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JOO
NARADA.
I, 247.
19. Proof by Ordeal.
* 247. If no witness is forthcoming for either of the two litigant parties, he must test them through ordeals and oaths of every sort.
* 248. (Let him cause a Brahman to swear by) truth, (a Kshatriya) by his (horse or other) vehicle, and by his weapons, (a Vaisya) by his cows, seeds or gold and so on, (or all) by venerable deities or deified ancestors, by their pious gifts or meritorious deeds.
249. Where a heavy crime has been committed, the ruler shall administer one of the ordeals. In light cases, on the other hand, a virtuous king shall swear a man with (various) oaths.
* 250. Thus have these oaths been proclaimed by Manu for trifling cases. In a suit concerning a heavy crime, divine test should be resorted to.
251. Holy Manu has ordained that five kinds of ordeals should be administered to those involved in a doubtful case (which has become the object of a lawsuit), especially if the matter under dispute is of a recondite nature.
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252. The balance, fire, water, poison, and, fifthly, consecrated water, are the ordeals ordained for the purgation of high-minded persons.
248. In this rule are indicated the various oaths to be administered according to the caste and individual character of the offender. A. Manu VIII, 114.
249, 250. These two verses are intended to indicate the difference in point of applicability between an ordeal and an oath. A.
251. Holy Manu has said that those against whom a charge of an aggravated nature has been brought, shall have to undergo one out of the five ordeals, in order to clear themselves from suspicion, especially when a secret transgression is concerned. A.
252. In this paragraph the author proceeds to enumerate the five ordeals singly. A. Yagñavalkya II, 95; Vishnu IX, II.
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