History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.1082.4

v4.c63.1082.4

The text could not be taken literally when we have seen that sales of land have been taking place for at least two thousand years. All that the text means is that a sale should be clothed in the form of a gift¹⁰⁶³. Similarly the few smṛti passages that include lands and houses among indivisible properties are to be explained as having in view the fragmentation of a field into small uneconomic plots or holdings or the division of a single small house among numerous co-sharers. It is impossible to believe that the texts meant that houses could never be partitioned among co-heirs. All that we can reasonably infer is that as a general rule such partitions were looked upon with disfavour by society. One may concede that this sentiment continued long after even Gautama and Āpastamba and even in the 20th century a Hindu son suing his father for partition incurs great opprobrium.