History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.t1.49

v4.c63.t1.49

Manu (IX. 47) emphatically states:1203a "once is a partition made, once is a maiden given in marriage, once does a man say 'I shall make a gift of this or that'; these three are done only once by the good". This means that a partition once made is final and cannot ordinarily be reopened. But there are exceptions to this rule. One viz. about the posthumous son born after partition has already been mentioned above (pp. 595-597). Bṛ.¹²⁰⁴ (S. B. E. 33 pp. 373-74 verses 24-26) says, "If a man leaving the country common to himself and his co-sharers goes to another country, his share must undoubtedly be given to his descendant when the latter comes back to the original country. Whether he (the descendant) be the third or fifth or even seventh in descent (from the man who left the country) he would get the share that descends hereditarily provided his birth and family name are ascertained. The *gotrajas* (agnatic members of the family) should allow (a share in the ancestral) lands to the descendant of a man whom the *maulas* and neighbours know to be a co-owner (in the lands) by descent, when he comes (after a partition) to demand his share". The V. R. explains¹²⁰⁵ that the rule of Devala (given above) about a claim to a share being allowed up to the fourth applies when all the members stay together in the same place or country, while the above rule of Bṛ. allowing even the seventh in descent to claim his share after a partition has taken place applies where such descendant and his forefathers had migrated to a distant land. These rules of Bṛ. indicate that, even after a long time, a descendant could claim his share in a joint family estate and no bar of limitation was allowed.