Chapter 8

Vishnu Smriti 8

Now, those who cannot be witnesses: // Vi_8.1 //

The king, a Vedic scholar, a religious mendicant, a gambler, a thief, a dependent person, a woman, a child, a perpetrator of violence, a very old man, an intoxicated person, a madman, an accused person, an outcaste, one afflicted by hunger or thirst, one in distress, one blinded by passion, and a blind man. // Vi_8.2 //

And an enemy, a friend, one connected by interest, one of wicked deeds, one of proven fault, and an accomplice. // Vi_8.3 //

And one who, though not appointed, comes forward to speak as a witness. // Vi_8.4 //

And one witness alone is not a witness. // Vi_8.5 //

In cases of theft, violence, defamation, assault, and abduction, witnesses need not be examined for their character. // Vi_8.6 //

Now, those who can be witnesses: // Vi_8.7 //

Men of good family, endowed with good conduct and wealth, performers of sacrifices, ascetics, fathers of sons, knowers of dharma, students of the Veda, truthful men, and elders learned in the three Vedas. // Vi_8.8 //

One man alone, if endowed with the stated qualities and approved by both parties, may be a witness. // Vi_8.9 //

Of two disputants, the witnesses of the one who made the first claim shall be questioned. // Vi_8.10 //

Where, due to the nature of the case, the burden of proof falls on the first party, there the defendant's witnesses may also be questioned. // Vi_8.11 //

If an appointed witness dies or goes to another country, those who heard what he said are valid proof. // Vi_8.12 //

A witness is so from having seen with his own eyes or from having heard. // Vi_8.13 //

And witnesses are purified by truth. // Vi_8.14 //

But by untruth where it would cause the death of a member of any of the varṇas. // Vi_8.15 //

For purification from that sin, a twice-born man shall offer clarified butter into the fire with the Kūśmāṇḍī hymns. // Vi_8.16 //

A Śūdra shall give one day's fodder for ten cows. // Vi_8.17 //

A false witness may be known by a change in his natural demeanor, a change in the color of his face, and by incoherent speech. // Vi_8.18 //

Having summoned the witnesses at sunrise, the king shall question them after they have taken an oath. // Vi_8.19 //

He shall question a Brāhmaṇa by saying, "Speak." // Vi_8.20 //

A Rājanya (Kṣatriya) by saying, "Speak the truth." // Vi_8.21 //

A Vaiśya, by swearing him by his cows, seeds, and gold. // Vi_8.22 //

A Śūdra, by all the great sins. // Vi_8.23 //

And he shall make the witnesses hear: // Vi_8.24 //

The worlds which are for those who commit great sins, and those which are for those who commit minor sins, are also for false witnesses. // Vi_8.25 //

And the loss of all merit acquired between birth and death. // Vi_8.26 //

By truth the sun shines. // Vi_8.27 //

By truth the moon gleams. // Vi_8.28 //

By truth the wind blows. // Vi_8.29 //

By truth the earth supports. // Vi_8.30 //

By truth the waters stand still. // Vi_8.31 //

By truth is fire. // Vi_8.32 //

And by truth is the sky. // Vi_8.33 //

By truth are the gods. // Vi_8.34 //

By truth are the sacrifices. // Vi_8.35 //

A thousand horse-sacrifices and Truth were weighed in a balance; Truth indeed outweighed a thousand horse-sacrifices. || Vi_8.36 ||

Those witnesses who, though knowing, remain silent and indifferent, They are equal in sin to false witnesses, and also in punishment. || Vi_8.37 ||

Thus the king shall question the witnesses in order of their varṇa. || Vi_8.38 ||

He whose claim the witnesses declare to be true shall be victorious. He whose claim they say is otherwise, his defeat is certain. || Vi_8.39 ||

In a conflict of witnesses, the king shall accept the majority. If they are equal, he shall accept those of superior qualities; in a conflict of qualities, the best of the twice-born. || Vi_8.40 ||

In whatever dispute a false witness speaks an untruth, That proceeding shall be reversed, and what was done shall become undone. || Vi_8.41 ||