z:\ ambedkar\vol 04\vol4 05.indd MK SJ DK YS 23 9 2013/YS 8 11 2013 232
232 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
the fruit belongs clearly to the landowner, for the receptacle is more important than the seed.”
It is on this that the right to the 12 kinds of sons is founded.
This change was also opposed to the rule of Patna Potestas. Hindu family is a Patriarchal family same as the Roman family. In both the father possessed certain authority over members of the family. Manu is aware of this and recognized it in most ample terms. Defining the authority of the Hindu father, Manu says:
“Three persons, a wife, a son, and a slave, are declared by law to have in general no wealth exclusively their own; the wealth which they may earn is regularly acquired for the man to whom they belong.”
They belong to the head of the family—namely the father. Under the Patna Potestas the sons earnings are the property of the father. The change in the law of paternity mean a definite loss to the father.
Why did Manu change the law from Pitra-savarnya to Matra-savarnya ?
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