Trial by Ordeal is one of the old methods for determining a
person's guilt or innocence was via an ordeal.
Ordeals were seen to be a "divine" proof, but they
could only be employed when human proofs like evidence or eyewitness testimony
were insufficient or unavailable.
These trios proved crimes conducted in private or in
isolated locations, issues of sexual consent, and money left for deposit by
following a strict ritual protocol.
There were four options for the trial: fire, water, balance,
or poison.
Carrying a red-hot iron ball, licking a red-hot plow share,
or taking a ring or coin from a cauldron of boiling oil were all part of the
fire experience, with guilt or innocence determined by whether or not one was
burnt.
The water ordeal required staying underwater for a certain
amount of time, with failure to do so determining guilt.
The balancing experience was carried out by a series of
weighings, with the belief that a guilty individual would grow more heavier.
The poison experience was completed by either eating poison
or carefully extracting a coin from a clay pot holding a cobra, with survival
proving innocence.
There were also really severe rules about which of these
ordeals specific individuals were permitted to do.
Women, the elderly, and the infirm were subjected to
balancing tests, and brahmins were often prohibited from participating in
poison ordeals.
Every time, the individual declaring his or her innocence
was followed by remarks praising the saving power of truth and the damning
force of lie.
Historians believe that the mandatory declarations aided in
the reliability of the experience.
For example, a guilty per son may be substantially more
apprehensive while licking a red-hot plowshare, resulting in less wetness on
the tongue.
Similarly, a person's capacity to hold his breath may have
been hampered by his fear throughout the water experience.
Whether or whether these theories are correct, the
confidence in the power of truth itself was the most significant characteristic
in the original Hindu setting.
Activating Organs: See also karmendriya.
