History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c93.542

v7.c93.542

The Viśvajit is a striking sacrifice in which the performer donates all belongings of which he is the owner ('Viśvajiti sarvasvam dadāti'). Jaimini devotes about fourteen adhikaraṇas²¹⁵⁸ to it, viz. IV. 3. 10-16 (three adhikaraṇas), VI. 7. 1-20 (nine adhikaraṇas), VII. 3 6-11 (one adhi.), X. 6. 13-14 (one adhi.). Some of the interesting propositions are · the performer cannot donate his own relatives (such as father or mother) but can denote that of which he is real owner or master; that even the emperor cannot make a gift of the whole kingdom, as other people have rights over land and the king protects the people and has only the right to a certain share in the produce of the land, that the performer cannot donate horses as śruti expressly forbids the gift of horses in Viśvajit; that the performer can donate only that which exists as his property at the time of giving dakṣiṇā in the sacrifice and not that which may become his at a future date; that a śūdra²¹⁵⁹ who waits upon the performer because it is his duty to serve (acc to Manu) cannot be donated; a person of a higher varṇa cannot be donated; only he who has 112 cows or more wealth is entitled to perform Viśvajit.