Vyavahara-Matrkaprakaranam (Yajnavalkya Smriti)

व्यवहारमातृकाप्रकरणम्

Duty of the King:

The King must be free from anger and greed.  He should attend the court along with scholarly brahmins to solve various cases according to Dharmasastras.

व्यवहारान्नृपः पश्येत् विद्वद्भिर्ब्राह्मणैः सह।

धर्मशास्त्रानुसारेण क्रोधलोभविवर्जितः।।

The King should appoint सभासदः who can assist him in solving various cases.  They must be: 

श्रुत्यध्ययनसम्पन्ना धर्मज्ञाः सत्यवादिनः।

राज्ञा सभासदः कार्या रिपौ मित्रे च ये समाः।।

1.     Well-versed in Srutis.

2.     Highly academic.

3.     Truth-speaking.

4.     Scholars of Dharma.

5.     Impartial.

अपश्यता कार्यवशाद्व्यवहारान्नृपेण तु।

सभ्यैः सह नियोक्तव्यो ब्राह्मणः सर्वधर्मवित्।।

If the king is too busy to directly attend the court and solve the cases, he should appoint a Brahmin who knows all the Dharmas in addition to the above said सभासदः। He is called as प्राड्विवाकः।

पृच्छति इति प्राट्। He asks Questions.

विविनक्ति विवक्ति वा विवेचयति वा इति विवाकः।  He Explains the case or makes the it clear or differentiates it.

So, he is प्राट् + विवाकः = प्राड्विवाकः। The King should support the decision of प्राड्विवाकः but should neither change it nor take a new decision.

रागाल्लोभाद्भयाद्वापि स्मृत्यपेताधिकारिणः।

सभ्याः पृथक् पृथक् दण्ड्याः विवादाद्द्विगुणं दमम्।।

सभासदः deserve severe punishment if they give wrong judgement out of their partiality, greed, fear or prejudice.  They are supposed to pay double penalty as well.

What is a व्यववहारःॽ

स्मृत्याचारव्यपेतेन मार्गेणाधर्षितः परैः।

आवेदयति चेद्राज्ञे व्यवहारपदं हि तत्।।

If a person is put to trouble by others against the set of laws of Smriti or worldly Customs and brings the sufferings he bore to the notice of either King or प्राड्विवाकः, then it is called a व्यवहारः। (A Case).

Varieties of Cases

There are 18 varieties of cases according to Smritis.  They are the following:

तेषामाद्यम् ऋणादानं निक्षेपोsस्वामिविक्रयः।

सम्भूय समुत्थानं दत्तस्यानपकर्म च।।

वेतनस्य चादानं संविदश्च व्यतिक्रमः।

क्रयविक्रयोनुशयो विवादः स्वामिपालयोः।।

सीमाविवादधर्मश्च पारुष्ये दण्डवाचिके।

स्तेयं च साहसं चैव स्त्रीसंग्रहणमेव च।।

स्त्रीपुंधर्मो विभागश्च द्यूतमाह्वय एव च।

पदान्यष्टादशैतानि व्यवहारस्थिताविह।।

No.	Name of the case	Explanation
01	ऋणादानम्	Non-payment of Debts
02	निक्षेपः	Deposit/Pledge
03	अस्वामिविक्रयः	Sale without Ownership
04	सम्भूय समुत्थानम्	Concerns among the Partners
05	दत्तस्य अनपकर्म	Resumption of Gifts
06	वेतनस्य आदानम्	Non-payment of Wages
07	संविदस्य व्यतिक्रमः	Non-performance of Agreements
08	क्रयविक्रयानुशयः	Rescission of Sale and Purchase
09	विवादः स्वामिपालयोः	Disputes between the Owner and his Servants
10	सीमाविवादः	Disputes regarding boundaries
11	दण्डपारुष्यम्	Assault
12	वाक्पारुष्यम्	Defamation
13	स्तेयम्	Theft
14	साहसम्	Robbery/Violence
15	स्त्रीसंग्रहणम्	Adultery
16	स्त्रीपुंधर्मः	Duties of Wife and Husband
17	विभागः	Partition (of inheritance)
18	द्यूतम्, आह्वयम्	Gambling and Betting

