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The Great Epic of the Bhārata dynasty 13.47.16

Mahābhārata 13.47.16

Language
Sanskrit

13.47.16

daśadhā pravibhaktasya dhanasyaiṣa bhavetkramaḥ |
savarṇāsu tu jātānāṃ samānbhāgānprakalpayet || 16 ||

The son that has been born of the wife belonging to the third order, viz., the woman of the Vaisya caste, by the Brahmana sire, shall take, O Yudhishthira, two of the three remaining shares of the father's property. It has been said that the son that has been begotten by the Brahmana sire upon the Sudra wife should not take any portion of the father's wealth, for he is not to be considered an heir. A little, however, of the paternal wealth should be given to the son of the Sudra wife, hence the one remaining share should be given to him out of compassion. Even this should be the order of the ten shares into which the Brahmana's wealth is to be divided. All the sons that are born of the same mother or of mothers of the same order, shall share equally the portion that is theirs. The son born of the Sudra wife should not be regarded as invested with the status of a Brahmana in consequence of his being unskilled (in the scriptures and the duties ordained for the Brahmana). Only those children that are born of wives belonging to the three higher orders should be regarded as invested with the status of Brahmanas. It has been said that there are only four orders there is no fifth that has been enumerated. The son by the Sudra wife shall take the tenth part of his sire's wealth (that remains after the allotment has been made to the others in the way spoken of). That share, however, he is to take only when his sire has given it to him.

Kisari Mohan Ganguli 1883, The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

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