Verse 8.75

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

साक्षी दृष्टश्रुतादन्यद् विब्रुवन्नार्यसंसदि ।
अवाङ्नरकमभ्येति प्रेत्य स्वर्गाच्च हीयते ॥ ७५ ॥

sākṣī dṛṣṭaśrutādanyad vibruvannāryasaṃsadi |
avāṅnarakamabhyeti pretya svargācca hīyate || 75 ||

A witness asserting, in an assembly of noble men, anything apart from what he has seen and heard, falls downwards into hell after death and becomes shut out from heaven.—(75)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

The present verse describes the results accruing to the witness who deposes falsely.

The term ‘seen and heard’ is synonymous with ‘apprehended,’ as has been already explained; ‘apart from this’ is what is not apprehended, or known to him;—if he asserts any such thing, ‘in an assembly of noble men,’—in the court consisting of honourable persons,—he ‘falls downwards’—headlong—‘into hell’—to a place where he undergoes punishments at the hands of the god Yama;—‘after death’—‘and becomes shut out from heaven,’—i.e., falls down. That is, even though he may have committed deeds entitling him to go to heaven, yet he becomes shut out from it, by virtue of the more serious nature of the sin of perjury. It is not that the ‘Karma’ calculated to carry him to heaven is destroyed by this sin; since every act is conducive to the fulfilment of its own reward (and does not interfere with that of others), with the sole exception of the Expiatory Rites (which have no results of their own, and only tend to nullify those of the corresponding sinful acts).—(75)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

‘Saṃsadi’—‘In the Court’ (Medhātithi);—‘in an assembly of Brāhmaṇas’ (Govindarāja).

‘Svargāt hīyate’—‘Falls off from heaven which he may have earned by meritorious acts’ (Medhātithi, Govindarāja, Kullūka and Nandana);—‘even after passing through hell, he cannot get into heaven’ (Nārāyaṇa).

This verse is quoted in Smṛticandrikā (Vyavahāra, p. 200);—and in Kṛtyakalpataru (38a).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Gautama (13.7).—‘Heaven is the reward of witnesses, if they speak the truth; in the contrary case, hell.’

Baudhāyana (1.19.14-15).—‘If the witness rightly recollects the facts of the case, he will receive commendation from the most eminent men;—in the contrary case, he will fall into hell.’

Āpastamba (2.29.9-10)—‘If he tells an untruth, hell will he his punishment after death;—if he speaks the truth, his reward will be heaven and the approbation of all beings.’

Viṣṇu (8.14).—‘Witnesses are free from blame, if they give true evidence.’