दायभागकथनम्The law of inheritance
Verse 93
धर्मार्थं स्थापितं रिक्थं दाता रक्षितुमर्हति । न प्रभुः पुनरादातुं धर्मो ह्यस्य यतः प्रभुः ॥ ९३ ॥
dharmārthaṁ sthāpitaṁ rikthaṁ dātā rakṣitumarhati | na prabhuḥ punarādātuṁ dharmō hyasya yataḥ prabhuḥ || 93 ||
Translation
Property set aside for dharma the giver should guard; he has no power to take it back, for dharma is its lord.
Word by word
- dharma
- dharma
- arthaṁ
- for the sake of
- sthāpitaṁ
- set aside
- rikthaṁ
- property
- dātā
- the giver
- rakṣitum
- (rakṣitum) to guard
- arhati
- should
- na
- not
- prabhuḥ
- (prabhuḥ) master; lord
- punaḥ
- (punaḥ) back
- ādātuṁ
- to take
- dharmaḥ
- (dharmaḥ) dharma
- hi
- for
- asya
- its
- yataḥ
- (yataḥ) since
Meaning
An endowment belongs to its purpose: the founder becomes its guardian, not its owner.
Commentary
Hariharānanda Bhāratī’s Sanskrit commentary, translated
Since property set aside for dharma has dharma for its owner, the giver may not take it back but should guard it: this he tells with "dharmārtham" and the rest. The property (riktha, wealth) set aside for dharma the giver ought to guard. The giver is not master (prabhu, owner) to take back that wealth, to take it again; for (hi, surely) dharma is the master, the owner, of this wealth.