Vada in Theory and Practice: Studies in Debates, Dialogues and Discussions in Indian Intellectual Discourses c9.s4.10

c9.s4.10

Yājñavalkya, Kātyāyana, Bṛhaspati and the author of *Viṣṇusmṛti* authorize the widow to inherit the property of her husband if he has no son.³³ If a man is not survived by his wife or sons, then the daughters would inherit his property.³⁴ On the other hand, there are law givers who will see that the *sapiṇḍa* relatives of the diseased person get his property. Bṛhaspati vehemently protests this practice. He goes to the extent of prescribing that the king should punish the relatives treating them as thieves, if at all they make any attempt of grabbing the property legally inherited by a widow.³⁵