The Katyayana Smrti is one of the smrtis, or "remembered"
writings, a genre of literature that is significant but not as authoritative as
the shrutis, or "heard" scriptures.
This smrti is credited to the sage Katyayana and is an
example of one of the Dharma Shastras, which are texts that prescribe
principles for proper human conduct and ideal social life.
Unlike the Dharma Sutras, which are attributed to real
people, the Dharma Shastras are frequently attributed to mythological sages as
a way of bolstering their authority.
Although the whole text of the Katyayana has not survived,
more than a thousand lines have been compiled from subsequent works.
Katyayana's treatise was the first to concentrate on women's
rights: he paid special attention to women's personal property (stridhan), both
to explain its powers and to set laws for its inheritance when a woman died.
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