than on the hands he should again undergo the ordeal.

The ordeal of water as described in the smrtis and digests is rather complicated. The Sm, C. ( II. p. 116 ) remarks that 588 as the ordeals of water and poison had gone out of yogue (in its day ) it passes over the procedure of these and takes up the description of kośa ordeal after the fire ordeal. Having gone to a reservoir of water the judge should get erected on its bank a torana ( an arch) as high as the ear of the sodhya on an even and cowdunged plot. He should offer worship to Varupa (Lord of waters), to a bow of middling size and to three arrows ( the points of which are made not of iron but of bamboo) with sandal

Before the red-bot iron is placed on his hands the iry repeata ‘स्वमो सर्वभूतानामन्तश्चरसि पारक। साक्षिवत्पुण्यपापेभ्यो हि सत्यं को मम ॥ या. II. 104; the net s. 27. (cr, ed, 5,22) has the same verse (but reads gogorraga T ā :).
अथ सप्तमधपान्तरित पोशपलमनिवर्ण लोह पिणामधलिनादाय सत मर्यादा 73 yara in ferreo II. . 112, 14. #. p. 196,
Wu TIF #nature ITTU HITTIT Histroruge i fave II. p. 116.47%

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paste, incense, lamp, flowers. A target is to be fixed at the distance of 150 hastas (cubits ) from the torana. A post of some macred tree is to be fixed in the water and a strong man of one of the three higher castes free from love or hatred for the Śodhya is to stand in navel-deep water facing the east and holding the post. Then the judge is to make the sodhya stand in water, invoke the deities from Dharma to Durgā, perform all the rites up to the placing of the writing ( embodying the accusation) on the head of the sodhya. A kṣatriya or a brāhmaṇa following the profession of arms who is of a pure heart and has observed a fast should discharge, while standing near the root of the torana, three arrows at the target. The sodhya should invoke the water with the mantra, ‘O Varupa I save me by means of truth’ ( Yaj. II. 108 ) 589 Then a young but swift man should run to the spot where the second arrow struck the ground, and stand there holding that arrow in his hand. Another swift man stands at the root of the torana whence the arrows were discharged. Then the judge claps his hands thrice. At the third clap the sodhya dives into the water seizing the thighs of the man standing in water and at the same time the swift man near the arch runs at his best speed to the place where the second arrow fell. The other man who holds the arrow starts off the moment the first runner reaches him and comes running to the arch. If he does not see the sodhya or sees only his head (i.e. the back of the head ) when he reaches the arch the sodhya is to be declared innocent ; but if he sees other parts of the head ( such as the ear or nose &c.) or if the sodhya floats to some part other than the ono where he dived he is not innocent.

Ordeal of poison. After worshipping Mabesvara with incense 590 and the like (mentioned above) poison placed before the image of Maheśvara is to be administered in the presence of images of)

Soveral sportis give different mantras to be recited by the judge in invoking the waters (so that there is an option). Vide Viṣṇu Dh. S, XII. 7-8 (tvamambhah &c.), Pitāmaba (toya tvam prānidām prānāḥ &c.) quoted by the Mit, on vaj. II, 108, Nār. IV. 316-317 (satyānṣtavibbāgasya &c. ), Kalikapurāga q. by V.P. p. 206. The mantra in Saṅkha-Likhita (g. by Madanaratna and V. P. p. 206) was y PUHT TOT I THI: TIETEERIT Fra fere o TOT I ÅT E pa war eu I, The Ms of FAKE rende CARTI
It is most appropriate that Śiva is to be worshipped in the poison ordeni, siaco, according to the Paurānic mythology, he swallowed the Hala hala polson produced at the churning of the sea. 960 yavas wake opo pala,

