History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.t2.85

v4.c63.t2.85

It has been stated above that *dāya* is either *apratibandha* or *sapratibandha* and that sons, grandsons and great-grandsons take the first kind of dāya. If a man has no son either aurasa or secondary (viz. the dattaka, the other kinds of sons being now forbidden or obsolete), then his property devolves in a certain order. When a man dies sonless and is a member of a joint Hindu family then on the surviving coparceners the whole estate devolves except that after 1937 (by Act XVIII of 1937) his widow takes his place as to the joint family property. But if he dies separated and has male issue (from whom also he is separate) then his male issue will succeed to him in a body viz. his son, grandson (son of a predeceased son) and great-grandson (son of a predeceased son's predeceased son) will together take his separate property *per stirpes*. From Manu IX. 137 (which is the same as Vas. 17·5 and Viṣṇu Dh. S. 15. 46) and 186 and Yāj. I. 78 it follows that the son, grandson and great-grandson equally confer great spiritual benefit and so are the principal group of heirs. According to the strict theory of the Mitākṣarā as stated above, son, grandson and great-grandson take by birth an interest even in property acquired by a man himself, but they have no power to prevent him from alienating it. If one or more out of a man's sons, grand-sons or great-grandsons are separate from him then on his death his self-acquired property will first be taken by those sons, grandsons and great-grandsons that are joint with him and if none of these is joint with him, the separated son, grandson and great-grandson will succeed *per stirpes* to his estate.¹³³⁹