व्यवहारमयूख (नीलकण्ठ भट्ट - पश्चिमी भारत की हिन्दू न्याय-संहिता एवं व्यवहार कोष)

ORDEAL OF WATER 69
surpasses in speed fifty runners Then the judge standing at the foot of the to-
rana should clap his hands thrice and simultaneously with the third clap
the person undergoing ordeal and the swift man at the foot of the torana
should ( respectively ) dive and run fast The diving should be done after
holding the thighs of the person who holds fast the post of dharma. Then
when ( the swift man ) reaches the place of the falling of the middle arrow
the ( other swif man ) who stands there holding the arrow should go fast to
the torana and if he finds the person performing the ordeal still inside the
water then he is cleared ( of guilt ) He is cleared even if only the head is
seen, but not if he sees some other limb such as the ear or if he (the s'odhya)
floats to some spot other than where he dived. Here ends the method of
water ordeal.
Now (begins) the method of poison ordeal.
On this point Nārada ( p 260 vv 69-70 ) says —
After having worshipped Mahes'vara¹ ( S'iva ) with incense, offering
( of food ) and mantras, one should, after observing a fast, administer
poison ( by way of ordeal ) in the presence of gods ( idols ) and brā-
hmanas A brāhmana, whose mind is concentrated and who faces the
north or the east should administer ( poison as ordeal ) only in the presence
of brāhmanas to a person who stands facing the south
The same author ( Nārada p 115 v. 324 ) states the quantity of the poison
( to be administered ) :
In the rains the quantity ( of poison ) is to be of the weight of four yavas
(grains of barley), in summer it is declared to be five yavas, in Hemanta
( 1 e December and January ) it is to be seven yavas and in S'arad
( i. e October-November ) of less quantity than the latter.²
*Alpā' ( of less quantity ) means 'of three yavas' Hemanta includes ( the
season of ) s'is'ira also ( 1 e February and March ) as S'ruti ( the Veda )
compresses the³ two ( seasons into one ); while Vasanta ( spring, April and
May ) follows as a matter of course, as it is declared ( vide above p. 46 ) as a
common season for all ordeals Vijñānes'vara holds that in that season also the
quantity of poison is to be seven yavas And poison should be administered
with ghee thirty times as much, since Kātyāyana says :—

1. S'iva is to be worshipped here most appropriately as in mythology he swallowed
   the terrific hālāhala poison that sprang up when the ocean was churned by the gods.
   2 According to the Mit. and the Vir., this last means ' of six yavas. '
2. This is a reference to the Aitareya-Brāhmaṇa I. 1., where we have ' there are
   five seasons in a year, Hemanta and S'is'ira being compressed into one, '
   *P. 81 ( text ),