# गृहस्थ (gṛhastha)

Canonical page: https://sanskritlexicon.com/word/grihastha

गृहस्थ (gṛhastha) is a Sanskrit word meaning living or staying in any one's house, a housewife, a householder, living in a house, being in a house, abiding in a house. Its 11 recorded definitions are grouped into 3 contexts, among them Male householder (often in Gṛhastha āśrama), Adjective: residing/staying in a house, Female householder / Housewife (gṛhasthā).

- **Etymology:** E. गृह a house, and स्थ who stays or abides — E. gṛha a house, and stha who stays or abides
- **SLP1:** `gfhasTa`  **IAST:** gṛhastha  **Devanagari:** गृहस्थ
- **Wikipedia:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grihastha
- **Declensions:** 48 forms — https://sanskritlexicon.com/word/grihastha/declensions.md
- **Other headwords romanised the same way:** गृहस्था (gṛhasthā)

## Meanings by context

### Male householder (often in Gṛhastha āśrama) (9 definitions)
- A householder or Brahman in the second stage of religious life.  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > गृह (gṛha) — स्थ (—stha) m. a householder, Brāhman in the 2nd period of his religious life (performing the duties of the master of a house and father of a family after having finished his studies and after investiture with the sacred thread; cf. Religious Thought and Life in India, also called ’Brāhmanism and Hindūism,’ by Sir M. Monier-Williams (Title) pp. 138; 150; 362 & 386 ), Gaut.; Āp.; Mn.; Bhāgavata-purāṇa (Title) vii, &c. [ ID=66654 ]
- A householder, or a man in the second stage of life who manages a household and family.  
  *Wilson Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > गृह (gṛha) स्थ (stha) (gṛhastha) [Printed book page 296 ] गृह (gṛha) स्थ (stha) (gṛhastha) m. ( - स्थ (stha) ः (-sthaḥ) ) A householder, the man of the second class, or he who, after having finished his studies, and been invested with the sacred thread, performs the duties of the master of a house, and father of a family. E. गृह (gṛha) a house, and स्थ (stha) who stays or abides. [ ID=13865 ]
- A householder  
  *Yates Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > गृहस्थ (gṛhastha) [Printed book page 259-a ] गृह - स्थ (gṛha-stha) ( स्थः ) ((sthaḥ)) 1. m. A householder. [ ID=13321 ]
- a householder  
  *Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > गृहस्थ (gṛhastha) [Printed book page 248-18 ] गृह - स्थ (gṛha-stha) m. a householder, M. iii.61, 78. See गृहपति (gṛhapati). [ ID=12449 ]
- A householder, or a man in the second stage of life who manages a household and family after completing his studies.  
  *Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > गृह (gṛha) स्थ (stha) (gṛhastha) [Printed book page 244-a ] गृह (gṛha) स्थ (stha) (gṛhastha) m. ( - स्थ (stha) ः (-sthaḥ) ) A householder, the man of the second class, or he who, after having finished his studies, and been invested with the sacred thread, performs the duties of the master of a house, and father of a family. E. गृह (gṛha) a house, and स्थ (stha) who stays or abides. [ ID=13856 ]
- 1. Being in a house. 2. A householder or head of a family. 3. The wife of a householder.  
  *Benfey Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > गृहस्थ (gṛhastha) [Printed book page 0270-a ] गृहस्थ (gṛhastha) gṛha-stha, I. adj. Being in a house, Arj. 2, 16. II. m. A house- holder, or a Brāhmaṇa, who performs the duties of the father of a family, Man. 3, 68. III. f. sthā, The wife of such a householder, Lass. 17, 19. [ ID=4556 ]
- 1. Living in a house. 2. A householder, specifically a person in the second stage of religious life.  
  *Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > गृहस्थ (gṛhastha) [Printed book page 156 ] गृहस्थ (gṛhastha) a. living in the house of (—°); m. householder, a Brahman in the second stage of his religious life. [ ID=9691 ]
- 1. Abiding in a house. 2. A householder or Brahman in the second stage of religious life.  
  *Lanman's Sanskrit Reader Vocabulary*
  > गृहस्थ (gṛhastha) [Printed book page 151-b ] gṛha-stha, a. abiding in a house; as m. householder or Brahman in the second stage of his religious life, see āśrama. [ ID=1395 ]
- see Grhapatis  
  *The Purana Index*
  > गृहस्थ (gṛhastha) [Printed book page 1-542 ] Gṛhasthas — see Gṛhapatis. Br. I. 7. 174, 181; II. 28. 20; 32. 24; III. 9. 70; 15. 16, 35.; IV. 6. 72; Vā. Chaps. 11 and 12; 16. 11; 56. 18; 59. 23. [ ID=4282 ]

### Adjective: residing/staying in a house (1 definition)
- living or staying in any one's house  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H3) [Printed book page 362,2] गृह (gṛha) — स्थ (—stha) mfn. ifc. living or staying in any one's house, MBh. [ ID=66653 ]

### Female householder / Housewife (gṛhasthā) (1 definition)
- a housewife  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H3B) [Printed book page 362,2] गृह (gṛha) — स्था (—sthā) f. a housewife, Vetāla-pañcaviṃśatikā (Title) ii, 9/10 [ ID=66655 ]

## Sources

Definitions from Benfey Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Lanman's Sanskrit Reader Vocabulary; Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899); Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary; The Purana Index; Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Wilson Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Yates Sanskrit-English Dictionary.
Text from the Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon, University of Cologne.

The Sanskrit Lexicon app for iPhone, iPad and Mac: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sanskrit-lexicon-dictionary/id6746787546