History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.t2.204

v4.c63.t2.204

Āp. Dh. S. II. 6. 14. 2 provides¹⁴¹⁷ that 'on failure of sons the nearest sapiṇḍa' (inherits). Manu¹⁴¹⁸ IX. 187 is the classical text on this point, which appears to mean literally, 'whoever is nearest from among the sapiṇḍas, to him the estate (of the deceased) shall belong'. This verse has been variously explained by the commentators and digests and variously translated by eminent Judges and writers on Hindu Law. The chief difficulty lies in the expression 'sapiṇḍādyaḥ' and the words 'tasya tasya'. Some take the first as equal to two words 'sapiṇḍāt yaḥ' and others as one word 'sapiṇḍādyaḥ' (sapiṇḍa and the like). Some take one 'tasya' (of him) as referring to the deceased and the other to the inheritor; while others take 'tasya tasya' as both referring to the inheritor alone, corresponding to 'yaḥ' (one more 'yaḥ' being suppressed for the sake of metre). Though the printed text and most of the commentaries read the half verse of Manu as in the note below there are several digests that read it differently. For example, the Sm. C. II. p. 301 reads it as 'yo yo hyanantaraḥ piṇḍāt' and quotes Dhāreśvara's explanation that 'piṇḍāt' means 'sapiṇḍāt'. Kullūka and the Dāyatattva p. 195 explain 'sapiṇḍāt' as 'sapiṇḍamadhyāt' (from among sapiṇḍas) and this appears to be the best explanation. Bṛ.¹⁴¹⁹ (S. B. E. 33 p. 379 verse 62)