Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 701

TRIAL BY ORDEAL
661
they may endure, no disgrace is attached to either. The
penalty of death itself leaves no stain on the memory of the
man who has undergone this supreme punishment and,
as a natural consequence, no sort of disgrace is reflected on
the family of the victim. A Brahmin would be degraded
and banished from his caste for having eaten food which
had been prepared, or drunk water that had been drawn, by
a person of lower caste but were he convicted of stealing,
of uttering vile calumnies, of attempting to take another
man's life, or of betraying his prince or country, none of
these offences would prevent his appearing without fear or
shame in public, or would hinder his being well received
everywhere.
In civil as well as in criminal cases, when the evidence does
not completely establish a fact, the Hindus often have re-
course to ordeals to decide the point at issue. There are
four ordeals generally recognized among Hindus, namely, by
the scales, by fire, by water, and by poison 1
It is not the magistrates only who order these trials by
ordeal.
Any one has the right to insist on such a trial.
Thus, if a theft has been committed, the head of a household
compels each member to undergo an ordeal. In the same
way, the head of a village may force it upon all the inhabi-
and a jealous
tants on whom criminal suspicion may rest
husband may order the same in the case of his wife whose
fidelity he doubts.
These ordeals sometimes produce such
an effect on the real culprits that they are convinced that
discovery is inevitable, and think it more prudent to confess
their guilt at once than to aggravate the matter by keeping
silence.
On the other hand, such ordeals often occasion
deplorable miscarriages of justice, and result in the convic-
tion of innocent persons, who, strong in the knowledge of
their innocence, fondly believe that the natural course of
things will be reversed in their favour 2
;
;
.
,
.
1
As trial by ordeal is one of the principal features in Hindu juris-
prudence, I have given a more detailed account of it in Appendix VI.
Dfbois.
This method of deciding a case, degrading example as it is of the
foolish beliefs of which the human mind is capable, was common enough
amongst all ancient heathen nations. Indeed it was still in existence in
most Christian countries till the thirteenth century. In the belief that
it was impossible, even in the most barbarous ages, for the obvious
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