History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.405

v4.c63.405

First comes *tulā* or *dhaṭa* (balance). A sacrificial tree (such as *khadira* or *udumbara*) should be cut to the accompaniment of vedic mantras (employed in making a sacrificial post). Two wooden posts made of that tree should support a transverse beam (called *akṣa*). The posts should be fixed in the ground, the part above ground being four cubits and that below being two cubits. This frame should face the east (i. e. the posts must be in the south and north). Then the beam of the balance was to be made from the same tree and was to be suspended from the transverse beam of the frame by means of a hook. Three iron rings were to be fastened to the beam of the balance, two at the end and one in the middle for suspending the balance from the transverse beam by means of a chain or string. Two scales were to be suspended at the two ends of the beam by hooks and strings from the iron rings fixed at the ends of the beam. On the two sides of the balance there should be two arches in which the scales should move and which should be ten angulas higher than the balance. There should be two perpendicular pendants made of clay hanging down from the arches and touching the upper surface of the balance. In the pan to the west the *śodhya* should be placed and weighed against clay, bricks and stones placed in the other pan. Then traders or goldsmiths or braziers should examine the balance and bring it on a level with the two pendants hanging down from the arches and examine the perfect horizontality of the beam of the balance by spilling a little water on the beam. When the person sitting in one pan is equal in weight to the materials (clay &c.) in the other, a line should be drawn with chalk by the experts on the arch (to show the exact position of the pans). Then the man is made to get down from the pan and he is to invoke the balance as stated in Yāj. II. 101–102. 'O balance, you are the abode of truth, you were created by the gods for this purpose, declare the truth, free me from this (cloud of) suspicion. Mother! if I am a sinner then take me lower, if I am pure take me upwards'. The person is then to hear exhortations about the result of untruth after putting the writing on his head (vide Nār. IV. 276 and Viṣṇu Dh. S. X. 9), then he is again to be placed in the pan to the accompaniment of invocations (Nār. IV. 278–279, Viṣṇu Dh. S. X. 10–11). A worthy brāhmaṇa learned in astronomy is to calculate the time of five *palas* ⁵⁸⁴ or *vināḍīs*. Then his weight is again to be marked. If the person goes up (i. e. is found lighter than what he formerly weighed) he is declared innocent (acc. to the com. on Nār. IV. 283, V. Mayūkha p. 60, Dīpakalikā on Yāj. II. 102); if he weighs the same or goes down (i. e. weighs more) he is guilty. Then the person concerned is to distribute gifts to the judge, the brāhmaṇas and sacrificial priests and take leave of the deities invoked. Bṛhaspati (SBE vol. 33 p. 317 v. 19) states that he who weighs the same should be weighed once more. If the pan or the beam or the hooks break or the ropes give way owing to some visible cause then the procedure was to be repeated, but if the breaking is due to an unseen cause or accident, the person was to be declared guilty.