XV. Resumption of Gifts

The Minor Law Books (SBE33), by Julius Jolly, [1889], at sacred-texts.com

XV. RESUMPTION OF GIFTS.

1. ¹ The system of rules relative to Concerns of a Partnership has been fully declared thus; the rules regarding what may, or may not, be given, valid, and invalid gifts, will be declared (next).

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2. ² That which may not be given is declared to be of eight sorts, joint property, a son, a wife, a pledge, one's entire wealth, a deposit, what has been borrowed for use, and what has been promised to another.

3. ³ What remains after defraying (the necessary expenses for) the food and clothing of his family, may be given by a man; otherwise (by giving more than that), the religious merit (supposed to be acquired by the giver) though tasting like honey at first, will change into poison in the end.

4. ⁴ When any field (or house) is given away, belonging to a number of houses or fields acquired in one of the seven modes of (lawful) acquisition, it is ordained to be viewed as a valid gift, whether it have been inherited from the father or acquired by the donor himself.

5. Self-acquired property may be given away at pleasure (by its owner); a pledge may be disposed of according to the rules of mortgage; in the case of property received as a marriage portion, or inherited from an ancestor, the bestowal of the whole is not admitted.

6. When, however, a marriage gift, or inherited property, or what has been obtained by valour, is

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given with the assent of the wife, kinsmen, or supreme ruler, the gift acquires validity.

7. Co-heirs (or joint-tenants), whether divided in interests or not, have an equal claim to the immovable wealth; a single (parcener) has no power to give, mortgage, or sell the whole (wealth).

8. ⁸ The following eight sorts of gifts are recognised as valid by persons acquainted with the law of gift, viz. wages, (what was given) for the pleasure (of hearing bards, or the like), the price of merchandise, the fee paid for (or to) a damsel, (and what was given) to a benefactor (as a return for his kindness), through reverence, kindness, or affection.

9. ⁹ What has been given by one angry, or resenting an injury, or through inadvertence, or by one distressed, by a minor, a madman, one terrified, intoxicated, overaged, cast out from society, idiotic, or afflicted with grief or an illness,

10. Or what is given in jest; all such gifts are declared to be void gifts.

11. ¹¹ When anything has been given through desire of a reward, or to an unworthy man mistaken for a worthy person, or for an immoral purpose, the owner may resume the gift.

Footnotes

341:1 XV, 1. Ratn. p. 127; Col. Dig. II, 4, 1; Vîram. p. 392.

342:2 Ratn. p. 127; Col. Dig. II, 4, 5; Viv. p. 72; Vîram. p. 392.

342:3 Ratn. p. 129; Viv. p. 75; Col. Dig. II, 4, 18.

342:4 4, 5. Viv. p. 76. The seven modes of acquisition are, according to Manu (X, 115), inheritance, finding, purchase, conquest, lending at interest, doing work, and the acceptance of gifts from virtuous men. The prohibition to give away the whole, in 5, relates to property acquired by valour as well, according to the Ratnâkara. The clause translated by 'bestowal of the whole' may also mean, 'every gift,' i.e. a gift not sanctioned by the persons referred to in 6.

4-7. Ratn. p. 130; Col. Dig. II, 4, 18.

343:8 Ratn. p. 133; Col. Dig. II, 4, 49; Viv. p. 81.

343:9 9, 10. Ratn. p. 136; Viv. p. 83; Col. Dig. II, 4, 62.

343:11 Ratn. p. 136; Viv. p. 83; Col. Dig. II, 4, 62.