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IX, 204.
INHERITANCE.
373
202. But it is just that (a man) who knows (the law) should give even to all of them food and raiment without stint, according to his ability; he who gives it not will become an outcast.
203. If the eunuch and the rest should somehow or other desire to (take) wives, the offspring of such among them as have children is worthy of a share.
204. Whatever property the eldest (son) acquires (by his own exertion) after the father's death, a share of that (shall belong) to his younger (brothers), provided they have made a due progress in learning also 'of sensation, such as men who have lost the faculty of touch (Når.).
202. Medh. and Kull. take atyantam, without stint,' in the sense of for life.' Nár. construes the word with adadat, and explains 'he who does not give it at all.' Nand. reads abhyangam, 'ointments,' for atyantam,' without stint.'
203. Medh. is of opinion that some of the persons disqualified from inheriting, the vâtaretas klība, those born blind and the lame, may marry, while outcasts, madmen, and the rest cannot do so. Hence the conditional clause may be taken in the sense adopted above in the translation. He, however, adds that the rule may also refer to cases in which the cause of the disqualification arose after marriage. Når.'s explanation is substantially the same. But he considers that a eunuch and an outcast cannot contract a legal marriage, and that the expression klibâdayah, literally those among whom the eunuch is the first,' refers to 'men born blind and the rest. He admits also the rights of the Kshetraga sons of eunuchs and outcasts who contracted a marriage before their disqualification arose. Kull. says, 'By the employment of the term "somehow or other" it is indicated that a eunuch and the rest are not worthy to marry. In the sequel he explains the word 'offspring' by Kshetraga. Râgh. and Nand. follow him with respect to the latter point.
204. The rule refers of course to a united family only (Kull.). Medh. infers from the expression vidyânupâlinah, 'provided they have made a due progress in learning, that persons subsisting by learning, mechanics and artisans, such as physicians, actors, singers,'
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