Verse 8.87

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:

देवब्राह्मणसांनिध्ये साक्ष्यं पृच्छेद् ऋतं द्विजान् ।
उदङ्मुखान् प्राङ्मुखान् वा पूर्वाह्णे वै शुचिः शुचीन् ॥ ८७ ॥

devabrāhmaṇasāṃnidhye sākṣyaṃ pṛcched ṛtaṃ dvijān |
udaṅmukhān prāṅmukhān vā pūrvāhṇe vai śuciḥ śucīn || 87 ||

In the presence of gods and Brāhmaṇas, during forenoon, the judge, pure himself, shall ask the twice-born persons, who have been purified and are facing either the north or the east, to give evidence.—(87)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Gods’—Durgā, Sūrya and the rest, set up in the form of images.

‘Purified,’—i.e., who have performed the rites of bathing, mouth-rinsing and so forth.

‘Pure,’—the judge himself should have purified himself in the same way.

‘Truth,’—this is a mere re-iteration of what is already implied; and it servos the purpose of filling up the metre.—(87)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Aparārka (p. 673);—in Parāśaramādhava (Vyavahāra, p. 78);—in Vyvahāramayūkha (p. 18);—in Vyavahāratattva (p. 32);—in Smṛticandrikā (Vyavahāra, p. 203);—and in Kṛtyakalpataru (33b).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Āpastamba (2.29.7).—(See under 79.)

Viṣṇu (8.19).—‘Let the Judge summon the witnesses at the time of sunrise, and examine them after having bound them by an oath.’

Nārada (1.198).—‘After having summoned all the witnesses, and bound them down firmly by oath, the Judge shall examine them separately; they should be men of proved integrity and conversant with the circumstances of the case.’

Bṛhaspati (7.22, 23).—‘Knowing all this, the witness should give evidence according to truth. After putting off his shoes and his turban, he should stretch out his right hand, and declare the truth, taking in his hands, gold, cowdung or blades of kuśa grass.’