History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.399

v4.c63.399

As regards the place, Pitāmaha prescribes that ordeals are to be administered by the king or the judge appointed by the king in the presence of learned brāhmaṇas and the public (or the ministers)⁵⁸¹. Kāt. (434-35 and 437) provides:⁵⁸² 'ordeals should be administered in some well-known temple in the case of men accused of grave sins and near the royal gate in the case of those charged with treason; in a public place where four roads meet in the case of those born of mixed unions in the reverse order of castes, in cases other than these in the hall of justice. When ordeals are administered in an improper place or at an improper time and when they are performed outside human habitation (in a lonely place) they fail as to the matter in hand (i. e. they cease to be decisive). Nār. IV. 265 prescribes that the balance should be planted in the hall of justice or at the royal gate or near a temple or where four roads meet.