Ordeals
“divyas”
event · 8 works · 10 mentions · 24 anchored passages
divine ordeal · ordeal · ordeal of consecrated water · ordeal of rice grains · balance ordeal · consecrated water ordeal · dhata · divine evidence · divine ordeal of eating rice grains · divya
spoken of as
3 expressionsDivine Ordeal4 mentions
Kātyāyana Smṛti (Sanskrit) · Bṛhaspati Smṛti (Sanskrit)
## Places for Ordeals
Trial by Ordeal“Judgments of God”3 mentions
An Essay on Crimes and Punishments (English) · An Essay on the Trial by Jury (English) · The Genius of the Common Law (English)
This infamous test of truth is a remaining monument of that ancient and savage legislation, in which trials by fire, by boiling water, or the uncertainty of combats, were called judgments of God;
Ordeal“divine evidence”2 mentions
Nāradasmṛti (Sanskrit) · An Essay on Crimes and Punishments (English)
divine evidence is remembered as the ordeal by balance and so on.
in the texts
Kātyāyana Smṛti
A form of divine proof (by poison, fire, water, balance, consecrated water, or rice grains) used to establish truth when human proof is unavailable or insufficient, governed by detailed procedural, caste-based, and situational rules.
## Places for Ordeals
## The Procedure for the Ordeal of Fire
## The Procedure for the Ordeal of Water
An Essay on Crimes and Punishments
Ancient ordeal practices—trial by fire, boiling water, or combat—once believed to reveal divine judgment, compared to torture.
This infamous test of truth is a remaining monument of that ancient and savage legislation, in which trials by fire, by boiling water, or the uncertainty of combats, were called judgments of God;
An Essay on the Trial by Jury
A mode of trial by physical trial (hot iron, water, etc.), argued to have been an appeal from, not a substitute for, jury verdict.
Hallam says, “It appears as if the ordeal were permitted to persons already convicted by the verdict of a jury.
I apprehend that this trial was never forced upon accused persons, but was only allowed to them, as an appeal to God, from the judgment of a jury.
This idea is corroborated by the fact that the trial by ordeal was specially prohibited only four years after Magna Carta, “by act of Parliament in 3 Henry III.
The Genius of the Common Law
Archaic 'judgment of God' by fire or water, given to a suspect already presumed guilty as a last chance of escape.
Neither ordeal nor trial by battle could be reduced to strictly ceremonial proceedings.
What has been said about proof not being a burden but an advantage does not apply to trial by battle, nor to the other kinds of ‘judgment of God,’ namely ordeal by fire or water.
Bṛhaspati Smṛti
A ritual trial invoked as proof in disputes lacking ordinary evidence, such as secretly deposited treasure.
Where a dispute arises over a treasure given in secret, a divine ordeal is remembered as the means of proof for both.
Nāradasmṛti
A ritual trial (such as the ordeal by balance) used as 'divine evidence' when ordinary human evidence is unavailable, restricted to specific circumstances like remote or dangerous settings.
divine evidence is remembered as the ordeal by balance and so on.
When a legal matter is conducted in the daytime, in villages or cities, and when witnesses are available, divine evidence is not to be used.
In a forest, in a deserted place, at night, inside a house, in cases of violence, and in the denial of a deposit, divine evidence is possible.
Viṣṇu Smṛti
Judicial ordeals used to determine guilt or innocence when normal proof is insufficient, including the balance, fire, water, poison, and consecrated water ordeals
And not in the rainy season.
Now, the ordeals (*samayakriyā*).
And on the holder of the balance.
Yājñavalkya Smṛti
A ritual trial by balance, fire, water, poison, or sacred libation used to determine truth in grave legal accusations.
Ordeals (divyaprakaraṇam)
if, upon his return, the accused is still seen submerged, he attains purity.
he whose body digests it without ill effects, his purity should be declared.