The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c14.s2.56

c14.s2.56

If the texts, on which Jīmūtavāhana had relied, had been utilised to their fullest capacity, they would have easily enabled him to declare that the estate which the widow inherits is an absolute and not a limited one. The widow is the living half of the husband, says Bṛihaspati;, and therefore no one can get the right to inherit the deceasd's property as long as she is alive. Now Jīmūtavāhana could have easily argued that the powers of the surviving half (the widow) cannot be less than those of the expired half (the husband), and so the widow's estate would be as absolute as that of her husband, she having the power of sale, mortgage or gift. He however did not take this step, but maintained that the widow had only a life estate in her inheritance. She could utilise its full income in any way she liked, but she could not touch its corpus.