Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 33.pdf

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The Minor Law Books (SBE33)
by Julius Jolly
[1889]
It is truth which makes the earth bear all beings, truth which makes the sun rise. It is through truth that
winds blow, and that the waters flow.--p. 93
This is a translation of the Hindu law books written about the sixth century CE by Narada
and Brihaspati. These are later works than the other legal writings in the Sacred Books of
the East series, such as The Laws of Manu (SBE25), The Institutes of Vishnu (SBE07),
Sacred Laws of the Aryas, Part I (SBE02), and Sacred Laws of the Aryas, Part II
(SBE14), all composed prior to 200 BCE at the latest. According to Jolly, the courtroom
procedure discussed here is very similar to that described in the earliest known Hindu
drama, The Little Clay Cart.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
INTRODUCTION TO NÂRADA
ABBREVIATIONS
NÂRADA
THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE
INTRODUCTION. I. Legal Procedure
II. The Plaint
III. Courts of Justice
FIRST TITLE OF LAW. The Law of Debt
1. Payment of a Debt
2. Valid and Invalid Transactions
3. Property
4. Means of Livelihood for a Brahman in Times of Distress
5. Modes of Proof
6. Lending Money at Interest
7. Usurers
8. Sureties
9. Pledges
10. Documents
11. Witnesses
12. Incompetent Witnesses
13. Six Cases where Witnesses are unnecessary
14. False Witnesses
15. Exhorting the Witnesses
16. Valid Evidence
17. Invalid Evidence
18. What has to be done in default of both Witnesses and Documents
19. Proof by Ordeal
20. The Ordeal by Balance
21. The Ordeal by Fire
p. viii
xi
xxiii
1
1
5
14
36
41
41
49
52
55
58
65
68
70
72
75
79
82
85
86
91
95
96
96
100
102
108
PAGE
22. The Ordeal by Water
111
23. The Ordeal by Poison
24. The Ordeal by Sacred Libation
25. The Rice Ordeal
26. The Ordeal of the Hot Piece of Gold
SECOND TITLE OF LAW. Deposits
THIRD TITLE OF LAW. Partnership
FOURTH TITLE OF LAW. Resumption of Gift
FIFTH TITLE OF LAW. Breach of a Contract of Service
SIXTH TITLE OF LAW. Non-payment of Wages
SEVENTH TITLE OF LAW. Sales Effected by Another than the Rightful Owner
EIGHTH TITLE OF Law. Non-delivery of a Sold Chattel
NINTH TITLE OF LAW. Rescission of Purchase
TENTH TITLE OF LAW. Transgression of a Compact
ELEVENTH TITLE OF LAW. Boundary Disputes
TWELFTH TITLE OF LAW. The Mutual Duties of Husband and Wife
THIRTEENTH TITLE OF LAW. The Law of Inheritance
FOURTEENTH TITLE OF LAW. Heinous Offences
FIFTEENTH AND SIXTEENTH TITLES OF LAW. Abuse and Assault
SEVENTEENTH TITLE OF LAW. Games
EIGHTEENTH TITLE OF LAW. Miscellaneous
APPENDIX. Theft
QUOTATIONS FROM NÂRADA
I. Judicial Procedure
II. The Plaint
III. The Answer
IV. Writings and Possession
V. Witnesses
VI. Ordeals
VII. Miscellaneous Laws
INTRODUCTION TO THE FRAGMENTS OF BRIHASPATI
BRIHASPATI
I. Constitution of a Court of Justice
II. General Rules of Procedure
p. ix
114
116
118
119
120
124
128
131
139
144
146
149
153
155
164
188
202
207
212
214
223
233
233
235
239
242
244
247
263
271
277
277
282
PAGE
III. The Plaint
IV. The Answer
V. The Trial
289
292
294
VI. The Judgment
VII. The Witnesses
VIII. Documents
IX. Possession
X. Ordeals
XI. The Law of Debt
XII. Deposits
XIII. Sale without Ownership
XIV. Concerns of a Partnership
XV. Resumption of Gifts
XVI. Master and Servant
XVII. Violation of Agreements
XVIII. Rescission of Purchase and Sale
XIX. Boundary Disputes
XX. Defamation
XXI. Assault
XXII. Robbery and Violence
XXIII. Adultery
XXIV. Duties of Man and Wife
XXV. The Law of Inheritance
XXVI. Gambling and Betting
XXVII. Miscellaneous
ADDENDA
Transliteration of Oriental Alphabets adopted for the Translations of the Sacred Books of
the East
297
299
304
309
315
319
332
334
336
341
343
346
350
351
355
357
359
365
367
369
385
386
391
393
INTRODUCTION
TO
NÂRADA.
T
HE
Nârada-smriti or Nâradîya Dharmasâstra first
Supposed origin of the Code of Manu.
attracted
attention nearly a century ago by being quoted in the Preface to Sir W. Jones's celebrated
translation of the Code of Manu. What caused it to be brought before the notice of the learned
world, was its bearing on the origin and history of the authoritative law-book of ancient India.
The statements extracted by Sir W. Jones from the opening chapter of Nârada's law-book require
some modification at present, as he was not acquainted with the larger and more authentic of the
two versions of Nârada's work, which is now translated. It appears from the present work (pp. 1-
4) that Nârada, the reputed compiler of the Nâradîya Dharmasâstra, refers to four, instead of
three, successive versions of the Code of Manu, in 100,000
slokas
or 1,080 chapters, in 12,000,
8,000, and 4,000
slokas.
The authorship of these four versions is assigned, respectively, to Manu,
Nârada, Mârkandeya, and Sumati, the son of Bhrigu, and the Nârada-smriti is described as an
abridgment, made by Nârada, of the ninth or Vyavahâra (legal) chapter of the original Code in
100,000
slokas.
The first part of Nârada's abridgment of the ninth chapter of Manu's Code is
designed as a mâtrikâ or vyavahâra-mâtrikâ, 'summary of proceedings-at-law' or 'general rules of
procedure.'
Though the mythical nature of the Preface to the Nârada-smriti
Explanation of the legend.
is
sufficiently apparent, some facts which recently have come to light impart a higher degree of
probability to the alleged connexion between Manu and Nârada, than was formerly allowed by
myself. Thus the contents of Nârada's Preface to his Smriti appear
p. xii
to have been known to such an early author as Medhâtithi, who quotes it, rather loosely it is true,
in his Commentary on the Code of Manu, where he says that 'this work, consisting of one
hundred thousand (slokas), was composed by Pragâpati and abridged successively by Manu and
the rest
1
.' This goes far to prove that the Preface to the Nârada-smriti had attained notoriety as
early as the ninth century A.D., and must be nearly or quite as old as the remainder of the work.
The antiquity of the account given by Nârada of the origin and history of the principal code of
ancient India is supported to some extent by the Paurânik statement regarding four successive
remodellings of the original composition of Svâyambhuva (Manu), by Bhrigu, Nârada,
Brihaspati, and Aṅgiras
2
, and by a curious tradition preserved in the Mahâbhârata, to the effect
that the original Dharmasâstra, produced by Brahman in 100,000 chapters, was successively
reduced to 10,000, 5,000, 3,000, and 1,000 chapters by
Samkara,
Indra, Brihaspati, and Kâvya
3
.
What is more, in a colophon of the ancient Nepalese MS. of the Nârada-smriti, that work is
actually designed as the Mânava Dharmasâstra in the recension of Nârada (mânave dharmasâstre
nâradaproktâyâm samhitâyâm), just as the Code of Manu in the colophons is usually called the

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