Arthashastra 3.2.36: Dharmasthiya, Adhyaya 2, Sutra 36
जीवति भर्तरि मृतायाः पुत्रा दुहितरश्च स्त्रीधनं विभजेरनपुत्राया दुहितरः तदभावे भर्ता ॥
jīvati bhartari mṛtāyāḥ putrā duhitaraś ca strīdhanaṃ vibhajeran aputrāyā duhitaraḥ tadabhāve bhartā
अगर पति ज़िन्दा है और पत्नी मर गई, तो बेटे और बेटियाँ उसका स्त्रीधन बाँट लें। अगर कोई बेटा नहीं है, तो बेटियाँ लें। अगर बेटियाँ भी नहीं है, तो पति सब कुछ ले ले।
Word by Word
Sandhi Notes
- Internal/compound formations: स्त्रीधनम् = स्त्रियाः धनम् (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष)
- तदभावे = तस्य अभावे (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष)
- Form विभजेरन् is optative plural (विधिलिङ्) from वि+√भज्
- अपुत्रायाः is gen. sg. feminine used substantively (‘of a woman without a son’)
Strīdhanakalpa
Inheritance ordering; women’s estate distribution
- jīvati bhartari
- while the husband lives
- mṛtāyāḥ
- of the deceased (woman)
- putrāḥ
- sons
- duhitaraḥ
- daughters
- ca
- and
- vibhajeran
- should divide
- aputrāyāḥ
- of a woman without sons
- tad-abhāve
- in their absence
- bhartā
- husband
FAQs
The rule explicitly recognizes daughters as co-partitioners of strīdhana, creating a clear administrative basis for their claims.
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