Verse 8.63

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:

आप्ताः सर्वेषु वर्णेषु कार्याः कार्येषु साक्षिणः ।
सर्वधर्मविदोऽलुब्धा विपरीतांस्तु वर्जयेत् ॥ ६३ ॥

āptāḥ sarveṣu varṇeṣu kāryāḥ kāryeṣu sākṣiṇaḥ |
sarvadharmavido'lubdhā viparītāṃstu varjayet || 63 ||

In all law-suits trustworthy men of all the castes, fully conversant with morality and free from avarice, should be made witnesses; the reverse of these should be avoided.—(63)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Trustworthy,’—who never say what is not in conformity with facts; who always state facts as they are actually seen; with regard to whom people never have any suspicion of being liars.

‘Fully conversant witḥ morality’;—who are always engaged in the performance of their religious duties, and who know them; i.e., who act up to all that is enjoined in the Veda and in the Smṛtis and sanctioned by usage, and who know everything regarding what leads to heaven and what to hell. Such people, perceiving that the telling of lies will lead to hell, are afraid of untruth.

‘Free from avarice,’—i.e., of magnanimous temperament, not liable to regarding a little wealth as much.

Each individual witness should he possessed of all these qualification; these are stated as subsidiary to the act of giving evidence; and combination is always intended in regard to what are subsidiaries.

‘Of all castes’;—that is to say, there is no restriction regarding castes. As regards the rule relating to the restriction of castes, that we shall explain later on. The meaning of the present text therefore is that ‘men of any caste, according as they be available, should ho cited as witnesses by all suitors.’

‘In all suits,’—such as non-payment of debt and the rest.

Those who are the ‘reverse’ of those specified above ‘should be avoided.’— Though as a matter of fact, when specially qualified persons have been specified, there is no possibility of the admission of those who are the ‘reverse’ of them,—yet the preclusion is in accordance with popular usage: ordinary men are often found to assert one thing and deny its contrary (in the same sentence); e.g., they are found to say—“an operation alters a material substance, and not what is not material.’ Further, the chief qualification of witnesses is truthfulness; and this cannot be ascertained in its positive form; in fact it can be ascertained only negatively, by finding out that the man does not pervert truth; this latter again is not perceptible because what the ‘non-perverting of truth’ means is the telling of truth, and in regard to what cm only be heard by the ear, bow can there he any perceptible cognition of the truth of what is stated by the words? If the facts were perceptible, there would be no need for seeking for any witnesses. And in regard to all things cognisable by means of words,

there is no amenability to any other means of cognition. So that it is only when it is found that in a certain person all those conditions are absent which are found to be conducive to telling lies, that the veracity—i.e., his incapability to pervert truth—conies to be inferred. Thus it is with a view to indicate this that we have the words ‘the reverse of these should be avoided.’—(63)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Vyavahāra-Bālambhaṭṭī (p. 256 and 281);—and in Smṛticandrikā (Vyavahāra, p. 177).

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 8.61-63)

See Comparative notes for Verse 8.61.