History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.t2.127.3

v4.c63.t2.127.3

4 p. 175) quotes a prose passage of Parāśara preferring an unmarried daughter as an heir to a married daughter. Among married daughters the Mit., pressing into service a text of Gaut. on succession to strīdhana, holds by analogy that among married daughters the indigent (or unprovided for) one is to be preferred to one who is well-placed.¹³⁷¹ Herein the Mit. follows common sense and the natural inclination of a father to feel more concern for a poor daughter. The Dāyabhāga prefers the unmarried daughter to the married daughter as is done by the Mit., but among married daughters Jīmūtavāhana, following an author called Dīkṣita, prefers one who has had a son or who is likely to have a son to a widowed or barren daughter or to one who has given birth only to daughters. This preference is due to the principle of the Dāyabhāga¹³⁷² that spiritual benefit is the governing factor in succession. The barren daughter or widowed daughter is unable to confer spiritual benefit on her father since she will have no son that will offer piṇḍas to the deceased owner (who will be the maternal grand-father). The Mit. on the other hand relies on nearness of blood (prattyāsatti) as the guiding principle. But, as pointed out by the V. P. p. 519, the Dāyabhāga is inconsistent. There is no reason on its own principle why the unmarried daughter should be preferred to a married daughter who has a son.