Dāyabhāga

The Dāyabhāga is a Hindu law treatise written by Jīmūtavāhana which primarily focuses on inheritance procedure. The Dāyabhāga was the strongest authority in Modern British Indian courts in the Bengal region of India, although this has changed due to the passage of the Hindu Succession Act of 1956 and subsequent revisions to the act.[1] Based on Jīmūtavāhana's criticisms of the Mitākṣarā, it is thought that his work is precluded by the Mitākṣarā. This has led many scholars to conclude that the Mitākṣarā represents the orthodox doctrine of Hindu law, while the Dāyabhāga represents the reformed version.[2]

The central difference between the texts is based upon when one becomes the owner of property. The Dāyabhāga does not give the sons a right to their father's ancestral property until after his death, unlike Mitākṣarā, which gives the sons the right to ancestral property upon their birth. The digest has been commented on more than a dozen times.[3]

Translation

Henry Thomas Colebrooke

  1. The format of the Sanskrit texts
  2. The texts were deeply involved with an ancient civilization, which the translators were not familiar with
  3. The misconception that the text was written by lawyers, for lawyers

Colebrooke created the division of two schools of thought in India, separating the majority of India, thought to follow the Mitākṣarā and the Bengal region, which followed the Dāyabhāga system.

Topics covered in the digest

Sages Mentioned in the Dāyabhāga

Central differences between the Dāyabhāga and the Mitākṣarā

Son's Inheritance

The Rights of the Widow

Ancestral Property

Personal Property

Inheritance

Succession

Dharmaratna

The other surviving parts include:

Vyavahāra-Mātrkā

Kāla-Viveka

Commentaries

Śrīnātha Ācāryacūda

Rāmabhadra Nyāylankāra

Acyutānanda Cakraviartin

Maheśvara Bhaṭṭācārya

Śrīksṛṣṇa

Raghunandana

Raghunandana (c. 16th century) was the author of the Dāya-Tattva. Dayabhaga tika (or Dayabhaga vyakhya), a commentary on Dayabhaga, is also attributed to him.

Whether this commentary was actually done by Raghunandana, or another scholar using his name, is a topic of debate. Henry Thomas Colebrooke (1810) and Julius Eggeling (1891) suspected that it was not authored by him. Monmohan Chakravarti (1915), Rajendra Chandra Hazra (1950) and Pandurang Vaman Kane (1972), on the other hand, ascribed the work to Raghunandana.[11]

The commentary retained high standing and was used in court to answer disputed questions of Dāyabhāga.[12] The Calcutta High Court declared that Raghunandana's commentary of the Dāyabhāga is the best of all commentaries.[13]

Dating

Location

Hindu Succession Act

Notes

  1. Kane, P. V., History of Dharmaśāstra, (Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1975), Volume I, Part II, 703.
  2. Rocher,Jimutavahana's Dāyabhāga: The Hindu Law of Inheritance in Bengal, (Oxford University Press, 2002), 23.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Kane, P. V., History of Dharmaśāstra, (Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1975), Volume I, Part II, 704.
  4. Rocher,Jimutavahana's Dāyabhāga: The Hindu Law of Inheritance in Bengal, (Oxford University Press, 2002), 33.
  5. Rocher,Jimutavahana's Dāyabhāga: The Hindu Law of Inheritance in Bengal, (Oxford University Press, 2002), 35.
  6. 1 2 Robert Lingat, The Classical Law of India, (New York: Oxford UP, 1973), 172.
  7. Robert Lingat, The Classical Law of India, (New York: Oxford UP, 1973), 173.
  8. Rocher,Jimutavahana's Dāyabhāga: The Hindu Law of Inheritance in Bengal, (Oxford University Press, 2002), 9.
  9. Kāne, P. V., History of Dharmaśāstra, (Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1975), Volume I, Part II, 711.
  10. Rocher,Jimutavahana's Dāyabhāga: The Hindu Law of Inheritance in Bengal, (Oxford University Press, 2002), 17.
  11. Ludo Rocher (2002). Jimutavahana's Dayabhaga : The Hindu Law of Inheritance in Bengal: The Hindu Law of Inheritance in Bengal. Oxford University Press. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-19-803160-4.
  12. Rocher,Jimutavahana's Dāyabhāga: The Hindu Law of Inheritance in Bengal, (Oxford University Press, 2002), 16.
  13. Kāne, P. V., History of Dharmaśāstra, (Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1975), Volume I, Part II, 892.
  14. M. Chakravarti, Part I. Bengal, (J.A.S.B., 1915) 321-327
  15. Kane, P. V., History of Dharmaśāstra, (Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1975), Volume I, Part II, 712.

References

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