DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.52452#0133
I, 2;t. ordeal by balance. 105
administered in the forenoon, the person (to be
tested) having fasted for a day and a night, taken
a bath, and wearing his wet dress.
269. Excepting cases of high treason, an ordeal
shall not be administered, unless the plaintiff comes
forward and declares himself ready to undergo pun-
ishment in case of his being defeated.
270. The king may inflict ordeals on his own
servants, even without the one party declaring him-
self ready to undergo punishment. On the other
hand, in the case of other persons accused of a
crime, (he should administer ordeals) according to
law (only).
*271. After having well fastened the two scales
by the hooks of the beam, he should place the man
in the one scale and a stone in the other.
The essential features of the proceedings described in pars.
271-284 may be summarized as follows: 1. The person to be
tested by this ordeal should be placed in the one scale, and a
basket filled with stones and sand placed in the other scale, as an
equivalent. 2. The basket having been made precisely equal in
weight to the man with the help of goldsmiths and other persons
skilled in the practice of weighing, the position of the beam should
be marked on each of the two arches. 3. After that, the man
should be allowed to descend from the scale. The judge should
admonish him, and he should get into the scale again, after a bill
recounting the charge raised against him has been fastened on his
head. 4. A Brahman should address the balance with prayers.
5. The man having descended once more from the scale, the result
of the second weighing should be compared with the result of the
first weighing. If he has risen, i.e. if he has proved lighter than the
first time, he shall be acquitted; if the scale has gone down, or if it
has remained in the same place as before, he must be pronounced
guilty. 6. If any part of the balance has broken during the
proceeding, he has to be acquitted.
271. The term ‘a stone’ seems to denote an equivalent here
and in the next paragraph. The sequel show's that the equivalent
consists of a basket filled with stones and other objects.
administered in the forenoon, the person (to be
tested) having fasted for a day and a night, taken
a bath, and wearing his wet dress.
269. Excepting cases of high treason, an ordeal
shall not be administered, unless the plaintiff comes
forward and declares himself ready to undergo pun-
ishment in case of his being defeated.
270. The king may inflict ordeals on his own
servants, even without the one party declaring him-
self ready to undergo punishment. On the other
hand, in the case of other persons accused of a
crime, (he should administer ordeals) according to
law (only).
*271. After having well fastened the two scales
by the hooks of the beam, he should place the man
in the one scale and a stone in the other.
The essential features of the proceedings described in pars.
271-284 may be summarized as follows: 1. The person to be
tested by this ordeal should be placed in the one scale, and a
basket filled with stones and sand placed in the other scale, as an
equivalent. 2. The basket having been made precisely equal in
weight to the man with the help of goldsmiths and other persons
skilled in the practice of weighing, the position of the beam should
be marked on each of the two arches. 3. After that, the man
should be allowed to descend from the scale. The judge should
admonish him, and he should get into the scale again, after a bill
recounting the charge raised against him has been fastened on his
head. 4. A Brahman should address the balance with prayers.
5. The man having descended once more from the scale, the result
of the second weighing should be compared with the result of the
first weighing. If he has risen, i.e. if he has proved lighter than the
first time, he shall be acquitted; if the scale has gone down, or if it
has remained in the same place as before, he must be pronounced
guilty. 6. If any part of the balance has broken during the
proceeding, he has to be acquitted.
271. The term ‘a stone’ seems to denote an equivalent here
and in the next paragraph. The sequel show's that the equivalent
consists of a basket filled with stones and other objects.