Verse 3.20 [The Eight Forms of Marriage]

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:

चतुर्णामपि वर्णानं प्रेत्य चैह हिताहितान् ।
अष्टाविमान् समासेन स्त्रीविवाहान्निबोधत ॥ २० ॥

caturṇāmapi varṇānaṃ pretya caiha hitāhitān |
aṣṭāvimān samāsena strīvivāhānnibodhata || 20 ||

Understand briefly these (following) eight forms of marriage of girls, among the four castes,—which are beneficial and not-beneficial here (in this life) and also after death.—(20)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

This is a brief re-capitulation of what is going to be described in detail.

‘Beneficial and not-beneficial’—Some marriages are beneficial, while others are not so.

‘Eight’—this mentions the number.

‘Marriage of girls’—i.e., marriage which serves as the sacramental rite for girls.

“What is it that is called Marriage?”

It is the name given to a sacramental rite performed for the girl, obtained by certain means, which serves to make her a wife.

A girl having been obtained by certain means, one performs for her, for the purpose of making her a wife, a sacramental rite, which ends with the seeing of the constellation of Ursa Major, and is marked by the holding of hands; and it is this rite, along with its entire procedure and subsidiary details, that is called ‘Marriage.’—(20).

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Parāśaramādhava (Ācāra, p. 485) as introducing the examination of the different kinds of marriage;—in Vīramitrodaya (Saṃskāra, p. 846) to the same effect;—in Hemādri (Dāna, p. 082);—and in Vyāvahāra-bālambhaṭṭī (p. 757).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 3.20-21)

Baudhāyana (1. 11. 1).—‘There are eight marriages.’

Vasiṣṭha (1.28-29).—‘There are six marriages,—Brāhma, Daiva, Ārṣa, Gāndharva, Kṣātra, and Mānuśa.’

Śaṅkha (4. 2).—‘Brāhma, Daiva, Ārṣa, Prājāpatya, Āsura, Gāndharva, Rākṣasa, and Paiśāca, the lowest is the eighth.’

Nārada (Vīramitrodaya-Saṃskāra, p. 846).—‘Eight forms of marriage have been laid down as a sacrament for several castes: among these the Brāhma is the first, then comes the Prājāpatya, the Ārṣa, the Daiva, the Gāndharva, and the Āsura; then come the Rākṣasa and the Paiśāca; the eighth is the lowest.’

Hārīta (Do.).—‘There are eight marriages; Brāhma, Daiva, Gāndharva, Āsura, Rākṣasa, Paiśāca, Mānuṣa and Kṣātra.’

Arthaśāstra (Part II, p. 12).—‘When the girl is adorned and given away, it is the Brāhma form of marriage;—when the pair perform religious rites together, it is the Prājāpatya; when a pair of cows is received in exchange, it is the Ārṣa; when the girl is given away to the Priest within the altar, it is the Daiva; that which is accomplished by mutual consent is the Gāndharva; when the giver receives a fee, it is the Āsura; when the girl is taken away by force, it is the Rākṣasa; when the girl is taken away while asleep, it is the Paiśāca.’

Nārada (12. 38-53).—[38-39 as in the above-mentioned quotation from Vīramitrodaya; then]—‘In the Brāhma form, a maiden decked with ornaments is given to the bridegroom, after he has been invited and honourably received by the father. When he has been received with the words—“Carry on your sacred duties together with her,” it is called the Prājāpatya form. When the father receives from the bridegroom, a dress, a bull and a cow, it is called the Ārṣa form. When she is given before the altar, to a priest officiating at a sacrifice, it is called the Daiva form. The union of a willing maiden with her lover is the fifth form called Gāndharva. When a price is asked for the bride by her father and received by him, it is the form called Āsura. The Rākṣasa form is declared to consist of the forcible abduction of a maiden. Sexual intercourse with a woman during her sleep, or while she is unconscious, constitutes the eighth form, the basest of all. Of these, the first four, beginning with the Brāhma, are declared to be lawful; the Gāndharva form is common to all castes; the three forms that come after it are unlawful. Besides the lawful wives, seven other kinds of wives are mentioned, who have been previously enjoyed by another man. Among those, the Punarbhū is of three kinds and the Svairiṇî of four kinds. A maiden, not actually deflowered, but only joined in wedlock to a former husband by the hand, is the first kind of Punarbhū. She is required to have the marriage-ceremony performed once more, with her second husband. One who, after having left her husband, and betaken herself to another man, returns to her husband, is called the second kind of Punarbhū. When a woman, on the failure of brothers-in-law, is delivered by her relations to a Sapiṇḍa of the same caste, she is called the third Punarbhū. When a woman, with or without children, goes to live with another man, through love, while her husband is alive, she is called the first Svairiṇī. When the woman, after the death of her husband, rejects her brother-in-law or other relations, and unites herself with a stranger, through love, she is called the second Svairiṇī. One who, having come from a foreign country, or having been purchased with money, or being oppressed with hunger or thirst, gives herself up to a man, saying “I am thine,” is called the third Svairiṇī. When a woman, after having been given in marriage, by her elders, in accordance with the custom of her country, becomes forcibly united with another man, she is called the fourth Svairiṇī.’