दायभागकथनम्The law of inheritance
Verse 43
प्रेतलब्धधनैर्नारी विदध्यादात्मपोषणम् । पुण्यन्तु तदुपस्वत्वैर्न शक्ता दानविक्रये ॥ ४३ ॥
prētalabdhadhanairnārī vidadhyādātmapōṣaṇam | puṇyantu tadupasvatvairna śaktā dānavikrayē || 43 ||
Translation
A woman may maintain herself with the wealth she received from the dead, and do works of merit with its produce; but she has no power to give it away or sell it.
Word by word
- prēta
- from the dead
- labdha
- received
- dhanaiḥ
- (dhanaiḥ) with the wealth
- nārī
- a woman
- vidadhyāt
- may make
- ātma
- her own
- pōṣaṇam
- (poṣaṇam) maintenance
- puṇyaṁ
- merit
- tu
- and
- tat
- its
- upasvatvaiḥ
- (upasvatvaiḥ) with the produce
- na
- not
- śaktā
- able
- dāna
- in giving
- vikrayē
- or selling
Meaning
She has the use and the income for life, not the ownership; the commentary reads puṇya as works of dharma paid for from the income.
Commentary
Hariharānanda Bhāratī’s Sanskrit commentary, translated
A woman may live on the produce of the wealth she received from the dead man and also do works of dharma with it, but she is not able to give away or sell that wealth itself, to the end of her life: this he tells with "preta" and the rest. With the wealth received from the dead (preta), a woman should provide for her own maintenance, her support; and she may do meritorious acts, works of dharma, with its produce (upasvatva), with the wealth arising from it apart from the capital. But she is not able, not entitled, to give or sell that wealth.