In Assam and West Bengal, the Dayabhaga school dominated. This is also one of Hindu law’s most important schools. It is thought to be a digest for the most important smritis. Its main focus was on issues such as divorce, inheritance, and shared family life. It was founded between 1090 and 1130 A.D., according to Kane.
The Dayabhaga school was created with the goal of eliminating all other illogical and unnatural inheritance concepts. The initial benefit of this new digest is that it tends to eliminate all of the flaws and limits of the previously established principles, allowing numerous cognates to be included in the list of heirs, which was previously confined by the Mitakshara school.
Dayabhaga is supposed to have been written by Jimatuvahana, a Bengali judge and minister. This School is seen as a commentary on certain works as well as a compilation of all codes. Dayabhaga, unlike Mitakshara, does not have any sub-schools. The law of succession in the Dayabhaga School is based on the notion of religious efficacy, or spiritual benefit. This means that the person who provides the deceased with the most religious benefits is entitled to inherit before those who provide the least.
It takes a more liberal approach, as evidenced by the fact that, unlike the Mitakshara, females can inherit ancestral property. This was a blessing in disguise since other male relatives of the family, tempted by wealth and taking advantage of women’s lowly status in Indian society, founded the Sati system. When a woman was supposed to jump into her husband’s funeral fire, it was thought to be an act that would send her husband to paradise.
Other commentaries adopted in the Dayabhaga school include-
a) Dayatatya
b) Dayakram-Sangrah
c) Virmitrodaya
d) Dattaka Chandrika
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MITAKSHARA AND DAYABHAGA SCHOOLS OF LAW:a) The geographical regions to which the two schools apply differ–
1) The Mitakshara school is a running commentary on Vijnaneshwara’s Yajnavalkya Smriti, while Jimutavahana’s Dayabhaga is a commentary on the Yajnavalkya Smriti.
2) In Mitakshra, a Coparcener son inherits the ancestral property by birth, however, in Dayabhaga, the son must wait till his father dies to inherit it.
3) A coparcener son in Mitakshara School has a far stronger position since he can demand the division of the joint family property, but a son in Dayabhaga School is not permitted to do so.
b) On the basis of succession– Inheritance is governed by the rule of consanguinity, or blood relationship, in the Mitakshara, but it is governed by the rule of spiritual effectiveness in the Dayabhaga.
While cognates are deferred to agnates under the Mitakshara, some cognates, such as sister’s sons, are preferred over many agnates under the Dayabhaga.
This means that if a Hindu leaves a son and a daughter, the daughter will be left out of the inheritance, while the son will inherit everything. Similarly, if a Hindu dies leaving a son’s son and a daughter’s son, the son’s son will inherit.
The distinction between the two primary schools of Hindu law is no longer reliable under modern Hindu law. The Hindu Succession Act of 1956 establishes a single succession law for all Hindus.
c) On the basis of joint family– According to the Mitakshara, a son’s claim to the property is derived from birth; as a result, the son is a co-owner of ancestral property with his father. This means that as soon as a son is born into the family, he is entitled to a share of the joint family property. The right to property appears following the death of the previous owner under the Dayabhaga. As a result, throughout his father’s lifetime, the son has no claim to the ancestral property. In the Mitakshara School, the father has limited power of separation for ancestral property, however, in the Dayabhaga School, the father has unlimited power of separation for the ancestral property. The son can demand partition of the joint family property even against the father under the Mitakshara, however, the son cannot demand partition against the father under the Dayabhaga.
The Mitakshara school’s concept of the joint family property reflects a belief in community ownership and possession unity. This statement signifies that no individual co-parcener can claim ownership of such a piece of the joint family property prior to partition. The interest of co-parceners varies greatly; it decreases when a child is born and increases when a family member dies. However, under the ‘Dayabhaga school, there is no concept of birth, and the interests of co-parceners remain constant, unaffected by death or birth within the family. The unity of possession is the same in both schools.
CONCLUSION: Dayabhaga is a reformist school, whereas Mitakshara is an orthodox school. On important points, the Mitakshra and Dayabhaga schools disagreed. As far as the law is concerned, the Hindu succession ACT, 1956, has dissolved the disparity between the two. By widening the scope of Hindu law, these schools have contributed to its development. In this generation, Mitakshara & Dayabhaga schools are not as important as they once were. Even if the Mitakshara is no longer popular, except in cases of Hindu coparcenary property, the path is paved for India’s advancement and prosperity should be followed.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: https://blog.ipleaders.in/sources-schools-hindu-law/#Dayabhaga_school
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