DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.52452#0135
1,283.
ORDEAL BY BALANCE.
IO7
his head. There must be neither wind nor rainfall
(at the time when this ordeal is being performed).
277. When he has ascended (the scale), a Brah-
man, holding the scale in his hand, should recite the
following : 1 Thou art called dha/a (a balance), which
appellation is synonymous with dharma (justice).
* 278. Thou knowest the bad and good actions of
all beings. This man, being arraigned in a cause, is
weighed upon thee.
279. Thou art superior to gods, demons, and
mortals in point of veracity.
[Thou, Balance, hast been created by the gods in
time out of mind, as a receptacle of truth.
* 280. Deign to speak truth, therefore, O propi-
tious being, and deliver me from this perplexity. If
I am an offender, take me down.
*281. If thou knowest me to be innocent, take
me upwards.] Therefore mayst thou deliver him
lawfully from the perplexity in which he is involved.’
282. After having addressed him, (invoking) the
guardians of the world and the gods, with these
and other such speeches, he should cause the man
who has been placed in the scale, to descend once
more and should ascertain (the state of the matter).
* 283. If he rises, on being weighed (for the
second time), he is undoubtedly innocent. If his
277. This quibble is based on the fact that the two words Dha/a
and Dharma commence with the same syllable.
279-281. The words enclosed in brackets cannot be genuine.
They appear to be a quotation from the Ya^iavalkya-smrzti (II,
101, 102), which has been added as a marginal gloss by a copyist,
and has subsequently crept into the text. Yagnavalkya puts this
entire address in the mouth of the defendant himself, whereas all
the other Ymrz’ti writers put it in the mouth of a third person.
ORDEAL BY BALANCE.
IO7
his head. There must be neither wind nor rainfall
(at the time when this ordeal is being performed).
277. When he has ascended (the scale), a Brah-
man, holding the scale in his hand, should recite the
following : 1 Thou art called dha/a (a balance), which
appellation is synonymous with dharma (justice).
* 278. Thou knowest the bad and good actions of
all beings. This man, being arraigned in a cause, is
weighed upon thee.
279. Thou art superior to gods, demons, and
mortals in point of veracity.
[Thou, Balance, hast been created by the gods in
time out of mind, as a receptacle of truth.
* 280. Deign to speak truth, therefore, O propi-
tious being, and deliver me from this perplexity. If
I am an offender, take me down.
*281. If thou knowest me to be innocent, take
me upwards.] Therefore mayst thou deliver him
lawfully from the perplexity in which he is involved.’
282. After having addressed him, (invoking) the
guardians of the world and the gods, with these
and other such speeches, he should cause the man
who has been placed in the scale, to descend once
more and should ascertain (the state of the matter).
* 283. If he rises, on being weighed (for the
second time), he is undoubtedly innocent. If his
277. This quibble is based on the fact that the two words Dha/a
and Dharma commence with the same syllable.
279-281. The words enclosed in brackets cannot be genuine.
They appear to be a quotation from the Ya^iavalkya-smrzti (II,
101, 102), which has been added as a marginal gloss by a copyist,
and has subsequently crept into the text. Yagnavalkya puts this
entire address in the mouth of the defendant himself, whereas all
the other Ymrz’ti writers put it in the mouth of a third person.