Eight Forms of Marriage

November 2, 2006

The dharmasastras, including the Manusmrti, mention eight forms of

marriage.

Brahmo-daivastathaivarsah

prajapatya-statha 'surah

Gandharvo raksasascaiva

Paisavastamah smrtah

----Manusmrti, 3. 21

The eight types are: brahma, daiva, arsa, prajapatya, asura, gandharva,

raksasa and paisaca.

After the student bachelor has completed his gurukulavasa, his parents

approach the parents of a girl belonging to a good family and ask them

to give away their daughter in marriage to their son--to make a gift of

their daughter (kanyadana) to him. A marriage arranged like this is

brahma. In it this girl's family does not give any dowry or jewellery to the

boy's family. There is no "commercial transaction" and the goal of a

brahma marriage is the dharmic advancement of two families. Of the

eight forms of marriage the dharmasastras regard this as the highest.

Marrying a girl to a rtvik (priest) during a sacrifice is called "daiva". The

parents, in this type, after waiting in vain for a young man to turn up and

ask for their daughter's hand, go looking for a groom for her in a place

where a sacrifice is being conducted. This type of marriage is

considered inferior to brahma. In the sastras womanhood is elevated in

that it is the groom's family that has to seeking bride for their son.

The third form, "arsa" suggests that it is concerned with the rsis, sages.

It seems the marriage of Sukanya to Cyavana Maharsi was of this type.

But from the dharmasastras we learn that in arsa the bride is given in

exchange for two cows received from the groom. If the term is taken to

mean "giving away a girl in marriage to a rsi", we must take it that the

girl is married off to an old sage because the parents could not

celebrate her marriage according to the brahma rite at the right time.

The fact that cows are taken in exchange for the bride shows that the

groom does not possess any remarkable qualities. According to the

sastras, in marriages of noble kind there is no place for money or

anything smacking of a business transaction.

In prajapatya there is no trading and kanyadana is a part of it as in the

brahma ceremony. But from the name prajapatya it must be inferred

that the bride's menarche is imminent and that a child must be begotten

soon after the marriage. For this reason the bride's father goes in search

of a groom, unlike in the brahma type. The brahma type is a better type

of marriage than prajapatya since, in it, the groom's people go seeking a

bride who is to be the Grahalaksmi of their household.

In the asura type the groom is in no way a match for the girl, but her

father or her relatives receive a good deal of money from the man who

forces them to marry her to him. In arsa in which cows are given in

exchange for the bride there is no compulsion. Nor is the groom wealthy

or powerful like his counterpart in the asura type. Many rich men must

have taken a second wife according to the asura type of marriage.

The next is gandharva. The very mention of it calls to mind Sakuntala

and Dusyanta. The gandharva type is the "love marriage" that has such

enthusiastic support these days.

In the raksasa form the groom battles with the girl's family, overcomes

them and carries her away. It was in this manner that krsna

Paramatman married Rukmini.

The eighth and last is paisaca. In asura even though the girl's

willingness to marry the man is of no consequence, at least her people

are given money. In raksasa, though violence is done to the girl's family,

the marriage itself is not against her wish. Rukmini loved Krsna, did she

not? In paisaca the girl's wish does not count, nor is any money or

material given to her parents. She is seized against her wish and her

family antagonised.

We have the brahma type at one end and the paisaca at the other.

There cannot be the same system or the same arrangement for

everybody. Our sastras have taken into account the differences in

temperament and attitude among various sections of people and it is in

keeping with the same that they have assigned them different rites,

vocations, etc. All our present trouble arises from the failure on the part

of men, who advocate the same system for all, to recognise this fact.

There are tribals living in the forests who look fierce and have a harsh

way of life. But at heart they may be more cultured than townspeople,

not to speak of the fact that they are useful to society in many ways.

They have frequent family feuds. In consideration of this raksasa and

paisava marriages may have to be permitted in their case. After the

marriage, they are likely to forget their quarrels and live in peace with

each other. Ksatriyas who are physically strong and are used to

material pleasure are allowed the gandharva form of marriage and their

girls have even the right to choose their husbands as in the svayamvara

ceremony.

It is for these reasons that the dharmasastras, which are based on the

Vedas and which constitute Hindu law, permit eight forms of marriage.

In all these eight, the bride and groom have the right to be united in

wedlock with the chanting of mantras. But brahma is the highest of the

eight forms. In it the bride must not have attained puberty. "Pradanam

prak rtoh": -- this statement is in the dharmasastras themselves. A girl's

marriage, which has same significance for her that the upanayana has

for a boy, must be performed when she is seven years old (or eight

years from conception)

Unfortunately, in the case of some girls, a groom does not turn up in

time for a brahma marriage to be performed. Meanwhile, they grow old

and their marriage is conducted in the arsa, daiva, or prajapatya way.

Only these types are permitted for Brahmins. But for the rest other

types are also allowed. They may marry a girl who has come of age

either in the gandharva way or in a svayamvara.

The marriage mantras are intended for all the eight forms. It means that

they are employed even in the marriage rite of girls who have attained

puberty. The two mantras quoted above are recited in all the eight types

of marriage. They are addressed by the groom to the bride who comes

to him after she has attained puberty and after she has been under the

guardianship successively of Soma, gandharva and Agni. The mantras

are chanted not only in brahma marriages but also in all other forms.

