mily property and deserves
to be checked by the king. That man who acts deceitfully, has, without
doubt, to go to regions of grief and every kind of evil. The birth of
such a person serves no useful purpose even as the flowers of the
cane.[486] That family in which a sinful person takes birth becomes
subject to every evil. Such a person brings about infamy, and all the
good acts of the family disappear. Such among the brothers as are wedded
to evil acts forfeit their shares of the family property. In such a case,
the eldest brother may appropriate the whole Yautuka property without
giving any portion thereof to his younger brothers. If the eldest brother
makes any acquisition, without using the paternal property and by going
to a distant place he may appropriate for his own use, such acquisitions,
without giving any share thereof to his younger brothers. If unseparated
brothers desire (during the lifetime of their father) to portion the
family property, the father should give equal shares unto all his sons.
If the eldest brother happens to be of sinful acts and undistinguished by
accomplishments of any kind he may be disregarded by his younger
brothers. If the wife or the younger brother happens to be sinful, her or
his good must still be looked after. Persons conversant with the efficacy
of righteousness say that righteousness is the highest good. The
Upadhyaya is superior to even ten Acharyas. The sire is equal to ten
Upadhyayas. The mother is equal to ten sires or even the whole earth.
There is no senior equal to the mother. Verily, she transcends all in
respect of the reverence due to her.[487] It is for this reason that
people regard the mother to deserve so much reverence. After the father
has ceased to breathe, O Bharata, the eldest brother should be regarded
as the father. It is the eldest brother who should assign unto them their
means of support and protect and cherish them. All the younger brothers
should bow to him and obey his authority. Indeed, they should live in
dependence upon him even as they did upon their father while he was
alive. So far as the body is concerned, O Bharata, it is the father and
the mother that create it. That birth, however, which the Acharya
ordains, is regarded as the true birth, that is, besides, really unfading
and immortal. The eldest sister, O chief of Bharata's race, is like unto
the mother. The wife of the eldest brother also is like unto the mother,
for the younger brother, i