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gods and brāhmaṇas. The poison to be selected is tārniga (derived from the spāga plant) or vatsanābha (aconite ) or haimavata (Viṣṇu Dh. S. XIII.3, Nār. IV.322 &c.). Pitāmaha (g. by Aparārka p. 712) treats the three as distinct, while Yāj. II. 111 appears to prescribe śārnga growing on the Himalaya as the poison to be selected. Viśṇu Dh. 8. (XIII, 2-3) also does the same. In the rains the quantity of poison is to be six yavas in weight, in summer five, in hemanta (and sisira) geven or eight and in sarad (autumn) less than the latter (i. e, six yavas acc. to Mit. and three acc. to V. Mayūkha). Poison is to be administered in the last watch of the night and never in the noon or after noon or twilight; it was to be mixed with ghee thirty times as much. It may be administered to any one except a brāh maṇa. Viṇpu Dh. S. XIII. 6-7 and Nār. IV. 325 are mantras with which the judge invokes poison and Yaj. II. 110 is the mantra which the sodhya repeats before taking poison viz. ‘O poisonl thou art the son of Brahma, thou art firm in the duty of ( deciding) the truth. Save me from this accusation and be like nectar to me by truth (if I be innocent)’. Nār. IV. 326 states that then the sodhya should eat the poison, should be kept in shade without food and guarded the rest of the day and if he discloses no signs of the effect of poison should be declared innocent. If the dose of poison is large, the Mit. (on Yāj. II. 111) says that when the sodhya shows no change till five hundred clappings of hands then he should be declared to be innocent and medical treatment should be resorted to. Pita maha says that, in order to prevent fraud, for three or five nights before the ordeal the intending sodhya should be kept under the supervision of the king’s servants and an examination should be made whether medicines, incantations or precious stones that are antidotes are secretly employed.

The ordeal of kosa. The godhya is made to worship the stern deities (such as Rudra, Durgā, Aditya) with sandal wood paste, flowers ato, and made to bathe the images with water. Then the judge asks the sodhya to invoke the consecrated water with the mantrā* satyena mābhirakṣı’ (Yaj. II. 108) and makes him drink three handfuls (prasști ) of that water. Pitamaha gives some special rules. The water may be that of the bath of the image of that god of which the sodhya is a devotee or if he holds all images in equal esteem, then of the Sun. In the case of Durgā it is her spike (śūla) that is to be bathed, the orb in the case of the Sun and the weapons in the case of other

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gods. The water of the bath of Durgā is to be offered as ordeal to thieves and those who live by the profession of arms and the water of the bath of the Sun is not to be given to brāhmanas. In other divyas the result is declared immediately, but in the kośa ordeal there is a period of waiting which is more or less according to the value of the claim or the gravity of the offence. Acc. to Yaj. II. 113, Viṣṇu Dh. S. 14. 4-5, Nār. IV. 330, if within fourteen days of taking the kośa ordeal the sodhya does not Buffer any serious calamity due to the king’s action or the act of God or does not fall seriously ill or does not lose by death his son or wife or other dear relative or his wealth, then he is to be declared innocent. Insignificant loss or illness did not matter as it is unavoidable in this world. Besides, the calamity or illness must not be one common to several people (such as an epidemic). Drinking holy water ( kośapāna) was employed not only as an ordeal for proving innocence, but it was resorted to also for assuring another about one’s good will and future honesty (vide Rājat. V. 326 ).

Ordeal of Tandula ( rice grains ). It is to be administered in charges of theft or disputes about debts or other monetary matters. On the preceding day grains of rice should be made white (i.e. husked ). The judge should perform all the rites on the previous day. The rice grains should be placed in an earthen vessel, exposed to the sun, water of the bath of (the image of the sun should be poured over them in the vessel and the vessel should be kept in that state the whole night. The next day in the morning the sodhya should swallow thrico the rice grains. He should be made to spit on a pippala or birch leaf. If blood is found mixed in his saliva he should be declared guilty. .

Ordeal of taptamāṣa ( heated piece of gold). In a vessel of copper, iron or clay sixteen angulas in diameter and four angulas deep, the judge should get twenty palas of ghee and oil poured and heat it to the boiling point. Then the judge should cast into it a golden piece weighing one māṣaka ( equal to five gunjūs ). The sodhya should take out the heated golden piece with the thumb and the next two fingers. If he does not jerk his fingers or there is no scalded skin he should be declared to be innocent. Thera is another method. Cow’s ghee should be poured in a vessel of gold, silver, copper, iron or olay and it should be beated to the boiling point so that when a green leaf is cast into it the sound churu’ is produced. Into the

Ordeals of taptamāṣa, phala and dharma

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boiling ghee he should cast a golden, silver, copper or iron seal ring once washed. Then he should invoke the ghee with this mantra ‘O gheel thou art the holiest thing in sacrifices, thou art nectar; burn him (the sodhya) if he is a sinner ; be cool as ice if he be innocent.’ Then the sodhya takes out the ring from the boiling ghee. If there are no marks of scalding on his forofinger he is innocent.

