History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c26.170
History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c26.170
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About the sapiṇḍa relationship of the adopted son as regards marriage, āśauca and śrāddha a good deal is said in many works such as Saṁ. K. (pp. 182-186), Nirṇayasindhu (pp. 290-291), the Vyavahāramayūkha, the Saṁ. Pr. (pp. 688-694), Saṁ. R. M. (pp. 453-456). Sāpiṇḍya for āśauca and śrāddha will be dealt with later on. As to sāpiṇḍya for marriage in the case of adoption there is great divergence of views. The Saṁ. Pr. (p. 690) says that the son given in adoption has sāpiṇḍya for seven generations with his genitive father and for three generations with the adoptive father (pp. 693-694).¹¹⁰³ The Saṁ. K. appears to hold, after quoting several views, that if the upanayana of the adopted boy was performed in the family of birth, then he has sāpiṇḍya with the genitive family for seven generations. But if the ceremonies from jātakarma to upanayana are performed in the adoptive family then he has sāpiṇḍya in the adoptive family for seven generations, but only for five generations if only upanayana is performed in the family of adoption. The Nirṇayasindhu gives its own view that there is sāpiṇḍya in both families for seven generations. The Vyavahāramayūkha holds (following Gautama IV. 3) that in the case of *kevala dattaka* (the ordinary adopted son) sapiṇḍa relationship extends to seven degrees in the adoptive father's family and five degrees in the adoptive mother's family.¹¹⁰⁴ The Dharmasindhu follows the Saṁ. K. generally but it makes one significant remark.
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It says that several writers hold that in the case of dattaka, sāpiṇḍya is to be observed for a lesser number of degrees (than seven or five) in both families.¹¹⁰⁵ The Saṁ. R. M. (p. 454) says that the limits of sāpiṇḍya spoken of as applying to an adopted person extend to his children also.¹¹⁰⁶ As the limits of sāpiṇḍya for marriage are very much narrowed down when marriage with one's maternal uncle's daughter or one's niece is allowed, on the other hand certain communities extend such limits too much. The Deśastha brāhmaṇas of the Mādhyandina śākhā in the Deccan do not marry a girl whose father's gotra is the same as the gotra of the bridegroom's maternal grandfather. Manu III. 5 lays down 'that girl who is not a sapiṇḍa of the mother (of the bridegroom) and who is not a sagotra of the father (of the bridegroom) is commended in the case of twice-born classes'. Many commentators and digests like Kullūka, the Madana-pārijāta (p. 132), the Dīpakalikā, the Udvāhatattva (p. 107) understand the word asagotrā (in Manu III. 5) after 'mātuḥ' also, and thus forbid marriage with a girl whose gotra is the same as that of one's mother (i. e. of one's maternal grandfather). Medhātithi¹¹⁰⁷ on Manu III. 5 quotes a text of Vasiṣṭha which prescribes the penance of cāndrāyaṇa for marrying a girl who has the same gotra as the bridegroom's mother (i. e. his mother's father) and abandonment of her. Haradatta on Āp. Dh. S. II. 5. 11. 16 quotes a similar verse from Śātātapa. Kullūka, the Sm. C.
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(I. p. 69), Haradatta on Āp. Dh. S. II. 5. 11. 16, the Gṛ. R. (p. 10), Udvāhatattva p. 107 and other digests quote a verse of Vyāsa 'some do not desire for marriage a girl who has the same gotra as one's mother; but one may marry without question (or fear) a girl when her birth and name (as connected with one's mother's original gotra) are unknown'. A woman on marriage loses her original gotra and passes over into the gotra of her husband; so the words 'sagotrā' of the mother simply mean 'having the same gotra as one's mother once had in her maiden state'. The Sm. C. (I. p. 69) takes this verse to refer only to a woman who was made an appointed daughter (putrikā) by her father. Halāyudha also held the same view. But other writers do not approve of this (vide the Gṛ. R., p. 10). The Nirṇayasindhu¹¹⁰⁸ (III. pūrvārdha p. 302) forbids marriage with a girl who is sagotra of one's mother, but the Saṁ. K. (p. 693) and the Dharmasindhu both say, after quoting a text of Satyāṣāḍha, that this restriction applies only to those who study the Mādhyandina śākhā.