Shloka : 143

ससाक्ष्यमन्तरा लेखं पुत्रमित्रादिनाऽपि च ।

भुवित्तदानादानाभ्यां व्यवहार्यं न कर्हिचित् ॥ 143 ॥

અને સાક્ષીએ સહિત લખત કર્યા વિના તો, પોતાના પુત્ર અને મિત્રાદિક સાથે પણ, પૃથ્વી ને ધનના લેણદેણે કરીને વ્યવહાર જે તે, ક્યારેય ન કરવો. ॥ 143 ॥

And one should never deal even with one's own son or friend etc. in the matters of land or that of exchange of money without any written evidence in presence of a witness. || 143 ||

Commentary

'Sakshya' means the duty of a witness. A 'lekh' means a written evidence, which is a written agreement signed and attested by and in front of the parties concerned and a witness.

One should not deal in the matters related to agricultural land, house etc. i.e. related to land and that of money, jewellery etc. i.e. exchange of such objects, evenwith the 'son and friends etc.' i.e. son, friend and other relatives without any written evidence in presence of a witness. And the witness should be pious, of charitable disposition, noble, surrendered to truth, religious, straight forward, having male progeny, wealthy, less than three, who follows 'Shrot'(શ્રોત) and 'Smart' (સ્માર્ત) rituals, belonging to the same caste and category for whom a witness is required. And he should be skilled in writing such agreements, clever in speech, patient, who can write speedily and legibly and an expert in politics.