History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.1082.1

v4.c63.1082.1

(Rg. I. 70. 5).¹⁰⁵³ In the Ait. Br. (22. 9) the story of Nābhānediṣṭha¹⁰⁵⁴, the youngest son of Manu, shows that the elder brothers divided all the father’s property among themselves, and excluded Nābhānediṣṭha during the father’s lifetime apparently without any protest from him or in spite of it. In the Tai. S. III. 1. 9. 4-5¹⁰⁵⁵ the version of the same story is different, since it is there said that Manu himself divided his wealth among his sons and did not give any share of the paternal wealth to Nābhānediṣṭha who was away at a teacher’s house as a vedic student. In the Gopatha Brāhmaṇa (IV. 17) it is said “therefore in their childhood sons subsist on their father, while in his advancing years the father subsists on the son”. In the Śat.¹⁰⁵⁶ Br. (S. B. E. vol. 44, p. 157) we read “whence in early life the sons subsist on the father...whence in later life, the father subsists on his sons”. In the Kauṣītaki Br. Upaniṣad (II. 15) after describing the symbolical handing over to the son of all his physical and mental powers by a father who is expecting death it is said that if after this rite the father recovers he has either to remain under the son’s dominion or go out as a wanderer (a *sannyāsin*).¹⁰⁵⁷ From some of the above passages, it appears that in rare cases sons divided paternal wealth even during the lifetime of the father and against his will. The remark of Dr.