Hindu Law and Custom (Recht und Sitte) c7.260

c7.260

Pitāmaha, of whom about 200 juridical texts have been preserved, seems to have been considered a special authority on ordeals and describes all the 9 kinds of same, in which connection he particularly dwells upon the names of the gods appealed to. Even Bṛh. 10, 27¹ quotes him as authority for a rule about the ordeal with a hot gold-piece. This quotation may refer to Pitām. 2, 147², but however, it may also be a memorial verse ascribed to Pitām. so that his Smṛti need not necessarily be older than that of Bṛh. His descriptions of the ordeals seem rather to be more detailed than the descriptions of other authors and his 50 chalāni and 22 padāni nṛpaññeyāni, i. e. offences which should be investigated and punished by the king even if there is no impeachment (1, 7-23), are also indicative of a particularly modern character.