Hindu Law and Custom (Recht und Sitte) c10.37

c10.37

The traditions of the religious courts of the Pariṣads are still carried on by the hereditary Dharmādhikārins and other people learned in the law who have to prescribe penances. Even in 1875 there were 5 hereditary Dharmādhikārins in Kashmir who decided the Prāyaścittas and the Rājā saw that they were actually performed⁴. In Nepal too everybody who has sinned through forbidden intercourse with other castes or otherwise against the order of the castes, has to consult the Dharmādhikārins and perform the penances imposed by them⁵. The Mahratta princes, themselves endowed with great religious zeal used to dictate penances for religious transgressions⁶. At the present day in India the caste assembly sit in judgment over such transgressions and commands the guilty person in the old formula: ācāryaṃ labhasva, prāyaścittaṃ samācara to consult a spiritual advisor and to do penance⁷.