Note 206 — LAW AND JUDICATURE.

pitárau. First the mother, then the father—says the Commentator. But Manu, ch. 9, sl. 185:—If a man die without male issue, the father is heir; next to him in order, the brothers—and, sl. 217—If a man die childless, his mother succeeds.—Such is the contradictory character of texts and comments on this subject. The law in use in Bengal is the reverse of the Commentator's gloss.