History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.383

v4.c63.383

Yāj. II. 95-113, Viṣṇu Dh. S. IX-XIV, Nār. IV. 239-348, Kāt. 411-461, Śukra IV. 5. 233-270 treat of the several ordeals Pitāmaha contained, as the quotations from the digests show, the most elaborate treatment. That ordeals had attained great vogue in the early centuries of the Christian era is shown by the Mṛcchakaṭika Act IX. 43 (where the ordeals of poison, water, balance and fire are expressly named) and by Bāṇa who mentions the same four in Kādambarī, para 47⁵⁶⁸. Among the digests and commentaries the Mitākṣarā, the Smṛticandrikā, the Divyatattva of Raghunandana, the Vyavahāramayūkha and the Vyavahāraprakāśa contain the most elaborate treatment of ordeals⁵⁶⁹.