History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.t2.19

v4.c63.t2.19

hold that the passage is of doubtful authenticity (as the verses are not found in several mss.), while the D. M. and the Nirṇayasindhu hold them to be genuine and the Saṁ. K. pp. (169-172) after referring to these views states that those verses are opposed to what is stated in the Ait. Br. about Śunaḥśepa who was adopted by Viśvāmitra as a son even after upanayana. The verses are: 'O King! that son, whose *saṁskāras* up to (including) the *cūḍā* (tonsure) ceremony are performed with the gotra of his (natural) father, does not (i. e. cannot) attain the status of the adopted son of another. When the ceremonies of cūḍā and upanayana are performed under his own gotra (by the adoptive father) the *dattaka* and the other kinds become (recognised as) sons (in the adoptive family); otherwise they are called *dāsa* (slave). After the fifth year the adopted son and the rest cannot be (recognised as) sons. Having taken one who is five years old, one (the adopter) should first perform the *putreṣṭi*. These verses state four propositions: (1) If all saṁskāras from *jātakarma* to *cūḍā* (i. e. including it) have been performed in the family of birth that boy cannot be adopted in another family; (2) if a boy's *cūḍā* and other later ceremonies are performed in the family of adoption he is fully an adopted son; (3) a boy over five years of age cannot be adopted at all; (4) a boy whose cūḍā has been performed in the family of birth may be adopted up to five years, provided the rite called putreṣṭi¹²⁸³ is first performed in the adoptive family before any other ceremony is performed on the adopted boy. The D. M. says that the best time for adoption is up to three years, then from three years to five is the next best (*gauṇa*) and that after five no boy can be adopted. The D. C. (p. 36) holds that a boy of the three higher classes can be adopted up to *upanayana* and that a śūdra boy can be adopted till his marriage. The Nirṇayasindhu seems to be of the same opinion. The V. Mayūkha¹²⁸⁴ and Saṁ. K. both hold that even a boy not of the same gotra may be taken in adoption after upanayana or after marriage and even when the person to be adopted has himself had a son. In Bengal, Benares¹²⁸⁵ and Bihar the courts hold that the boy must be adopted before *upanayana*. The same rule holds good in Madras¹²⁸⁶; but there it is further held that if the boy to be adopted is of the same gotra as the adopter, the adoption may be made after upanayana but before marriage. In Bombay a person may be adopted at any age, even after marriage and even after he has had children and he may be even older than the adopter.¹²⁸⁷ In the whole of India, a śūdra may be adopted only before his marriage, but in the Bombay Presidency the adoption of a married man and of one having even a child is allowed also among śūdras¹²⁸⁸.