History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.109

v4.c63.109

A court of justice was (acc. to Bṛ.³⁶⁸) of four kinds, viz. one established (*pratiṣṭhitā*) in a fixed place such as a town, *apratiṣṭhitā* (not fixed in one place, but moving from place to place as on a circuit), *mudritā* (the court of a judge appointed by the king, who is authorised to use the royal seal), *śāsitā* (or *śāstritā*, acc. to S. V. p. 68 and Par. M. III. p. 24) i. e. the court in which the king himself presides. The Court of justice (in the capital) was to be to the east of the palace as stated by Śaṅkha and Bṛ. (in Sm. C. II. p. 19) and was to face the east. The court-house should be decorated³⁶⁹ with flowers, statues, paintings, idols of gods and should be furnished with incense, throne or seat (for the king or judge), seeds, fire and water (Bṛ. in Sm. C. II. p. 19). The sabhā was also called, as stated above, dharmādhikaraṇa or simply adhikaraṇa (in Mṛcchakaṭika IX and the Kādambarī, para 85) or dharmasthāna or dharmāsana or sadas (Vas. 16. 2). The Kādambarī (para 85) speaks of the royal palace as having a court of justice where the judges (dharmādhikārins) sat on high cane seats. The time for holding the court is the morning, acc. to Manu VII. 145, Yāj. I. 327. Kauṭ. states that the king³⁷⁰ should look into the disputes of people in the 2nd part of the day divided into eight parts. The Daśakumāracarita (note 367 above) shows the same thing. Kāt. (61-62) prescribes that the time for holding the court as laid down in the śāstras is three parts of the day after the first part (when the day is divided into eight parts) i. e. from 7-30 A. M. to noon. There were holidays on which courts were closed i. e. on 8th and 14th *tithis*, Full Moon day and the *amāvāsyā* of every month (Saṁvarta acc. to Par. M. III. p. 23, Hārīta, acc. to S. V. p. 72). The sabhā is said to have ten *aṅgas* by Bṛ.³⁷¹ viz. the king, the chief judge appointed by him, the sabhyas, smṛti, gaṇaka (accountant), lekhaka (the scribe), gold, fire, water and *svapuruṣa* (a bailiff, otherwise called sādhyapāla). The chief judge declares (the law), the king awards punishment, the sabhyas examine the dispute, smṛti (dharmaśāstra) lays down the rule of decision, the success (of one party or the other) and the punishment; gold and fire are required for taking oaths, the water is for men when they feel thirsty, the gaṇaka counts the wealth or subject matter of dispute, the scribe writes down the pleadings, depositions and the decision, the *puruṣa* summons the sabhyas, the defendant, the witnesses and he guards the complainant and the defendant when they have furnished no surety (for appearance). It is further said that of these ten *aṅgas* (limbs) the king is the head, the judge the mouth &c. Acc. to Bṛ. (q. in Par. M. III. p. 30) and Śukra IV. 5. 43 the accountant and the scribe were to be proficient in grammar, lexicography and counting, were to be pure (in character) and conversant with several alphabets. Puruṣa was called sādhyapāla, who was to be hereditary, strongly built, a śūdra and obedient to the sabhyas (Vyāsa in Par. M. III. p. 30, V. P. p. 31). The ten aṅgas enumerated above (viz. king &c.) are respectively identified with the head, the mouth, the arms, the hands, the thighs (gaṇaka and lekhaka), the two eyes (gold and water), the heart, feet (Bṛ. in V. P. p. 31, Hārīta in Rāj. R. p. 20). In the Hall of Justice the king faces the east, the sabhyas, the accountant and the scribe respectively face the north, the west and the south (Bṛ. in Par. M. III. p. 35, Vyavahārasāra p. 25). Omitting the king and the chief judge the sabhā is said to have eight aṅgas in certain works (e.g. S. V. p. 72). The chief justice, the sabhyas and the learned brāhmaṇas were probably elderly people, as great emphasis is laid on this by Nār. (III. 18) and Udyogaparva 35. 58 'that is not a real sabhā where there are no elderly men &c.'³⁷².