The Petitioner is called अर्थी।  The Defendant is called प्रत्यर्थी।  The Draft of complaint is called पाण्डुलेखः।    The letter of complaint with full details presented to the King is called भाषा / प्रतिज्ञा / पक्षम् / पत्रम्।  The प्रतिज्ञा must include the names of the petitioner, defendant, their source of birth, and date, fortnight, month, year and the place of the dispute, with a notice to प्रत्यर्थी। (the complaint must be filed in the presence of the defendant)  If the required details are absent, it is called पक्षाभासः and it is invalid.

प्रत्यर्थिनोsग्रतो लेख्यं यथावेदितमर्थिना।

समामासतदर्धाहर्नामजात्यादिचिह्नितम्।।

Then,

श्रुतार्थस्योत्तरं लेख्यं पूर्वावेदकसंनिधौ।

ततोsर्थी लेखयेत्सद्यः प्रतिज्ञातार्थसाधनम्।।

The complaint must be informed to the प्रत्यर्थी and his answer to the complaint should be recorded in written form in the presence of अर्थी।  The answer of प्रत्यर्थी is called उत्तरम्।  उत्तरम् of प्रत्यर्थी must be good enough to deny the complaint made by अर्थी।  It should not raise any doubts.  It should be supported by the law.  It should not be self-contradictory.  The vocabulary in the उत्तरम् should not lead to any confusion.    

The उत्तरम् may be of four types. 

For example, the अर्थी (Mr. A) makes a complaint against Mr. B (प्रत्यर्थी) that Mr. B has not paid the amount given to him earlier.  Then, the उत्तरम् of Mr. B may be in four types as shown in this table:

	Type of उत्तरम्	उत्तरम् of Mr. B
01	सम्प्रतिपत्तिः	Yes, I have taken that amount.  I must pay it back.
02	मिथ्या	1)    No, the complaint of Mr. A is wrong. 2)    I don’t know. 3)    I was not there at that time. 4)    I was not born at that time. Etc.
03	प्रत्यवस्कन्दनम्	1)    Yes, I have taken that amount.  But, I have paid him back. 2)    Yes, I have taken that amount.  But, I thought that it was his donation to me.
04	पूर्वन्यायम्	Previously, Mr. A made the same complaint against me.  His complaint was proved wrong.  He is again complaining on me now.

After the उत्तरम् of प्रत्यर्थी, the अर्थी should immediately submit the proof in support of his complaint/claim.  The proof must be recorded in written form.  (In the case of पूर्वन्याय-उत्तरम्, the प्रत्यर्थी himself is considered as अर्थी।) 

Then,

तत्सिद्धौ सिद्धिमाप्नोति विपरीतमतोsन्यथा।

चतुष्पाद्व्यवहारोsयं विवादेषु प्रदर्शितः।।

If the proof is proved to be genuine, then, अर्थी is considered to be the winner of the case.   But, if the proof submitted is not genuine, he is considered as the loser of the case.

In this way, the process of a case has four stages.  (चतुष्पाद्व्यवहारः।)

	पादः	The words of Smriti (Law)	The process
01	भाषापादः	प्रत्यर्थिनोsग्रतो लेख्यम्	Written complaint of the petitioner in the presence of the defendant.
02	उत्तरपादः	श्रुतार्थस्योत्तरं लेख्यम्	Answer of the defendant in written form.
03	क्रियापादः	ततोsर्थी लेखयेत्सद्यः	Submission of Proof by the petitioner.
04	साध्यसिद्धिपादः	तत्सिद्धौ सिद्धिमाप्नोति	Proof is proved to be genuine/not genuine.