दायभागकथनम्The law of inheritance
Verse 24
पतिपुत्रविहीना तु सम्प्राप्य स्वामिनो धनम् । नैव दातुं न विक्रेतुं समर्था स्वधनं विना ॥ २४ ॥
patiputravihīnā tu samprāpya svāminō dhanam | naiva dātuṁ na vikrētuṁ samarthā svadhanaṁ vinā || 24 ||
Translation
But a woman without husband or son who has received her husband's wealth is not able to give it away or sell it, apart from her own property.
Word by word
- pati
- husband
- putra
- and son
- vihīnā
- without
- tu
- but
- samprāpya
- having received
- svāminaḥ
- (svāminaḥ) of her husband
- dhanam
- (dhanam) the wealth
- na
- not
- ēva
- at all
- dātuṁ
- to give
- vikrētuṁ
- to sell
- samarthā
- able
- sva
- her own
- dhanaṁ
- wealth
- vinā
- apart from
Meaning
The widow holds her husband's estate for her life but may not alienate it; only her own property, strīdhana (defined in the next verse), is hers to give or sell.
Commentary
Hariharānanda Bhāratī’s Sanskrit commentary, translated
Then a woman without husband or son, who is a good woman and has received her husband's property, cannot give it away or sell it: this he tells with "patiputra" and the rest. A woman without husband and son, having received her lord's wealth, is not able to give it nor to sell it, except her own wealth (svadhana); that is, her own wealth she may give and sell.