Kshetraja
Kshetraja · kshetra-ja, “born of the field”
Grammar: adjective and masculine noun, a compound of kshetra (field) and -ja (born): “born of the field”, the wife being called the husband’s field.
Meaning: a son whom a man’s wife bears by another man with the husband’s consent, and who is counted as the husband’s son; the second of the kinds of dāyāda (sons who inherit).
In the scriptures: when Sanatkumāra asks Brahmā (Pitāmaha) what a dāyāda is, Brahmā names the first six: aurasa, kshetraja, datta, kṛtrima, gūḍhotpanna and apaviddha. To these six the ṛṇa (debt), the piṇḍa, the dhana (wealth), the kriyā (rites), the gotra-sāmya (sameness of gotra), the kula-vṛtti (family calling) and the pratishṭhā (standing) pass naturally from the parents. Then he explains each. The kshetraja is the son whom a wife bears by another man with the consent of a husband who is impotent (napuṃsaka) or weakened by vyasanas (vices) (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 35).
Related terms: Dāyāda · Aurasa · Datta · Apaviddha · Kshetra
Sources
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 35