Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s19.58

v1.c3.s19.58

The procedure adopted in deciding cases is quite uncertain. In the Chāndogya Upaniṣad¹² the ordeal of the red-hot axe is mentioned as applied in an accusation of theft. It must apparently be understood to have been inflicted by the direction of the king. But no other judicial ordeal is known to Vedic literature (see Divya). The punishment of theft was in some cases at least death, probably when the thief was taken red-handed;¹³ in other cases binding to posts was the penalty,¹⁴ presumably accompanied by the return of the stolen goods. In the Chāndogya Upaniṣad¹⁵ the list of sins given as apparently equal in wickedness is stealing gold, drinking spirits, defiling a Guru’s bed, and the murder of a Brahmin.