दायभागकथनम्The law of inheritance
Verse 25
पितृभिः श्वशुरैर्वापि दत्तं यद्धर्मसम्मतम् । स्वकृत्योपार्जितं यच्च स्त्रीधनं तत् प्रकीर्तितम् ॥ २५ ॥
pitṛbhiḥ śvaśurairvāpi dattaṁ yaddharmasammatam | svakṛtyōpārjitaṁ yacca strīdhanaṁ tat prakīrtitam || 25 ||
Translation
What has been given to her, in accord with dharma, by her father's family or her husband's, and what she has earned by her own work, is called strīdhana, a woman's own property.
Word by word
- pitṛbhiḥ
- (pitṛbhiḥ) by her fathers
- śvaśuraiḥ
- (śvaśuraiḥ) by her fathers-in-law
- vā
- or
- api
- also
- dattaṁ
- given
- yat
- what
- dharma
- with dharma
- sammatam
- (sammatam) in accord
- sva
- her own
- kṛtyā
- by work
- upārjitaṁ
- earned
- ca
- and
- strī
- a woman's
- dhanaṁ
- property
- tat
- that
- prakīrtitam
- (prakīrtitam) is called
Meaning
Strīdhana is the property that is fully a woman's: gifts from her own family (the plural, the commentary says, means the father and others) or from her husband's father and his family, and whatever she earns by her own craft or labour.
Commentary
Hariharānanda Bhāratī’s Sanskrit commentary, translated
But what is meant by a woman's own property (strīdhana)? To that he says "pitṛbhiḥ" and the rest. The plural stands for many: whatever wealth, in accord with dharma, has been given by fathers, by the father and others of her own family, or by fathers-in-law, by the husband's father and others, and whatever has been earned by her own work, by her own craft or other labour, that is declared, is called, strīdhana.