History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c93.612

v7.c93.612

Manu (VIII 210) mentions the method of the distribution of fees in Vedic sacrifices outlined above and extends its principles of division to men working jointly on such undertakings as the construction of houses &c.²¹⁹⁷ Though the sūtra (*samaṁ syād-aśrutivāt*) is only the pūrvapakṣa view and not accepted as to the distribution of the cows as fees in Vedic sacrifices, it has been frequently followed as an equitable rule by medieval Dharmaśāstra writers. The Sm. C. relies on it about the liability of sureties (II. p 152), about equal shares between father and sons in partition (II. p. 260) and II. 285 (distribution of *yautaka* among unmarried daughters), II. 404. Kullūka on Manu III. 1 (where 36 years are laid down as the period of studentship for mastering the three Vedas) states, relying on the sūtra 'samaṁ' &c. that thirty-six years should be equally distributed over the three Vedaśākhās. The Madanaratna (on Vyavahāra) p. 202 quotes both verses of Manu (VIII. 210-11), then quotes Manu VIII. 210 (on p. 213) and explains and then sets out the distribution of the dakṣiṇā if it was 112 cows. The Vyavahāraprakāśa pp. 443 and 548 (on division of mother's yautaka strīdhana by unmarried daughters) refer to the rule of equal division. Most of these works (as printed) read the sūtra as 'samam syādaśrutatvāt' and not as Jaimini and Śabara read.