Verse 9.172

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:

पितृवेश्मनि कन्या तु यं पुत्रं जनयेद् रहः ।
तं कानीनं वदेन्नाम्ना वोढुः कन्यासमुद्भवम् ॥ १७२ ॥

pitṛveśmani kanyā tu yaṃ putraṃ janayed rahaḥ |
taṃ kānīnaṃ vadennāmnā voḍhuḥ kanyāsamudbhavam || 172 ||

If a maiden secretly bears a son in her father’s house, that son, born of a maiden, should be declared as ‘maiden-born’ by name, and to belong to the man who marries her.—(172)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

This verse has been already explained before, and the shares to be allowed to him, along with the ‘adopted,’ ‘appointed’ and ‘cast off’ sons have already been described before (under 132-135).—(172)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Mitākṣarā (2. 129), which adds that if the girl remains unmarried, then the son belongs to her father; but if she is married subsequently, the son belongs to her husband;—in Parāśaramādhava (Prāyaścitta, p. 38);—in Vyavahāra-Bālambhaṭṭī (p. 557);—in Nṛsiṃhaprasāda (Vyavahāra 38a);—and in Vīramitro daya (Vyavahāra 187b).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Baudhāyana (2.3-24).—‘If anyone approaches an unmarried girl without authorisation, the son born of such union is called the Kānīna, born of the unmarried damsel.’

Vaśiṣṭha (17.22-23).—‘They declare that the son whom an unmarried girl bears, through lust, in her father’s house is the son of his maternal grandfather. They quote the following—“If an unmarried daughter bear a son begotten by a man of equal caste, the maternal grandfather has a son through him; he shall offer the Ball to and take the wealth of that grandfather.”’

Viṣṇu (15.10.11-12).—‘The Kānīna is the fifth kind of son; that son is called so who is born of an unmarried daughter in the house of her father;—and he belongs to the man who afterwards marries his mother.’

Yājñavalkya (2.129).—‘The Kānīna, horn of an unmarried damsel, is the son to his maternal grandfather.’

Arthaśāstra (p. 41).—‘The Kānīna is born of the womb of an unmarried girl.’

Brahmapurāṇa (Vivādaratnākara, p. 565).—‘If a son is born to a girl who has not yet been given in marriage, in her father’s house, from a man of the same caste as herself, that son is called Kānīna; and he is a son to that man to whom the girl is subsequently given in marriage.’

Nārada (Do.).—‘The Kānīna, the Sahoḍha and the Gūḍhaja sons belong to him who marries the mother.’