India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c12.s2.4

c12.s2.4

The practice of administering oaths to witnesses was also known. *Sūtra* V.4.66, *Satyād-aśapathe*, prescribes a two-fold linguistic formation from the word *satya*: (1) *satyā-karoti* was used in connection with the payment of earnest money to settle a bargain; (2) *satyaṁ karoti* was used in connection with the taking of oath. Manu informs us that this form of oath was reserved for witnesses of the Brāhmaṇa caste (*satyena śāpayed vipram*, VIII.113). For example, it was enough for a Brāhmaṇa to declare solemnly: ‘I shall state the truth’, and then to proceed with his evidence. The form of the oath for other castes was different and of a more materialistic nature. This nice distinction known to Pāṇini must have been developed in the *Dharmasūtras*, whence the tradition came down to the *Smṛitis*.