DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.52452#0136
io8
NARADA.
I, 284.
weight remains the same as before, or if he goes
down, he cannot be acquitted.
* 284. Should the scales break, or the beam or
the hooks split, or the strings burst, or the trans-
verse beam split, (the judge) shall pronounce a formal
declaration of his innocence.
21. The Ordeal by Fire.
* 285. I will propound, next, the excellent law re-
garding the (ordeal by) fire. The interval between
284. It seems strange that the accidents mentioned in this para-
graph should be viewed as proofs of innocence. Vishzzu, Katyayana,
and Vyasa rule that the proceeding shall be repeated in every such
case. Brz’haspati says that these accidents shall be taken as proofs
of guilt. The reading murtita/z may be wrong (for puna^ sa? ‘he
shall cause the proceeding to be repeated’). See Vyasa.
285-303. Vishzzu XI; Yagnavalkya II, 103-X07.
The essential features of the ordeal by fire are as follows:
1. Eight concentric circles of equal breadth are marked on a piece
of ground. 2. An iron ball is heated repeatedly by a blacksmith.
3. The hands of the defendant are examined, and all existing sores
or scars coloured with dots. 4. His hands are wrapped up in
leaves, in order to protect them against the hot iron. 5. A prayer
addressed to Agni, god of fire, shall be recited and written on a
leaf, which is fastened on the head of the defendant. 6. The iron
ball is placed in his hands, and he is made to walk slowly through
all the circles successively, taking one circle with each step. On
reaching the last circle he may throw the ball on the ground.
7. His hands are examined once more. If they are found to con-
tain any fresh sores or wounds, he is guilty; if not, he is innocent.
8. If he lets the ball drop from fear, before having reached the last
circle, or if the examination of his hands has yielded no definite
result, the whole proceeding has to be repeated.
285. Other legislators state that each circle shall be thirty-two
Angulas broad together with the space situated between it and
the next circle. In par. 299 it is said that the breadth of each
circle shall equal the length of the defendant’s foot. This rule,
according to the commentators, refers to the circle minus the inter-
mediate space between it and the next circle, and means that a
NARADA.
I, 284.
weight remains the same as before, or if he goes
down, he cannot be acquitted.
* 284. Should the scales break, or the beam or
the hooks split, or the strings burst, or the trans-
verse beam split, (the judge) shall pronounce a formal
declaration of his innocence.
21. The Ordeal by Fire.
* 285. I will propound, next, the excellent law re-
garding the (ordeal by) fire. The interval between
284. It seems strange that the accidents mentioned in this para-
graph should be viewed as proofs of innocence. Vishzzu, Katyayana,
and Vyasa rule that the proceeding shall be repeated in every such
case. Brz’haspati says that these accidents shall be taken as proofs
of guilt. The reading murtita/z may be wrong (for puna^ sa? ‘he
shall cause the proceeding to be repeated’). See Vyasa.
285-303. Vishzzu XI; Yagnavalkya II, 103-X07.
The essential features of the ordeal by fire are as follows:
1. Eight concentric circles of equal breadth are marked on a piece
of ground. 2. An iron ball is heated repeatedly by a blacksmith.
3. The hands of the defendant are examined, and all existing sores
or scars coloured with dots. 4. His hands are wrapped up in
leaves, in order to protect them against the hot iron. 5. A prayer
addressed to Agni, god of fire, shall be recited and written on a
leaf, which is fastened on the head of the defendant. 6. The iron
ball is placed in his hands, and he is made to walk slowly through
all the circles successively, taking one circle with each step. On
reaching the last circle he may throw the ball on the ground.
7. His hands are examined once more. If they are found to con-
tain any fresh sores or wounds, he is guilty; if not, he is innocent.
8. If he lets the ball drop from fear, before having reached the last
circle, or if the examination of his hands has yielded no definite
result, the whole proceeding has to be repeated.
285. Other legislators state that each circle shall be thirty-two
Angulas broad together with the space situated between it and
the next circle. In par. 299 it is said that the breadth of each
circle shall equal the length of the defendant’s foot. This rule,
according to the commentators, refers to the circle minus the inter-
mediate space between it and the next circle, and means that a