Hindu Law and Custom (Recht und Sitte) c8.2

c8.2

¹ Applying the strict canons of law to the Smṛtis Dr. Breloer has arrived at the conclusion (Kauṭatiya Studien, I. Das Grundeigentum in Indien, pp, 36–37) that like the Greeks the Indians too never made any distinction between possession and ownership ('rechtliche Herrschaft' as opposed to 'tatsächliche Herrschaft'). As far as the older Smṛtis are concerned Dr. Breloer is perfectly right, but he seems to have taken no notice of the statement in the Smṛtisaṅgraha quoted below. The author of the Smṛtisaṅgraha (and his followers) was fully conscious that there is something indefinable in ownership which cannot be proved by circumstantial evidence but by the science of law (Śāstras). *Tr.*