History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.1212

v4.c63.1212

The mother (or step-mother) also, when the sons come to a partition after the father's death, is entitled to a share equal to that of a son in the coparcenary property.1141a But she cannot compel a partition so long as the sons choose to remain joint. But her share is liable to be reduced on account of her possession of strīdhana as in the case of the wife. Vide Yāj. II. 123, Viṣṇu Dh. S. 18. 34 and Nār. (dāyabhāga, 12). The Mit. (on Yāj. II. 135) combats the view of some predecessors that the mother does not take a share but only as much wealth as would be necessary for her maintenance, by relying on the words "equal share" occurring in Yāj., Viṣṇu, and Nār. which would be meaningless on that view. It also refutes another view that the mother takes an equal share with the sons when the ancestral property is small, while she takes only as much as would be necessary for her maintenance when the property is large, by stating that this view is liable to the fault of *vidhivairūpya* according to the conclusion established in the Pūrvamīmāṁsā, that is, here the same sentence will be interpreted as laying down two different propositions in different sets of circumstances, which is not a legitimate or reasonable way of interpretation. The Sm. C. (II p 268) held the same view about the mother having no right to a share and was criticized by the Madanaratna (by name). Several works like the Vyavahārasāra (p. 225) and the Vivādacandra (p. 67)¹¹⁴² hold the view that no woman (whether wife or mother) should get a share of the ancestral wealth but only as much wealth as is necessary for maintenance and rely on the words of Baudhāyana "there is a Vedic text that women are devoid of strength and take no share", which refers to a passage in the Tai. S. VI. 5. 8. 2, occurring in the context of the ritual of the Soma sacrifice "therefore women being destitute of strength take no portion (of Soma drink) and speak more weakly than even a wretched (low) man". Manu IX. 18 also contains an echo of this passage of the Tai. S. and of Baud. Dh. S. There was an intermediate stage in the evolution of the rights of the wife or mother. The highest she could get in the husband's wealth was two thousand paṇas, according to Vyāsa,¹¹⁴³ which is variously read and explained, the Sm. C. (II. p. 281) saying that it means as much wealth as would every year yield an income of 2000 paṇas.