Hindu Law and Custom (Recht und Sitte) c7.704

c7.704

Inspite of the stern prohibition of widow marriage the older Smṛtis recommend the levirate in case the widow has no son by her legal husband and therefore receives from the Gurus, particularly from the relations under whose protection she lives, the appointment (niyoga) to raise a son through a surviving brother of her deceased husband or, on failure of such a brother, through a near or distant blood-relation of him or eventually through a member of the same gotra or at least through a Brāhmaṇa. This son is called Kṣetraja and is regarded as the son of the deceased and after attaining majority he inherits his property which is managed till then by his natural father or by his mother (M. 9, 146, 190; Vas. 17, 65). The Kṣetraja may under certain circumstances be heir also to his natural father as “son of two fathers” (Gaut. 18, 13; Y. 2, 127; Vas. 17, 64 etc.; see below).