Ordeal by phāla (ploughshare). This is described by Bphaspati (S. B. E. vol. 33 p. 318 verse 28) quoted by the Sm. C. II. p.119, V.P. p. 218 and others. A ploughshare of iron weighing twelve palas, eight angulas long and four broad should be made red-hot and the thief should be made to lick it once with big tongue. If he is not burnt he establishes his innocence; if otherwise, he is guilty. The Vyavahāratattva (p. 608 ) mentions that acc. to Maithila writers the thief meant is a cattle-lifter. The ordeal mentioned in the Chāndogya Upaniṣad is a phala divja.

Ordeal of dharma (i. e. of the images or pictures of Dharma). Men guilty of causing bodily injuries or who have monetary disputes or who desire to undergo this ordeal ag an expiation for sins should undergo this. A silver image of Dharma and a leaden or iron one of Adharma should be prepared or the judge should draw on a birch leaf or a piece of cloth figures or pictures of Dharma and Adharma respectively white and dark in colour. Having sprinkled pañcayavya over the two, he should worship them with white and dark flowers respectively. The images or figures should then be placed in two balls of clay or cowdung. The two balls should be then placed inside a new earthen vessel in a cowdunged spot in the presence of images of gods and in the presence of brāhmaṇas. Then the judge should perform all the rites from the invocation of Dharma to the placing of the writing on the head. The sodhya should repeat the words

if I am free from guilt may (the image or picture of) Dharma come to my hands’. Saying this he should take out one ball from the vessel.,. If he takes out Dharma he is innocent. This resembles the dfawing of lots.

Ordeals played their part in the judicial systems of most ancient countries. In early England handling of red-hot iron and plunging the hand in boiling water were the commonest ordeals. In the ordeal of water sinking was a sign of innocence and floating of guilt. Stephens ( History of Criminal Law of England, vol. I p. 73) suggests that the ordeal of water

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was a form of honourable suicide. The Assize of Northampton (1116 A. D.) prescribed the ordeal of water for murder, robbery, theft, forgery and arson, but ordeals were abolished in England from 1215 A. D. (ibid. vol. I. p. 300). In India 591 there is epigra phic and other evidence to show that ordeals were resorted to till the end of the 18th century and rarely even later. In the Kittur Pillar Inscription (J, B. B. R. A. S. vol. IX. pp. 307-309) dated in Kaliyuga era 4289 in the reign of Kadamba king Jayakesideva there is a description of the phāladivya which was administered by mutual agreement on Sunday to an acārya Śivasakti who had a dispute about a plot of land with Kalyāṇa sakti the ācārya of another shrine and whose hand was exami ned the next day after he underwent the ordeal by all the bankers of the agrahāra village Degāve. In the Silimpur stone slab Inscription of the time of Jayapāladeva (E. I. vol. XIII. p. 283 at p. 291-292) there is a reference to the ordeal of

In Beal’s ‘Buddbist Records of the Western world,’ vol. I. p. 84 (also Watters on Yuan Chwang’s travels vol. I. p. 172) four kinds of ordeals are mentioned as in vogue, viz. by water, fire, weigbt and poison. In the water ordeal the accused is placed in a sack connected with a stone vessel and thrown into deep water. If the man sinks and the stone floats he is guilty: if the man floats and the stone sioks then he is pronounced fagocent. The ordeal by fire is: they beat a plate of iron and make the accused sit on it and again place his feet on it and apply it to the palms of bis bands: moreover he is made to pass bis tongue over it. If no scar results he is innocent; if there are scars his guilt is proved. In the ordeal by weight a man and a stone are placed evenly in a balance. If the accused is innocent the stone rises in the balance; if he is guilty the man rises and the stone falls. In the ordeal of poison an incision is made in the right thigh of a ram, all sorts of poison with a portion of the food of the accused are placed in the incised wound. If the man is guilty poison takes effect and the animal dies; if he is innocent the poison has no effect and the animal survives. It will be noticed that these descriptions of the four ordeals do not agree in several respects with the descriptions in the smrtis and digests, while the poison ordeal in Beal has nothing in common with the smrti poison ordeal. Alberudi (tr, by Sachau, vol. II, pp. 159-160) probably speaks of poison ordeal in the words * the accused person is invited to drink dish called brahmana’ (ho is probably referring to poison being called the offspring of Brahmā in Yāj. II. 110 and Nār. IV. 325). In the ordeal of water the accused is simply thrown into a deep and rapidly flowing river or a deep well and he was held innocent if he was not drowned. He describes the kośa ordeal and balance ordeal accurately, but states that if the man has spoken the truth be weighs more than before. He describes correctly taptamaṣa (gold piece taken from boiling clarified butter) and also the ordeal of the red-hot iron piece

