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VIII, II.
WITNESSES.
49
nor one tormented by hunger or thirst; nor one oppressed by a (sudden) calamity (such as the death of his father or the like), or wholly absorbed in evil passions;
3. Nor an enemy or a friend; nor one interested in the subject matter; nor one who does forbidden acts; nor one formerly perjured; nor an attendant;
4. Nor one who, without having been appointed, comes and offers his evidence;
5. Nor can one man alone be made a witness.
6. In cases of theft, of violence, of abuse and assault, and of adultery the competence of witnesses must not be examined too strictly.
7. Now (those who are fit to be) witnesses (shall be enumerated):
8. Descendants of a noble race, who are virtuous and wealthy, sacrificers, zealous in the practice of religious austerities, having male issue, well versed in the holy law, studious, veracious, acquainted with the three Vedas, and aged (shall be witnesses).
9. If he is endowed with the qualities just mentioned, one man alone can also be made a witness.
10. In a dispute between two litigants, the witnesses of that party have to be examined from which the plaint has proceeded.
II. Where the claim has been refuted as not agreeing with the facts (as e. g. the sum claimed
5. According to Nand., who argues from a passage of Nârada (5, 37), the use of the particle ka implies here, that two witnesses are also not sufficient. But the MSS. of Nârada exhibit a different reading of the passage in question, which reading is supported by the Vîramitrodaya.
8. The particle ka is used here, according to Nand., who argues from a passage of Yâgñavalkya (II, 68), in order to include liberality among the qualities required in a witness.
[7]
E
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