Agnipurana 254

English (machine translation) 254

Language: English

254.3 — 1 part
254.14 — 1 part
254.26 — 1 part
254.36 — 1 part
254.48 — 1 part
254.50 — 3 parts

254.1

Agni said: / Ascetics, charitable men, those of noble birth, truth-tellers, / dedicated to righteousness, upright, having sons, possessed of wealth,

254.2

engaged in the rites of the five daily sacrifices—such witnesses should be five or three, / or according to their caste and class, or all [may be witnesses] in all cases.

254.3

Women, old men, children, gamblers, intoxicated persons, madmen, accused persons,

254.3_2

actors, heretics, forgers, those with defective senses,

254.4

outcastes, intimate friends, co-diners, relatives, associates, enemies, and thieves / are incompetent witnesses; but anyone may be a witness in cases of theft, defamation, and violence.

254.5

Even a single person, knowing the law, may be a witness if approved by both parties. / A man who does not give evidence must pay the whole debt together with a tenth part [as a fine]

254.6

to the king on the forty-sixth day. / For the vile man who, although knowing, does not give evidence,

254.7

is equal to false witnesses in sins and also in punishment. / One should summon the witnesses close to the plaintiff and defendant and make them hear [the warning]:

254.8

“The worlds that belong to perpetrators of sins, and to perpetrators of mortal sins, / and the worlds that belong to incendiaries, and those who kill women and children,

254.9

all those [worlds] are attained by one who speaks false testimony. / Whatever merit was acquired by you in hundreds of other births,

254.10

know that it all belongs to him whom you falsely defeat.” / In case of conflict, the statement of the majority [prevails]; among equal numbers, that of the virtuous;

254.11

in case of conflict among the virtuous, the statement of those who are superior in virtue is to be accepted. / He whose claim the witnesses declare to be true becomes the winner;

254.12

otherwise, defeat is certain for that litigant. / Even after testimony has been given by witnesses, if others more virtuous,

254.13

or twice as many, speak otherwise, the earlier witnesses become false ones. / The false witnesses are to be punished individually,

254.14

with a fine twice that of the suit; a brāhmaṇa is declared to be banished. / He who, having been summoned to testify, denies it to others, overcome by darkness,

254.15

must be made to pay an eightfold fine, but a brāhmaṇa should be banished. / Where the death of persons of the [twice-born] classes [would result], there one may speak false testimony.

254.16

Whatever transaction is mutually agreed upon by their own choice, / a document with witnesses should be made for it, beginning with the creditor's [name].

254.17

marked with the year, month, fortnight, and day, along with the names, castes, and gotras [of the parties], / and the names of their fellow students, their own names, and the names of their fathers.

254.18

When the matter is concluded, the debtor should write his name with his own hand: / ‘Approved by me, son of so-and-so, whatever has been written above.’

254.19

And the witnesses, in equal number, should write with their own hand, preceded by their fathers’ names: / ‘Here I, so-and-so, am a witness.’

254.20

A debtor who cannot write should cause his approval to be written, / or a witness [should cause it to be written] by another witness, in the presence of all the witnesses.

254.21

Then at the end the scribe should write: ‘Requested by both, this has been written / by me, so-and-so, son of so-and-so.’

254.22

Even without witnesses, a document written in one's own hand / is considered authoritative in all matters, except when executed through force or fraud.

254.23

A debt contracted by a document must be paid by three generations only; / but a pledge may be enjoyed as long as that [debt] is not repaid.

254.24

If it is in another country, illegibly written, lost, effaced, stolen, / broken, torn, or burnt, one should cause another document to be made.

To establish the correctness of a disputed matter, that which is written in one's own hand [is settled] / by reasonable inference, possession, the nature of the transaction, distinguishing marks, connection, and origin.

254.26

On the back of the document, one should record what has been paid by the debtor.

254.26.p1

[p. 418]

254.26_2

And the creditor should give an acknowledgment marked with his own hand.

254.27

Having paid the debt, one should tear up the document, and make another for clearance; / and that which was made with witnesses should be repaid before witnesses.

254.28

The balance, fire, water, poison, and consecrated water are the ordeals for purification here; / these apply in cases of grave accusations, when the accuser agrees to bear the penalty.

254.29

Or by choice one may undergo [the ordeal], and the other shall risk his head; / but in treason against the king or in heinous sin, one may perform it even without risking the head.

254.30

One should not administer the ploughshare, nor the balance, nor poison for less than a thousand [paṇas]; / in accusations concerning the king's affairs, pure persons should always undergo them.

254.31

For a value of a thousand, the balance and the like [are used]; consecrated water may be given even in a minor matter; / one should cause the purified person to be given fifty [paṇas], while the impure one shall incur a fine.

254.32

Having summoned [the accused] after he has bathed with his clothes on and fasted at sunrise, / one should cause all ordeals to be performed in the presence of the king and Brahmins.

254.33

The balance is for women, children, the elderly, the blind, the lame, Brahmins, and the sick; / fire or water is for a Śūdra, or seven barleycorns [in weight] of poison.

254.34

Placed on the balance by persons skilled in holding the balance, / made equal to the counterweight, a mark having been made, he is taken down.

254.35

“The sun and moon, wind and fire, heaven, earth, water, the heart, and Yama, / day and night, both twilights, and Dharma know the conduct of a man.

254.36

You, O balance, are the abode of truth, fashioned of old by the gods; / speak the truth, O auspicious one, and release me from doubt!

254.36.p1

[p. 419]

254.37

If I am an evildoer, O mother, then bring me down; / but if I am pure, raise me up!” Thus he should address the balance.

254.38

Having inspected his hands after rubbing them with unhusked rice, he should then place / seven leaves of the sacred fig tree [upon them] and wrap them with that many rounds of thread.

254.39

“You alone move within all beings, O purifier! / Witness-like to merit and sin, declare the truth in my hand.”

254.40

When he has spoken thus, [the judge] should place an iron ball weighing fifty palas, smooth, / glowing like fire, upon both of his hands.

254.41

Taking that, he should walk through seven circles with paces; / a circle is to be understood as sixteen aṅgulas, and the interval between them the same.

254.42

Releasing the fire, if his hands are unburned after rubbing rice, he attains vindication; / if the ball falls in the middle, or if there is doubt, he should carry it again.

254.43

“Purifier of purifiers, cleanse the one to be cleansed, O purifying one! / Protect me through truth, O Varuṇa!” Thus the accused [prays].

254.44

Standing in navel-deep water, holding the thighs [of another], he should enter the water; / at the very same time an arrow is shot, another swift man brings it back.

254.45

If he sees him with his limbs submerged when he returns, he attains vindication. / “O poison, son of Brahmā, established in truth and righteousness,

254.46

save me from this accusation; through truth become nectar to me!” / Having spoken thus, he should eat the horned poison born of the snowy mountain.

254.47

If it is digested by him without violent fits, one should declare his purity. / Having worshipped the fierce deities, one should take the water of their bathing;