Manusmriti: The Laws of Manu

81. 'A witness who speaks the truth in his evidence, gains (after death) the most excellent regions (of bliss) and here (below) unsurpassable fame; such testimony is revered by Brahman (himself).

82. 'He who gives false evidence is firmly bound by Varuna's fetters, helpless during one hundred existences; let (men therefore) give true evidence.

83. 'By truthfulness a witness is purified, through truthful- ness his merit grows, truth must, therefore, be spoken by witnesses of all castes (varna).

84. 'The Soul itself is the witness of the Soul, and the Soul is the refuge of the Soul; despise not thy own Soul, the supreme witness of men.

85. 'The wicked, indeed, say in their hearts, "Nobody sees us;" but the gods distinctly see them and the male within their own breasts.

86. 'The sky, the earth, the waters, (the male in) the heart, the moon, the sun, the fire, Yama and the wind, the night, the two twilights, and justice know the conduct of all corporeal beings.'

87. The (judge), being purified, shall ask in the forenoon the twice-born (witnesses) who (also have been) purified, (and stand) facing the north or the east, to give true evidence in the presence of (images of) the gods and of Brahmanas.

88. Let him examine a Brahmana (beginning with) 'Speak,' a Kshatriya (beginning with) 'Speak the truth,' a Vaisya (admonishing him) by (mentioning) his kind, grain, and gold, a Sudra (threatening him) with (the guilt of) every crime that causes loss of caste;

89. (Saying), 'Whatever places (of torment) are assigned (by the sages) to the slayer of a Brahmana, to the murderer of women and children, to him who betrays a friend, and to an ungrateful man, those shall be thy (portion), if thou speakest falsely.

90. '(The reward) of all meritorious deeds which thou, good man, hast done since thy birth, shall become the share of the dogs, if in thy speech thou departest from the truth.

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