We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Upakāra: The Theory of Spiritual Service and Women's Inheritance in the Dāyabhāga.
- Authors
Dutta, Manomohini
- Abstract
Women in the Dharmaśāstras are largely viewed as non-heirs. Recent research has explored the relationship between women and property questioning women's positions within Brahmanical literature. However, not much attention has been paid to women's inheritance of real property, possibly due to Dharmaśāstric rhetoric on women. This article examines an influential inheritance treatise from medieval Bengal, the Dāyabhāga, to explore women's provisions for inheritance. The Dāyabhāga ties inheritance to a theological concept called upakāra (spiritual service). Though upakāra has relatively received less attention in Indological scholarship, Hindu law scholars have viewed upakāra mostly in terms of links between inheritance and ancestral rites (preferably offered by male family members). But what has gone almost unnoticed is the way upakāra applies to women based on which the Dāyabhāga advocates for women to inherit property. This study aims to fill in a small gap by demonstrating the connection between upakāra, inheritance, and women, thereby adding to our understanding of women and property within Hindu law and religion.
- Subjects
HINDU law; RELIGION &; law; PSYCHOLOGY of women; HINDU scholars; SCHOLARSHIPS
- Publication
Journal of Hindu Studies, 2018, Vol 11, Issue 3, p260
- ISSN
1756-4255
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/jhs/hiy009