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Epigraphic references to ordeals

balance 59 (about 1200 A. D.). The Viṣṇukundin king Madhava varman in the 7th century A. D. (Journal of Andhra Historical Research Society, vol. VI pp. 17, 20, 24) is said to have carried out various ordeals (avasita-vividha-divijah). The E. C. vol. III (Mandyā Taluka Ing. No.79 p. 47) records that a dispute having arisen about the boundaries of land bestowed by means of a copperplate grant by the Hoysala king Vira-Narasimhadeva, one Kannaya, a descendant of the original donee, performed an ordeal by holding consecrated food in the presence of the God Hoysaleśvara in the capital Dorasamudra and came out suc cessful. E. C. IV. p. 27 ( Yelandur Jagir Ing. No. 2 page 27, about 1580 A, D.) is a charter to potters whose headmen under went the ordeal of dipping their hands in boiling ghee as against barbers and washermen who denied that potters could pare their toe nails and tie on upper cloth (at the time of marriage). In the Indian Antiquary for 1931 (vol. 60 p. 179) an extract is cited from the Archæological Report for Travancore 1930 which describes the balance ordeal undergone by a brāhmaṇa 18 years before and seen by the writer himself in the temple of Siya at Calicut. For the ordeal of red-hot ploughshare in the case of thefts, vide Report of South Indian Epigraphy for 1907, para. 27.

In the times of the Maratha kings ordeals were resorted to. For example, in ‘Peshwa’s Diaries’ vol. 2 p. 150 (in 1764-65 A, D.) mention is made of taptakaļāha ordeal (i. e. taking out a coin or ring or a piece of metal from a large vessel in which either water or oil or ghee had been brought to the boiling point) in which the person undergoing it had his right hand burnt up to the middle joints of the fingers and was declared to be false. In a Marathi publication called ‘Vatanpatrem, nivādapatrem &c.’ pp. 46-56 edited by P. V. Mavjee and D. B. Parasnis (1909) there is a document which describes in great detail the ordeal of fire undergone in connection with a dispute about the office and emoluments of Deshpande in the district of Kalyan in sake 1666 Pausa bright 11th, Thursday (1745 A. D.). It is stated therein that the ordeal was performed on the tank of the sacred river Godavari at Kopargaon in accordance with Dharmaśāstra in the presence of the Peshwa himself and learned brāhmaṇas and panditas near the temple of the god Sri Suklesvara, that as the opponent was long in

592, rura TRT Saarla FW: I JET

T* E. I. vol. XII. at pp. 291-292.

arefiry.

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possession the ordeal had to be performed by the man claiming title, that an iron ball of 50 palas (i. e. 166 tolas and two māsas) was heated red-hot and the sodhya carried it across seven circles and threw it in the 8th circle on flour and bundles which began to burn, that his hands were examined in the presence of the opponent and the respectable people and were found unaffected and the opponent was made to pass a docu. ment of victory to the sodhya called ‘yejitapatra’. The des cription agrees very closely with that given above. In the same work at pp. 36-41 there is a remarkable description about an ordeal undergone (in 1742 A. D.) by Mahomedan litigants in their own mosque for 15 days by lighting lamps and sitting down in the shrine. There are several other vatanpatras in the same work which refer to ordeals.

For an informing article on divyas reference may be made to Dr. Dines Chandra Sirkar’s “The successors 593 of the Sata vahanas’ Appendix pp. 354-376 (Calcutta, 1939). He quotes therein a passage from the ‘Asiatic Researches’ vol. 1, from which it appears that a magistrate named Ali Ibrahim Khan at Benares tried by phala divya two cases in 1783 A. D. and reported them to the then Governor-General, Warren Hastings. In the * Txtiya-Bammelana-vrtta’ (pp. 18-26) and in the Caturtha sammelana-vrtta pp. 100-154 of the Bhārata-itihāsa-samsodhaka mapdala at Poona (both in Marathi) Mr. Bhaskar Vaman Bhat contributes two thoughtful and scholary papers on the adminis tration of Justice in the times of the Marathas in which the part played by ordeals is described at some length.

It is somewhat strange that Dr. Sirkar refers to ‘Divyatattva of Bphaspati’ (in Successors of the Sātavābanas’ Appendix p. 360). A Divya tattva of Raghunandana is well-known. A Divyatattva of Brbaspati has so far baca mcationed powhere.