When a debt has been pledged and the amount owed has doubled, it is time for the pledge to be released; upon presenting the full doubled sum, the person regains their pledged property. If, in a time of distress, someone quietly places their property in another’s hands without making a formal declaration, that property is regarded as a deposit and must be returned in the same manner it was received. However, if the property is lost due to the actions of the king, the gods, or thieves, the one holding it is not required to return it. Yet, should the property later be found and restored after diligent search, it must be returned to its owner, and an equivalent fine must be paid as well. If anyone takes property entrusted to them and uses it for their own purposes, such a person deserves lifelong punishment and must return the property with interest. This rule applies equally to all deposits and pledges, whether they were formally requested or not. Agni then spoke of those whose testimony is to be trusted: ascetics, those devoted to charity, people of noble lineage, those who speak the truth, the righteous, the upright, and those who have sons and grandsons. Those engaged in the five daily sacrifices, and those serving as witnesses—whether five or three, according to their birth and class—are all considered valid in all matters. But there are others whose testimony is not accepted: women, the elderly, children, gamblers, those intoxicated or insane, the accused, actors, heretics, forgers, and those with impaired senses. Also excluded are the fallen, those who eat with outcasts, associates, companions, enemies, thieves, those without witnesses, and all witnesses in cases involving theft, abuse, or violence. If both parties in a dispute agree upon a witness—even if there is only one who knows righteousness—his testimony is valid. But if a person, knowing the truth, refuses to speak as a witness, he incurs a debt of silence, a moral burden that binds him. Such a person must pay all dues to the king by the forty-sixth day; and the wicked man who knowingly withholds testimony is as sinful and punishable as one who gives false witness. Witnesses should always be made to testify in the presence of both the plaintiff and the defendant. The fate of those who commit great sins—arsonists, and killers of women and children—is shared by those who give false testimony. Whatever merit a man has gained in hundreds of previous births is lost if he defeats another through lies. When there is a division of opinion among many witnesses, the view of those with the greatest virtue should prevail. If there is a tie in virtue, the testimony of those who are even more virtuous is to be accepted. The one for whom the witnesses affirm a true oath is victorious; otherwise, the party with less virtuous witnesses is defeated. Even if some have already spoken, if others of greater virtue provide contrary testimony, their word prevails. If later witnesses, being twice as many, speak differently from the earlier ones, the earlier witnesses are deemed false. Forgers and false witnesses are to be punished separately. In disputes, a double fine is prescribed; and if a Brahmin is summoned to testify but conceals the truth, he should be banished, for he is covered by darkness. Such a Brahmin must pay an eightfold fine and be banished; and wherever anyone of any class gives false testimony, imprisonment is prescribed. Whenever a matter is agreed upon by both parties, it should be documented with witnesses, and the lender’s name should appear first. The document must be written in full, including the name, caste, lineage, and family of the debtor, as well as the names of his fellow students and relatives, and the ancestral marks at the beginning. Once the matter is settled, the debtor should write his own name by his own hand, and whatever is written is considered the opinion of the son so-and-so. The witness, too, should write in his own hand his father’s name and family, declaring, “Here I, so-and-so, am a witness,” unless there is a valid reason not to. If the debtor is illiterate, he should state his intention aloud, and a witness or another person, in the presence of all witnesses, should write it for him. At the end, the scribe should record, “This document has been written at the request of both parties, by me, the son of so-and-so.” Even without witnesses, a document written in one’s own hand is valid evidence in all cases, except when obtained by force or fraud. A debt established by a written document should be paid by three persons; a pledge may be enjoyed until it is returned. If the document is in a foreign country, hard to read, lost, erased, stolen, broken, torn, or burned, another document should be prepared. To resolve any doubt, a document written in one’s own hand should be supported by logical reasoning, proper procedure, evidence of action, connection, and cause. On the back of the document, it should be recorded that the debtor has entered into the debt; and when the creditor receives payment, he should give a receipt marked with his own hand. After payment, the original document should be torn, and for further clarification, another may be made. If there are witnesses, all that is to be given should be given in their presence. For purification in major accusations, the ordeals of the balance, fire, water, poison, and the chest are prescribed, especially when the accuser stands at the head. Either party may choose to undergo the ordeal, and the other will place his head as a pledge; even without the ordeal, it may be performed in cases of treason or grave crime. One should not bear the plough from a thousand, nor the balance, nor poison; in royal cases, only the pure should always undergo the ordeal. For a thousand, the balance and other ordeals, and the chest even for a small amount, should be administered; for half a hundred, the pure should be made to undergo it, but the impure should be penalized. When conducting the ordeal, the person is summoned, bathed and clothed, and made to fast at sunrise. All ordeals are to be performed in the presence of the king and a Brahmin. The balance is used for women, children, the aged, the blind, the lame, Brahmins, and the sick; fire or water for a Shudra, as well as seven grains of barley or poison. The accused, skilled in bearing the balance, is placed upon it, made equal to the counterweight, and after marking the line, is lowered. The sun, the moon, the wind, fire, the sky, the earth, the waters, the heart, and Yama; day and night, both twilights, and Dharma—all these know the conduct of a person. “O scale,” it is said, “you are the abode of truth, created by the gods in ancient times. Speak the truth, auspicious one, and free me from doubt.