Verse 8.116

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

वत्सस्य ह्यभिशस्तस्य पुरा भ्रात्रा यवीयसा ।
नाग्निर्ददाह रोमापि सत्येन जगतः स्पशः ॥ ११६ ॥

vatsasya hyabhiśastasya purā bhrātrā yavīyasā |
nāgnirdadāha romāpi satyena jagataḥ spaśaḥ || 116 ||

Formerly when Vatsa was accused by his younger brother, fire, the world’s spy, did not burn even a hair of his, because of truth.—(116)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

Question.— “How can it be that fire shall not burn or that water shall not throw up? Certainly elemental substances never renounce their natural functions, being as they are unconscious entities.”

It is in anticipation of this objection that the author corroborates his statement by means of a commendatory story. Though the matter in question is one that can he ascertained either by positive and negative induction, or by direct perception,—yet there may he people who would regard such phenomena in the same light as a magical performance, and so would be inclined to take all that is said regarding oaths and ordeals merely as intended to frighten the person into telling the truth; just in the same way as verbal threats and angry staring, etc., are used to make men tell the truth;—and it is in view of this contingency that the author has cited an instance from the Veda; as there are men who become convinced of the truth of a statement when it is corroborated by past occurrences.

Vatsa was a sage of the family of Kaṇva; he was ‘accused’—blamed—by his younger step-brother, of being not a Brāhmaṇa, but a Śūdra, whereupon he said—‘By truth, I enter fire, if I be not a Brāhmaṇa’; when having said this, he entered the fire, ‘the fire did not burn even his hair’;—and why?—‘because of truth.’

The question arising as to how fire can know the truth?—the answer is—‘fire is the world’s spy.’ The man who, keeping his real character concealed, comes to know what is done and what is not done by others, is called ‘spy,’ known also by such names as ‘cāra’, ‘praṇidhi’ and so forth. The God Agni moves within all living beings, and as such, is cognisant of all that is done or not done. We read in the Tāṇḍya Brāhmaṇa that “Agni is one who lies within the gods as well as the Asuras;—Gautama, approaching fire, said ‘May you Sir, operate within all beings’; and then he goes on to say—‘May you Sir, move about here as a spy.’” A similar passage from the Pañcaviṃśa-Brāhmaṇa may he quoted;—“Vatsa and Medhātithi were two sons of Kaśyapa; Medhātithi insulted Vatsa by saying—‘thou art not a Brāhmaṇa’; and the only remedy of this was Fire.”

Objection.—“As a matter of fact however, it is found that real thieves are not burnt by fire (when undergoing the ordeal) while innocent persons are actually burnt. How then can any reliance he placed upon oaths and ordeals?”

Our answer is as follows:—The principle here laid down cannot be rejected simply on the strength of a perceptible miscarriage; because such miscarriages are very rare. In fact, even in the case of perception and other forms of valid cognition, such miscarriages are met with; and yet these are not regarded as untrustworthy. Further, it has been declared that ‘what is found to be wrong does not deserve the name of Perception, etc.; what is found to ho wrong is not Perception; and what is Perception is never wrong’; and on the analogy of this statement, it may be asserted that ‘what miscarries is not an ordeal, and what is an ordeal never miscarries.’ For what is an ‘ordeal’? It is that wherein the full procedure is observed, all obstructions in the shape of spells neutralising the force of the fire and so forth duly examined and removed; what is contary (contrary) to this is not an ordeal.

And certainly an ordeal of the said kind never miscarries. Even though there be some such miscarriage, it must be regarded as the result of some past act of the man; in fact even a real criminal comes to be acquitted by virtue of some previous meritorious act; while an innocent man becomes convicted by virtue of an evil deed committed in his past life. The causes leading up to the fruition of past acts are truly strange. But with all this, it is only in one ease among a thousand that an ordeal is found to fail; as a rule it is infallible; and it is exactly the same with the Putreṣṭi, the Kārīrī and such other Vedic sacrifices.

From all this it follows that reliance should be placed upon oaths and ordeals also, just as on witnesses; for these latter also speak falsely sometimes.

Thus then, what has been said regarding ordeals is not meant simply to frighten the man. In fact, in the case of the said ordeals, it is the truth that prevails.—(116)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

“This story is told in Pañcaviṃśa Brāhmaṇa of the Sāma Veda”—Hopkins.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 8.114-116)

See Comparative notes for Verse 8.114.