The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c16.s1.42

c16.s1.42

On civil and criminal law and on procedure, the Agni Purâṇa dilates at enormous length but there are only a few ideas which are peculiar to it, which are likely to have a practical bearing and which alone need be noted. There are four sources of law—the Scriptures, custom, the practice of the righteous and royal commands. Treason on the part of feudatories or governors should be punished by amputation of the hands and by impalement.² Enemies of the public good should be executed publicly, while all other sentences should be carried out privately.³ In the royal court, assessors and ordeals are admitted. So we have the involved statement that a tribunal should consist of the eight limbs of a lawsuit—the king, the judge, the jurors, the scriptures, the astrologer, the clerk, gold, fire, and water.⁴ Witnesses should belong to the same caste or social order as the party which cites them.⁵