Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword by Richard W. Lariviere
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- Note on the Edition
- Introduction
- PART ONE THE NATURE OF HINDU LAW
- PART TWO GENERAL TOPICS OF HINDU LAW
- Ancient Hindu Criminal Law
- Hindu Law of Succession: From the Śāstras to Modern Law
- Caste and Occupation in Classical India: The Normative Texts
- Megasthenes on Indian Lawbooks
- The “Ambassador” in Ancient India
- The Status of Minors according to Classical Hindu Law
- Quandoque bonus dormitat Jīmūtavūhanas?
- Notes on Mixed Castes in Classical India
- Inheritance and Srāddha: The Principle of “Spiritual Benefit”
- The Theory of Matrimonial Causes According to the Dharmaśāstra
- Jīmūtavūhana's Dāyabhāga and the Maxim Factum Valet
- The Divinity of Royal Power in Ancient India according to Dharmaśāstra
- A Few Considerations on Monocracy in Ancient India
- PART THREE HINDU LEGAL PROCEDURE
- PART FOUR TECHNICAL STUDIES OF HINDU LAW
- PART FIVE ANGLO-HINDU AND CUSTOMARY LAW
- Bibliography
- Index
Quandoque bonus dormitat Jīmūtavūhanas?
from PART TWO - GENERAL TOPICS OF HINDU LAW
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword by Richard W. Lariviere
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- Note on the Edition
- Introduction
- PART ONE THE NATURE OF HINDU LAW
- PART TWO GENERAL TOPICS OF HINDU LAW
- Ancient Hindu Criminal Law
- Hindu Law of Succession: From the Śāstras to Modern Law
- Caste and Occupation in Classical India: The Normative Texts
- Megasthenes on Indian Lawbooks
- The “Ambassador” in Ancient India
- The Status of Minors according to Classical Hindu Law
- Quandoque bonus dormitat Jīmūtavūhanas?
- Notes on Mixed Castes in Classical India
- Inheritance and Srāddha: The Principle of “Spiritual Benefit”
- The Theory of Matrimonial Causes According to the Dharmaśāstra
- Jīmūtavūhana's Dāyabhāga and the Maxim Factum Valet
- The Divinity of Royal Power in Ancient India according to Dharmaśāstra
- A Few Considerations on Monocracy in Ancient India
- PART THREE HINDU LEGAL PROCEDURE
- PART FOUR TECHNICAL STUDIES OF HINDU LAW
- PART FIVE ANGLO-HINDU AND CUSTOMARY LAW
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The Problem
Jīmūtavāhana's Dāyabhāga twice quotes the same verse from the Bṛhaspatismṛti (K.V. Rangaswami Aiyangar's ed. 26.9):
pitror abhāve bhrātṝṇāḥ vibhāgaḥ sampradarśitaḥ ∣
mātur nivṛtte rajasi jīvator api śasyate ∣ ∣
After the death of both parents, division of the property among brothers has been ordained (to take place). It may take place even in their lifetime, if the mother be past child-bearing. (Trans. Jolly 25.1)
Immediately after the first citation (2.2) Jīmūtavāhana comments:
nāsya vacanasya pitṛdhanagocaratvam.
This text does not bear on partition of their father's property. (Trans. Colebrooke; emphasis added)
Following the second citation of the same Bṛhaspati verse, the Dāyabhāga (3.11) has this comment:
nivṛttarajaskāyāṃ mātari jīvantyāṃ vibhāgasya mātṛdhanāgocaratvānupapatter ubhayābhāvoktavibhāgasyaiva jīvator apīty apikāreṇa śastatvakīrtanād ubhayor abhāve bhrātṛvibhāgaḥ pitṛdhanagocara evāvadhāryate.
Since partition while the mother is living cannot be relative to the mother's particular property, and since the authorised partition after the demise of both parents, which is indicated by the particle in the phrase “even while they are both living,” is thus pronounced to be proper; partition among brothers after the death of parents is evidently relative to the father's property. (Trans. Colebrooke; emphasis added)
There is nothing in the notes to Colebrooke's translation to signal a possible inconsistency. Śrikṛṣṇatarkālaṃkāra (at Dbhā 3.11), on the other hand, saw a problem and found it necessary to defend Jīmūtavāhana:
pitṛdhanagocara eva iti: pitāmahadhanasyāpi pituḥ svatvavattvāt pitṛdhanatvena tasyāpi saṃgrahaḥ. evakāreṇa mātṛdhanamātravyavacchedaḥ. tenāsya vacanasya na prāguktapitāmahadhanagoc aratvavirodhaḥ.
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- Studies in Hindu Law and Dharmasastra , pp. 249 - 254Publisher: Anthem PressPrint publication year: 2012