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

S II. 1 5 6
M.p 18 l. 26-p 191 22 ] DOCUMENTS 25
When the transaction ( agreed upon ) is completed ( i e it is written
out ), the debtor should place below it his name in his own hand (adding)
'what is caused to be written above in this ( deed ) is assented to by me,
the son of such a one,' witnesses should write down in their own hand (their
own names ) preceded by their father's name 'in this matter I, so and so,
am a witness These witnesses should be even ( in number ) Then the
scribe should write at the end ( of the document ) 'this is written by me,
so and so, son of such and such, at the request of both parties'
'Samāh' means 'equal' in number and qualifications (with the parties).
In some (digests) there is coalescence of the letter 'a' (after 'te') and (so
they read) 'asamāh' (meaning 'uneven in number') Nārada (says)
If a debtor does not know the alphabet (i e is illiterate), he should
cause his assent to be written (by another); if a witness (be illiterate)
he should cause (his attestation) to be written by another witness in the
presence of all the witnesses
It was stated (by Bṛhaspati) that royal writing is of three kinds;
Yājñavalkya (I 318-320) and Bṛhaspati exhibit (the peculiarities of) it.
Having made a gift of land or a corrody the king should execute a
writing (about the gift) for the information of future good kings On a
piece of cloth or a copperplate marked at the top with his seal, the king,
having written down the names of his ancestors and of himself, the
measurements of the thing gifted, a description of the boundaries of the
thing donated,¹ should issue a permanent edict bearing the date and his
own signature
Nibandhaḥ means 'what is granted by a king and the like to be obtained at
fixed times from mines and the like,'² pratigrahaḥ means 'that which is
received as a gift such as land and the like;' parimānm means 'its extent';
dānam means 'what is gifted such as a house'; chheda means 'its limits';
upavarṇam means 'their mention' So also (Bṛhaspati pp 306-307 vv18-19)
When a king pleased with the services, valour and the like, of a person,
grants a district and the like to him by a writing, it is called a prasāda-
likhita (a writing of favour) When a king, after a decision on hearing
the plaint, the reply and the evidence adduced, gives a writing to the
successful party, that is called a jayapatra (a writing of success, a decree)

1. 'Dāna . varṇanam' may also mean 'setting out the smṛti passages con-
   demning the resumption of gifts made by former kings' This is a preferable explanation
   and is supported by the verses occurring in almost all grants condemning the resumption
   of gifts. These verses and the following passage of the Mayūkha up to jayapatra are quoted in
   The collector of Thana v Hari I. L. R 6 Bom. 546 ( F B ) at pp 557--558
   2 The definition of nibandha is quoted in Ghelabhai v Hargovan I. L. R. 36 Bom.
   94 at p 101 as showing that it is not the king alone who can make a grant of a nibandha.
   *P 28 (text).
   V. M. 4