DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49827#0168
THE LAW OF ADOPTION, HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED.
153
to free the Niyoga from the taint of sin, which might
otherwise have been considered to attach to it. For the
same reason the procreation of several Kshetrajas was
ordinarily prohibited, though there jvas an opinion in
favour of the procreation, of a second Kshetraja son, but
of not more than two Kshetrajas on any account, in order
to secure thus the perpetuation of the race—the real end
of the Niyoga. The violation of any of the above rules
caused the offender to be expelled from caste. In the life-
time of the husband, the power to ordain the Niyoga is
vested, of course, in him ; but it is natural to ask who
may have had the power to give such an extraordinary
commission as this after his death. This question may
now be satisfactorily answered from Vasislitlia’s Dharma-
sutra, which states (XVII. 56) that the father or brother
of a (sunless® widow shall assemble the Gurus, who taught
or sacrificed (for her deceased husband) and his relatives,
and shall appoint her (to raise issue to the deceased). The
Gurus intended here are the teacher, sub-teachers, and
officiating priests of the deceased. It appears, therefore,
that some time—six months according to the statement of
Vasishtha—-after the death of one deceased without male
issue, a sort of family council, consisting of the next-of-
kin and the spiritual advisers of the deceased, used to
be assembled in order to appoint the person who was
to be charged with the office of raising issue to the
deceased.
Lecture
VII.
It is quite probable that the practice of Niyoga was Origin of
originally confined to widows, like the well-known Hebrew theN1y°sa-
custom of the levirate. This is at least the only form of
the Niyoga to be met with in ’the Vedas1 and in the
Dharmasutra of Vasishtha. Whether Vishnu, Yajnavalkya
and Narada were acquainted with the Niyoga practised
during the lifetime of the husband, does not become clear,
and the remarks of the Commentators do not decide the
question. Manu speaks of the appointment of the wife
in one place (IX. 161), but when discussing in detail the
circumstances and results of Niyoga (IX. 55—68,143—147),
he seems to refer to the case of the didow alone. His
Commentators deny this in order to bring every thing
into harmony, but this is not the only inconsistency in
Manu’s statements concerning the Niyoga. Gautama shows
1 Rigveda X. 40,2.
153
to free the Niyoga from the taint of sin, which might
otherwise have been considered to attach to it. For the
same reason the procreation of several Kshetrajas was
ordinarily prohibited, though there jvas an opinion in
favour of the procreation, of a second Kshetraja son, but
of not more than two Kshetrajas on any account, in order
to secure thus the perpetuation of the race—the real end
of the Niyoga. The violation of any of the above rules
caused the offender to be expelled from caste. In the life-
time of the husband, the power to ordain the Niyoga is
vested, of course, in him ; but it is natural to ask who
may have had the power to give such an extraordinary
commission as this after his death. This question may
now be satisfactorily answered from Vasislitlia’s Dharma-
sutra, which states (XVII. 56) that the father or brother
of a (sunless® widow shall assemble the Gurus, who taught
or sacrificed (for her deceased husband) and his relatives,
and shall appoint her (to raise issue to the deceased). The
Gurus intended here are the teacher, sub-teachers, and
officiating priests of the deceased. It appears, therefore,
that some time—six months according to the statement of
Vasishtha—-after the death of one deceased without male
issue, a sort of family council, consisting of the next-of-
kin and the spiritual advisers of the deceased, used to
be assembled in order to appoint the person who was
to be charged with the office of raising issue to the
deceased.
Lecture
VII.
It is quite probable that the practice of Niyoga was Origin of
originally confined to widows, like the well-known Hebrew theN1y°sa-
custom of the levirate. This is at least the only form of
the Niyoga to be met with in ’the Vedas1 and in the
Dharmasutra of Vasishtha. Whether Vishnu, Yajnavalkya
and Narada were acquainted with the Niyoga practised
during the lifetime of the husband, does not become clear,
and the remarks of the Commentators do not decide the
question. Manu speaks of the appointment of the wife
in one place (IX. 161), but when discussing in detail the
circumstances and results of Niyoga (IX. 55—68,143—147),
he seems to refer to the case of the didow alone. His
Commentators deny this in order to bring every thing
into harmony, but this is not the only inconsistency in
Manu’s statements concerning the Niyoga. Gautama shows
1 Rigveda X. 40,2.