History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.t2.352

v4.c63.t2.352

The above are the principal smṛti texts on the question of what constitutes strīdhana. It will be seen that the smṛtis only enumerate and describe certain kinds of property as strīdhana, which word is not used by them in the etymological sense of 'all kinds of property possessed by a woman'. They do not attempt a comprehensive definition of strīdhana. From the texts of the smṛtis it follows that strīdhana was a technical term, which at first included only six kinds of property, then nine and ultimately by the time of Kātyāyana it included all property (whether movable or immovable) obtained by a woman, either as a maiden or at marriage or after marriage, from her parents or the family or relatives of the parents or from the husband and his family (except immovable property given by the husband) and that what was obtained by a woman *after her marriage* by her own labour or from strangers did not become strīdhana. Most smṛtis employ the word 'datta' (donated), but Kāt. and Vyāsa sometimes use the word 'obtained' (*prāpta* or *labdha*), which is ordinarily wider than 'datta'. But it is clear that the commentators do not expressly say that 'obtained' includes 'inherited', though from their general remarks to be quoted below it is arguable that they probably included inherited property under property obtained.