I 20

NARADA.

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.’
* 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 Narada. 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 Suvaiwas 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 mahapaksha,
‘ 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.