दायभागकथनम्The law of inheritance
Verse 11
ऋणं यत् पैतृकं तच्च शोधयेत् पैतृकैर्धनैः । तस्मिन् स्थिते विभागार्हं न भवेत् पैतृकं वसु ॥ ११ ॥
ṛṇaṁ yat paitṛkaṁ tacca śōdhayēt paitṛkairdhanaiḥ | tasmin sthitē vibhāgārhaṁ na bhavēt paitṛkaṁ vasu || 11 ||
Translation
Any debt of the father should be paid from the father's wealth; while it stands, the father's property is not to be divided.
Word by word
- ṛṇaṁ
- a debt
- yat
- which
- paitṛkaṁ
- of the father
- tat
- that
- ca
- and
- śōdhayēt
- should be paid
- paitṛkaiḥ
- (paitṛkaiḥ) with the father's
- dhanaiḥ
- (dhanaiḥ) wealth
- tasmin
- while it
- sthitē
- stands
- vibhāga
- division
- arhaṁ
- fit for
- na
- not
- bhavēt
- is
- vasu
- property
Meaning
Debts come before inheritance: the estate first pays what the father owed, and only what remains is shared.
Commentary
Hariharānanda Bhāratī’s Sanskrit commentary, translated
Having paid the father's debt, the brothers should divide what is left of the father's property: this he tells with "ṛṇam" and the rest. The debt that is the father's, belonging to the father, should be cleared with the father's wealth, the wealth belonging to the father. While that debt stands, the father's property (vasu, wealth) is not fit to be divided, not fit to be shared out.