Strī-dharma-paddhati is an 18th-century Sanskrit-language text written by the court pandit Tryambaka-yajvan in the Thanjavur Maratha kingdom of present-day Tamil Nadu, India.
A strongly patriarchal text, it assigns a subservient role to women, and suggests that they can achieve salvation only through complete devotion to their husbands.
For example, he quotes Angiras' instructions on urinating and defecating:[7] Rising in the last division of night, one should sip water and cover the ground with grass.
Then, in a clean place, with concentrated mind, covering one's head with one's garment, and resolutely refraining from speech, spitting and breathing (out), one should urinate and defecate.
For example, he quotes Shankha for instructions on dressing:[11] (A woman) should not show her navel; she should wear garments that extend to her ankles; and she should not expose her breasts.
The only exception is love-making, during which it is acceptable for a woman to strike her husband, scratch him, show anger towards him, or use harsh words as an expression of her passion.
He quotes Manu-smrti, Mahabharata and Ramayana to assert that women are naturally inclined to fickle-mindedness, habitual lying, unfaithfulness, and other bad qualities.
This concept of menstrual purity seems to be symbolic, since Tryambaka insists that a woman who behaves badly cannot escape penalties through ritual atonement (prayashchitta).
[23] For example, according to him, the following six things corrupt a woman: drinking, keeping bad company, extramarital affairs, roaming around by herself, sleeping during the day, and spending time in other people's homes.
[24] Tryambaka states that a woman should never do anything independently, at any age, even in her own home: she should be subservient to her father as a child, to her husband as a wife, and to her sons as a widow.
A Telugu manuscript titled Strī-dharma-saṅgraha at Vizianagaram Fort is listed in V. Raghavan's New Catalogus Catalogorum, but Leslie was unable to find it.
[31] The text predates the 19th century social reforms of British India, and thus, is an important source of information about the life of the orthodox Hindu women at the Thanjavur Maratha court.
[1] According to academic Sharada Sugirtharajah, "Tryambaka assigns a subservient role to women, who are seen as essentially wicked and in need of patriarchal monitoring and control; it is only through their strīdharma (devotion) and service to their husbands, that they can become good or virtuous.
"[33] Sugirtharajah notes that the text is not a reflection of the social reality, and the 19th century colonial discourse incorrectly tended to assume that the Hindu society relied entirely on textual authority.
[35] According to Julia Leslie, the Thanjavur Marathas - who were Marathi-speaking Hindus - faced a cultural isolation, as they governed a Tamil territory and struggled to retain their independence against the Muslim Mughals.