JUDGMENT

SEN, J. :— This is an appeal by special leave from a judgment and decree of the Allahabad High Court dated November 2, 1971 in a suit for declaration of title to, and possession of house No. C-27-33 situate in Mohalla Jagatganj, Varanasi for arrears of rent and mesne profits in respect thereof.

2. The principal point in controversy between the parties in this appeal is whether the plaintiff, Mathura Ahir, being a Sudra could not be ordained to a religious Order and become a Sannyasi or Yati and, therefore, installed as a Mahant of the Garwaghat Math according to the tents of the Sant Mat Sampradaya. A subsidiary question arises as to whether in a absence of proof of the performance of Atma Sradh and the recitation of Pravesh Mantra neither the plaintiff nor his two predecessors Swami Sarupanand and Swami Atmaviveknand could be regarded as Hindu sanyasis. It also raises a further question namely whether the first respondent, Narsewanand, the original plaintiff having died during the tendency of the appeal, the appeal abates in its entirety.

3. The facts of the case are set forth with utmost particularity in the judgment of the High Court. It will, therefore, not be inconvenient to deal with them as briefly as possible. The history of the Garwaghat Math is as follows : In 1925, Swami Sarupanand Paramhans, disciple of Swami Advaitanand, a Hindu ascetic belonging to the Sant Mat sect, came from the North-Western Provinces, and took his abode at Garwaghat, Mouza Ramna Malhija, in the vicinity of Varanasi City. He was religious preceptor of great learning and from his hermitage preached the tenets and precepts of the Sant Mat and soon had a large following. He was treated with great veneration and some of his devotees by a registered gift deed dated March 18, 1935 endowed the land and building, which he named as Bangla Kuti. Subsequently the said Bangla Kuti and other lands and buildings appurtenant and adjacent thereto became to be known as the Garwaghat Math of which Swami Sarupanand was initially the mahant. He paid a visit to village Khuruhja for a couple for days and Baikunth Singh father of defendant No. 5, Sri Krishna Singh, the appellant, was greatly influenced by his preachings and left for Varanasi for good. In due course, Baikunth Singh was initiated as a chela by Swami Sarupanand, who named him as Atmavivekanand. Swami Atmavivekanand Paramhans was the chief disciple of Swami Sarupanand and was given full rights of initiation and Bhesh by his Guru. Swami Sarupanand took his samadhi at Meerut in 1936 and after his death, according to his wishes, his Bhesh and Sampradaya gave Swami Atmavivekanand Chadar Mahanti of Garwaghat Math and made him the mahant. Swami Atmavivekanand also had a large following and his Sant Mat fraternity which comprised of thousands of Grihastha and Virakta disciples made large offerings and gifted extensive properties to him as their religious or spiritual leader.

4. In 1937 Swami Atmavivekanand initiated the plaintiff Mathura Ahir as his chela and named him as Harsewanand according to the custom and usage of the Sant Mat sect. During his lifetime, he purchased the two properties viz., house No C-27/33, situate in Mohalla Jagatganj and house No. C-4/83, situate in Mohalla Sarai Gobardhan in the city of Varanasi by registered sale deeds dated December 3, and December 22, 1942 from out of the income of the math i.e., the offerings (Bhent) made by the devotees and formed the properties of the math. Swami Atmavivekanand died at Varanasi on August 23, 1949. A Bhandara was held on October 3, 1949 and according to the wishes of Swami Atmavivekanand, the mahants and sanyasis of the Bhesh of Sampradaya gave the Chadar Mahanti to the plaintiff and installed him as the mahant of the math in place of Swami Atmavivekanand on October 4, 1949 in accordance with the custom and usage of the Sampradaya. The mahants and sanyasis of the Sant Mat Bhesh who had assembled for the bhandara also executed a document to