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I, 348.
brosia at a sacrifice. Burn this man at once if he is criminal, and be as cold as ice to him if he is innocent.'
120
NARADA.
* 348. If, on touching and examining the forefinger (of the defendant) it is found to be unhurt and to show no boils, he is innocent. Otherwise, he is not (innocent).
SECOND TITLE OF LAW.
DEPOSITS.
* 1. Where a man entrusts any property of his own with another in confidence and without suspicion, it is called by the learned a Deposit, a title of law.
2. A sensible man should make a deposit with one who belongs to a respectable family, and who is virtuous, acquainted with his duties, veracious, influential, wealthy, and honourable.
3. In whatever manner a man may have delivered
348. Some writers refer to two further ordeals, besides the seven kinds mentioned by Nârada. One of them is the ordeal of the red-hot ploughshare, which the defendant is made to lick. The other consists of drawing lots.
II, 1. With one in whom he places no confidence, a man will not deposit a single cowry even, without the guarantee of a written receipt or of witnesses. On the other hand, he will deposit a thousand Suvarnas even, without a receipt or witnesses, with one in whose honesty he places implicit reliance. A.
2. A prudent man may entrust a deposit to one endowed with the seven qualities here mentioned, because he feels sure that he may recover his property at any time. A. The term mahâpaksha, 'influential,' means literally one who has many friends and relations. Identical with Manu VIII, 179.
3. Thus, e. g. a sealed deposit must be returned with the seal, a deposit made before witnesses must be restored in the presence of the same witnesses. See Jolly, translation of Book VIII of the Code of Manu. Identical with Manu VIII, 180.
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