Hindu Law and Custom (Recht und Sitte) c10.5

c10.5

The later Smṛtis also mention the chief judge, the ministers, the ancients, the Brahmans and the retinue as the companions of the king. The law-court has been compared to the human body in which the king is the head, the chief judge is the mouth, the assessors are the arms, etc. More accurately, the functions of the limbs or parts (*aṅga*) of a law court, which are ten in number, are thus defined : the chief judge passes the judgment, the king inflicts the punishment, the assessors or judges investigate the merits of the case, the law-book furnishes the decree, gold and fire are used when ordeals are resorted to, the water is to refresh, the accountant calculates the value of the disputed property, the scribe records the proceedings and the court servants have to summon the accused, the assessors and the witnesses and hold both the parties in custody if they have given no surety (Bṛh. 1, 4—10). Vyāsa mentions also "the keeper of the disputed property" (*sādhyapāla*), a Śūdra who as a kind of beadle or executor of the verdict has to look after the execution of the judgment, and the Sabhāstāra who should hold discourses about morals (*dharmavākya*) for the edification of those who are present. In Mah. 4, 1, 24:however the Sabhāstāra appears only as a courtier (*sabhya*, Nil.) who is particularly interested in gambling; moreover mention is made also of the recitals from Purāṇas, Dharma and Arthaśāstras in the court (Bṛh. 1, 23). Also respectable merchants (*vaṇij*, *naigama*, Kāty. 1, 12¹; Mah. 16, 7, 8) should be invited to the court in order to win over the people (*lokarañjanārtham* Mit. on Y. 2, 2).