दायभागकथनम्The law of inheritance
Verse 37
ऊर्ध्वाद्वित्तमधः प्राप्य पुमांसमवलम्बते । अतः सत्यां सोदरायां वैमात्रेयो धनं हरेत् ॥ ३७ ॥
ūrdhvādvittamadhaḥ prāpya pumāṁsamavalambatē | ataḥ satyāṁ sōdarāyāṁ vaimātrēyō dhanaṁ harēt || 37 ||
Translation
Wealth that has come down from above rests on a male; so even while a full sister lives, a half-brother takes the wealth.
Word by word
- ūrdhvāt
- (ūrdhvāt) from above
- vittam
- (vittam) wealth
- adhaḥ
- (adhaḥ) down
- prāpya
- having come
- pumāṁsam
- (pumāṁsam) on a male
- avalambatē
- rests
- ataḥ
- (ataḥ) so
- satyāṁ
- being alive
- sōdarāyāṁ
- a full sister
- vaimātrēyaḥ
- (vaimātreyaḥ) a half-brother
- dhanaṁ
- the wealth
- harēt
- takes
Meaning
The male principle of verse 7 again: a half-brother, son of the stepmother, inherits before the dead man's own full sister.
Commentary
Hariharānanda Bhāratī’s Sanskrit commentary, translated
Because wealth that comes from above to below rests on the male, even when a sister of the same womb is living it goes to the stepmother's son: this he tells with "ūrdhvāt" and the rest. Since wealth, coming from above to below, rests on (avalambate, takes refuge in) the man, the male, therefore even while the sister of the same womb is living, the half-brother (vaimātreya), the son of the stepmother, takes the wealth.