History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s91.22

v1.c6.s91.22

I was able to secure a ms. of the Vivādatāṇḍava from the Mandlik collection in the Fergusson College at Poona. That work closely resembles in method and matter the Vyavahāramayūkha of Kamalākara's cousin Nīlakaṇṭha, the section on ordeals being almost the same in both. It treats of the following subjects : the *sabhā* ; members of the *sabhā* ; Judge, amātya ; the scribe and the accountant ; conflict of smṛtis ; the plaint, the reply, the modes of proof, viz., documents, witnesses, possession ; modes of punishment ; the principal and secondary sons ; the enumeration of the eighteen titles of law ; partition of heritage and detailed description of the other titles. Like the Vyavahāramayūkha, the Vivādatāṇḍava quotes the Madanaratna as frequently as (or perhaps more frequently than) the Mitākṣarā. The other writers and works quoted are noted below.¹⁰⁸⁹ As it mentions several works of his own, viz. Nirṇayasindhu, the Dānakamalākara, the Prāyaścittaratna and the Śūdradharma (i. e. Śūdrakamalākara), the Vivādatāṇḍava was one of his latest works. On several points he differs from his own cousin Nīlakaṇṭha. For example, he prefers the mother to the father as an heir and does not give the sister a high place among the *gotraja* heirs as Nīlakaṇṭha does. The Vivādatāṇḍava has been frequently noticed in judicial decisions.¹⁰⁹⁰