Administrative System of the Marathas c25.s4.32

c25.s4.32

We read the following account of an agni-divya in a Marathi document. "On Wednesday my hands were bandaged and sealed. The next day, Thursday, the aforesaid Pandit sat with the Brahmans, Watandars and men of note on the banks of the Godaveri, opened the bandage of my hands in the presence of the god, and had them rubbed with rice, and then they were washed. The signs on the two hands were all marked and an iron ball fifty palas or 168 tolas 2 mashas in weight was duly weighed and thrice heated in fire. They bound a *bhalapatra* on my forehead, placed seven *ashvathva* leaves on my hands and bound them with thread. Then they placed the ball on my hand and ordered me to walk over seven circles and drop the ball on the eighth. Accordingly I walked over the seven circles and dropped the ball on some grains which had been kept in the appointed place and the grains took fire. * * Then the aforesaid Pandit, and all the assembly inspected my hands and they were shown to Ganesh Dattaji. The hands were not even slightly burnt by fire. Then they again bandaged and sealed my hands and after two *prahars* of day and four *prahars* of night had elapsed they took me to the assembly on Friday (the Dvadashi) morning. The bandage was taken off and the aforesaid Pandit and the people assembled inspected the hands. Both the hands were shown to Ganesh Dattaji. No wound, not even one of the size of a sesame seed, was seen on the hand. The signs on the hands noted at the time of the ordeal were carefully compared, there was no difference whatever." ³⁷ Almost all the details of Narada's regulations were carefully attended to in the abovementioned ordeal. In fact the old practice continued with very little variation. This conclusion will be further confirmed by a comparison between Alberuni's account of an ordeal by heated metal and a Marathi account of rava in an old Mahajar.⁵⁸ Trial by ordeal survived in Southern India till the downfall of the Marathas and it existed in a modified form in Travancore.⁵⁹