History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c26.322

v2.c26.322

One question discussed by dharmasūtra writers is whether one has ownership over one's wife and children. In Jaimini¹¹⁸⁴ (VI. 7. 1-2) it is decided that in the Viśvajit sacrifice where one is to give away all that one has, one cannot give away one's parents and other relatives as one can make a gift only of what one is master of. The Mit. on Yāj. II. 175 says 'though one cannot make a gift of one's wife or child to another, one is still owner of them.' The Vīramitrodaya¹¹⁸⁵ (*vyavahāra* p. 567) is of the same opinion. On the other hand the Tantraratna (of Pārthasārathimiśra) says that the word gift with reference to the son and the like is used only in a secondary sense viz. that of passing to another the power of control over the son or the daughter. The Vyavahāramayūkha is also of the same opinion.