History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.1054.2

v4.c63.1054.2

But what he owns is theoretically capable of being disposed off by him as he likes. The Madanaratna puts forth the illustration that seeds kept dry in a granary do not sprout, yet they have the capacity of sprouting and so are as well denominated seeds as others that sprout. There are various grades of the limitations on property, such as the father's power, the widow's power and so on. What a person earns should belong to him, should be his property. But there are passages like Manu VIII. 416 and Nār. (abhyupetyāśuśrūṣā, verse 41) that state¹⁰³⁵ "three are declared to be without wealth viz. the wife, the son and the slave; whatever they earn is for him to whom they (wife, son and slave) belong". It has been stated by such an ancient writer as Śabara-svāmin¹⁰³⁶ that this passage does not deny the ownership of the wife or son in what she or he earns, but is only intended to lay down that the wife or son cannot independently (without the consent of the husband or father) dispose of what she or he earns. This view of the text of Manu is accepted by the Dāyabhāga as well as by the Mitākṣarā School. The latter holds on the analogy of the interpretation of Manu VIII. 416 that the texts of Devala, Nār. and Manu IX.