z:\ ambedkar\vol 04\vol4 05.indd MK SJ DK YS 23 9 2013/YS 8 11 2013 229
RIDDLE NO. 19
229
Similarly he does not disaffiliate any of the 12 sons. On the contrary he recognises their kinship. The only change he makes is to alter the rules of inheritance by putting them into two classes (1) heirs and kinsmen and (2) kinsmen but not heirs. He says [1] :
“The legitimate son of the body, the son begotten on a wife, the son adopted, the son made, the son secretly born, and the son cast off (are) the six heirs and kinsmen.”
“The son of an unmarried damsel, the son received with the wife, the son bought, the son begotten on a remarried woman; the son self-given and the son of a Sudra female (are) the six (who are) not heirs, (but) kinsmen.”
“If the two heirs of one man be a legitimate son of his body and a son begotten on his wife, each (of the two sons), to the exclusion of the other, shall take the estate of his (natural) father.”
“The legitimate son of the body alone (shall be) the owner of the paternal estate; but, in order to avoid harshness, let him allow a maintenance to the rest.”
There is another part of the law of consanguinity which has undergone a profound change but which has hardly been noticed by anybody. It relates to the determination of the Varna of the child. What is to be the Varna of the child? Is it to be the father’s Varna or the mother’s Varna? According to the law as it prevailed in the days before Manu the Varna of the child was determined by the Varna of the father. The Varna of the mother was of no account. A few illustrations will suffice to prove the thesis.
Father Mother Child
Name Varna Name Varna Name Varna
Shantanu Kshatriya Ganga Unknown Bhishma Kshatriya
Parashara Brahmana Matsyagandha Fisherman Krishna Brahman Dwaya
Vashishtha Brahmana Akshamala Payan
Shantanu Kshatriya Matsyagandha Fisherman Vichitravirya Kshatriya
Vishwamitra Kshatriya Menaka Apsara Shakuntala Kshatriya
Yayati Kshatriya Devayani Brahmin Yadu Kshatriya
Yayati Kshatriya Sharmishtha Asuri Druhya Kshatriya
Jaratkaru Brahman Jaratkari Naga Astika Brahmin
1 Manu IX. 159-160: 162-163: pp. 359-60.