History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c64.1270

v4.c64.1270

Ordeals (see under 'divya'); all allowed to all castes, except poison which was not for brāhmaṇas 365; all, to be administered by Chief Justice in the presence of king, sabhyas and brāhmaṇas 367; are to be resorted to only when none of the human means of proof are possible or available 304-05, 363; brief history of 361-362; by whom not to be undergone 365; Candaladevī, a Raṭṭa queen, underwent the ordeal of striking a snake in a jar 366n; Dharma, the principal deity in the procedure of 368; earliest reference to, in Pañcaviṁśa Brāhmaṇa and Chāndogya Upaniṣad 362; generally end in immediate decision 358; generally to be administered to defendant 364, 365; may be administered to any litigant by mutual agreement 364; mentioned in epigraphic records 376-77; of balance, description of 369-70, 376n; of balance to be administered to minors, women, very old men, the blind, the cripple, the diseased and brāhmaṇas 365; of balance, fire, poison and water to be administered in claims of over 1000 paṇas and in charges of treason and of a grave sin 365; of dharma described 375; of fire, described 370-71, 376n; of kośa, allowed in all claims of whatever value 365; of kośa, described 373-74; of phāla 375; of poison, described 372-73; of snake in the jar 367; of taṇḍula 374; of taptamāṣa 374-75; of water, described 371-72, 376; of water and poison had gone out of vogue in the age of the Smṛticandrikā, 371; persons of higher castes to be treated as Śūdras in o. if they follow profession of cowherds, traders, artisans, domestic servants 365; persons who could undergo o. through deputies 366; prevalence of, in judicial systems of most countries in ancient times 375-76; procedure common to all 368-69; proper place for o. 367-68; proper times and seasons for several 367; to be administered to mlecchas, untouchables, slaves, offspring of saṅkara are those customary among them 366; undergone by Mahomedan litigants under Maratha rule 378; were in vogue during Maratha rule 377-78; when not to be administered to certain persons 365-366; when optional with human means of proof 305.