The same are addressed by the groom to his child bride also. Though

his marriage is being solemnised to the child bride now, he will start

living with her only after she comes of age, after she becomes a young

woman. He will bring her home to live with him only after she has come

successively under Soma, gandharva and Agni. So he chants the

mantras in advance.

Nowadays we sometimes perform a number of samskaras together long

after they are due according to the sastras. For example, we perform

the jatakarma if a son as well as his namakarana and caula during his

upanayana when he is 20 or 22 years old and not long before his

marriage. Similarly, instead of such postponement of the rites, in the

brahma marriage the mantras mentioned above are chanted in advance.

I will give you an example in this context. When the brahmacarin

performs the samidadhana he prays before Agni to grant him good

children. How absurd would it be for our reformers to argue, on the basis

of this prayer, that a young boy must have children when he is yet a

celibate-student and that he may become a householder only later. The

point to note is that the boy prays on advance for good children. The

Vedic mantras cited by reformers must be seen in the same light.

The mantras

are appropriate for the marriage of a
girl who has come of age also.

This is our reply to the school of opinion represented by the Rt Hon'ble

Srinivasa Sastri. If the mantras in question are chanted at the time of

the marriage of girls who have come of age, it does not mean that all

marriages are to be celebrated after the girls have attained puberty.

According to the brahma form of marriage, the girl must not have had

her menarche. There is incontrovertible proof for this in the Vedic mantra

chanted at the end of the marriage rite. .

I told that a girl is under the sway of a gandharva between the time she

is able to wear her clothes without anybody's help and her menarche.

His name is Visvavasu. The mantra I referred to is chanted by the groom

addressing this demigod. "o Visvasu, " it says, " I bow to you. Leave

this girl and go. Go to another girl child. Have I not become the husband

of this girl? So give her over to me and go to another girl who is not

married and lives with her father. " During the wedding the groom

performs a puja to this gandharva and prays to him to free the girl from

his control. Here is proof that the bride is not under Agni and has not

had her menarche

The question now is about the verse (from the Manusmrti) cited by the

reformists. According to it, a girl may wait three years after her

menarche and then seek her husband on her own.

There is an answer to this. The general rule according to the

dharmasastras is that a girl must be married before she attains

puberty: "Pradanam prak rtoh. " What happens if this injunction is not

followed? If groom does not come on his own, seeking the girl's hand,

her father or brother must look for a groom and marry her off. But if they

turn out to be irresponsible or otherwise fail to find a groom? Or if the girl

has no guardian, no one to care for her? The lines quoted by the

reformers from the Manusmrti apply to such a girl. She may look for a

husband on her if none of her relatives, neighbours or well-wishers take

the trouble of finding her a groom even after she has attained puberty.

Though the reformists quote from the Vedas and sastras in support of

their view, they fail to take into account the context in which the relevant

passages occur. They see them in isolation. That is why they keep

arguing that the customs followed by people steeped in our traditions

are contrary to the sastras.

In the Chandogya Upanisad there is mention of a sage called

Cakrayana Usasti whose wife had not come of age. The reformists do

not examine such references in our ancient texts with a cool head but

are carried away by their emotions.

In the past the common people did not know how to counter the

arguments of the reformists. Even so they did not accept their views

thinking it best to follow the practices of their elders, of great men. That

is why the bill brought twice by the Rt Hon'ble Srinivasa sastri before the

legislative council to amend the marriage act (with reference to the age

of marriage) did not receive enough support. Later (Harbilas) Sarda

introduced the bill which [on its passage] came to be called the Sarda

Act. Many people (in the South) think Sarda was a women and call the

law named after him the "Sarda Act". The Central legislative assembly

was equally divided on the bill -- 50 percent for and 50 per cent against.

Then the British asked one of the nominated members to vote in favour

of the bill; and thus the minimum age of marriage for girls was raised by

a legal enactment. The bill was passed not on the strength of public

opinion but because if the government's intervention. The mind of our

British rulers worked thus: "The Congress has been demanding svaraj

but we have refused to grant it. Let us give it some satisfaction by being

of help in inflicting an injury on the (Hindu) religion. "

Now things have changed. There is no respect any longer for old

customs and traditions. When the Sarda Act came into force in British

India, some Sanskrit scholars returned the "Mahamahopadhyaya" title

conferred on them by the government. Among them were Pancanana

Tarkaratna Bhattacarya of Bengal and Laksmana Sastri Dravid. The

latter was settled in Kasi and had the "Dravid" tagged on to his name to

make it known that he belonged to the land of the Tamils. How many

people today are inspired to rise in protest against the changes

introduced by our government in our sastric observances.

Our children must be taught the substance and meaning of the sastras

in a comprehensive manner. To speak to them about one aspect here

and another there will lead to a haphazard and confused view. The half-

baked research carried on in the Vedas has given rise to the opinion

that the scriptures favour love marriage. The canonical texts must be

seen in their entirety. When a subject is examined, its underlying

meaning and purpose must be grasped. Also they must be seen in the

light of other relevant passages occurring elsewhere. A conclusion must

be arrived at only after a thorough inquiry into all points.

The brahma marriage is for all castes. Other forms of marriage are also

permitted for non-Brahmins, also post-puberty marriage. If the idea is to

give importance to carnal pleasure these other forms may be permitted.

But brahma is the best if the purpose of the marriage samskara is the

advancement of the Self.

http://www.kamakoti.org/hindudharma/part18/chap5.htm