Grihya Sutras

SR No.: 007685
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Hermann Oldenberg
Publisher: Oxford
Publication Year: 1886
Total Pages: 2642
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 49 MB

Page 1768

II 2
NÂRADA.
I, 306.
which have not too swift a course, in oceans, in rivers, in lakes, in ponds dug by the gods, in tanks, and in pools.
* 306. The diving shall take place after three arrows have been discharged from a bow which must not be too strong. Wise men (have declared) what its strength should be.
* 307. A strong bow is declared to be 107 (Angulas) long, a moderate bow 106, and an inferior bow 105 (Angulas). This is declared to be the rule regarding the bow.
* 308. A strong man should be placed like a pillar in water, reaching to his navel. The defendant should seize him by the thigh and dive under water.
Pausha. The dewy or cold season (Sisira) comprises the months Mâgha and Phâlguna. It appears, therefore, that the ordeal by water must not be performed during the period extending from the middle of November to the middle of March, i.e. during the cold weather. This is no doubt because the low temperature of the water during the cold weather might affect the capacity of the defendant to hold out under water sufficiently long.
306. Devakhâta, a pond dug by the gods,' denotes a natural hollow or lake. (Böhtlingk's Dictionary.) Nandapandita, in his Commentary of the Vishnu-smriti (LXIV, 16), gives the wellknown lake of Pushkara, near Agmîr, as an instance of a Devakhâta.
307. It seems strange that the difference in length between the bows should not amount to more than one Angula or inch. The commentators take the three numerals in this paragraph to denote 105, 106, and 107 respectively, and I have translated in accordance with this interpretation. It is, however, possible to translate the three numerals by 500, 600, and 700 respectively, and to refer them to the number of Hastas (1 Hasta=18 inches) traversed by each of the three arrows. According to another text, which is wrongly attributed to Narada by some commentators, the arrows shall be shot at a target, which has to be placed at a distance of 150 Hastas from the marksman.
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