History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.395.2

v4.c63.395.2

(424-426) prescribes that the ordeal of fire should not be offered to blacksmiths or those who are leprous nor of water to those who ply boats or who suffer from difficulty in breathing or cough, nor poison to those who are experts in incantations and *yogic* practices or who suffer from (excess of) bile or phlegm, nor *kośa* to those who are drunkards, to persons fond of women, to gamblers and to those who are atheists. Viṣṇu Dh. S. IX. 25, 29 and Nār. IV. 255, 332 contain similar provisions. Kāt. (427-430) further provides that no ordeal should be allowed to be performed personally by the following persons, viz. those charged with the murder of their father, mother, a brāhmaṇa, their teacher, a minor, a woman and the king; those guilty of the (five) grave sins; particularly those that are atheists; those who wear (or subsist by) peculiar sect marks; great rogues; those who are experts in incantations and *yoga* practices; those who are the progeny of unions of persons of different varṇas; those who repeatedly engage in sin; in the case of these the king should offer ordeals to good men appointed by them on their behalf and if such good men are not willing then they should appoint their own relatives. Śaṅkha-Likhita also refer to the appointment of friends or relatives as representatives (Aparārka p. 842)⁵⁷⁹. Kāt. (433)⁵⁸⁰ lays down the following rather remarkable provision, viz.