304. I will now proclaim the excellent law regarding the (ordeal by) water, (which may be performed at all seasons) one after the other, excepting the winter and dewy seasons.
* 305. 305 (This ordeal may be performed) in streams
* 307. 307 A strong bow is declared to be 107 (Aṅgulas) long, a moderate bow 106, and an inferior bow 105 (Aṅgulas). This is declared to be the rule regarding the bow.
* 308. A strong man should be placed like a pillar in water, reaching to his navel. The defendant should seize him by the thigh and dive under water.
111:305 305-317. Vishnu XII; Yâgñavalkya II, 108, 109. The ordeal by water may be briefly described as follows: 1. This ordeal should be either performed in a tank or in a river which has no swift current. 2. Three arrows should be discharged from a bow of middling size. 3. After that, a strong man should enter the water as far as his navel. The defendant should seize him by the thigh and dive under water. 4. A swift runner should be sent after the second arrow. When he has reached the place where it has fallen, another equally swift runner should be sent back with it to the place where the defendant has entered the water. 5. The defendant is declared innocent, if he has remained under water till the arrow has been brought back. He is declared guilty, if any one of his limbs have been seen, or if he were to emerge from the water in a different spot from that where he entered it. 6. During the proceeding, a prayer is addressed to the deity of water, in which it is asserted, that fire arose from water, and that the water ordeal is superior therefore to the ordeal by fire. 305. The winter season comprises the months Agrahâyana and 112:307 It seems strange that the difference in length between the bows should not amount to more than one Aṅgula or inch. The commentators take the three numerals in this paragraph to denote 105, 106, and 107 respectively, and I have translated in accordance with this interpretation. It is, however, possible to translate the three numerals by 500, 600, and 100 respectively, and to refer them to the number of Hastas (1 Hasta = 18 inches) traversed by each of the three arrows. According to another text, which is wrongly attributed to Nârada by some commentators, the arrows shall be shot at a target, which has to be placed at a distance of 150 Hastas from the marksman. 113:316 316, 317. These two paragraphs contain the prayer by which the deity of water should be addressed. A. Vishnu XII, 8; Yâgñavalkya II, 108.