Hindu Law and Custom (Recht und Sitte) c7.705

c7.705

Various conditions of the levirate. As the express purpose of this levirate is to assure the safe continuation of the family, in order to prevent thereby the cessation of the sacrifices to the manes and the loss of property, it is quite understandable that the living husband too, who on account of impotence or illness does not any longer hope for progeny, can himself demand levirate. Even the remarriage of the wife of a man who has gone abroad and is considered to have disappeared for ever (as discussed in §18) is taken to be a case of Niyoga by some authors (Gaut. 18, 15—17; Vas. 17, 75—80). On the other hand the view that more than one son may be raised through levirate (Gaut. 18, 8) is condemned by most teachers (M. 9, 61 etc.) and the permission for Niyoga is generally subjected to the fulfilment of a series of strict conditions; for instance, the intercourse between the appointed (niyukta) pair shall be discontinued as soon as the woman feels herself to be pregnant or should take place only once, sensuality should have no share in it, legacy-hunting must not be the underlying motive, certain formalities should have to be observed, etc.