History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s94.4

v1.c6.s94.4

The portion of the Saṁskāra-kaustubha on the subject of adoption is frequently cited separately as Dattakadīdhiti and is so entered in the catalogues of mss. It is a treatise of great importance and deserves to be studied along with the Dattakamīmāṁsā, the Vyavahāramayūkha and other similar works. The more important of his views are set out below. Like the Dattakamīmāṁsā he recommends that the nephew is the most suitable for adoption, then one may select any *sagotra*, *sapiṇḍa*, then an *asagotra sapiṇḍa*, then a *sagotra* but *asapiṇḍa*, then any one of the same caste though not *sagotra*, but a daughter's or sister's son cannot be adopted nor can a brother, a paternal or maternal uncle be adopted. A Śūdra may adopt a daughter's or sister's son. The person to be adopted must not be an only son or the eldest. A wife can adopt with the consent of her husband and a widow does not require the express permission of her husband. The boy to be adopted may be below five or above five and may be taken before or after the *cūḍā* ceremony is performed in the natural family. Anantadeva refers to the¹¹¹⁸ view of some that the verses of the Kālikāpurāṇa on this subject are not found in several mss. and so are unauthoritative and tells us that others hold that the whole passage refers to the adoption of an *asagotra* boy. Anantadeva himself holds, like the Vyavahāramayūkha, that even an *asagotra* boy may be adopted after his upanayana is performed in the natural family. When the ceremony of *caula* and the rest are performed in the family of the adopter, the adopted boy belongs to the *gotra* of the adopter, but where the *upanayana* alone is performed in the adoptive family or the adoption is made after *upanayana* the boy belongs to both *gotras*. But this holds good only as regards obeisance, śrāddha etc. while for marriage every adopted boy has to avoid the *gotra* and *pravara* of both families. If a natural son be born to the adopter after he takes a boy in adoption, the adopted boy becomes an equal sharer with the *aurasa*, if all the saṁskāras up to *upanayana* are performed by the adoptive father for the adopted boy, or he takes only a fourth share if only some of the saṁskāras ending with *upanayana* are performed by the adopter and he gets no inheritance but only provision for marriage if he was adopted after upanayana is performed in the natural family. Anantadeva, disagreeing with Nīlakaṇṭha, holds that a girl may be adopted.¹¹¹⁹