The Markandeya Purana (Study)
by Chandamita Bhattacharya | 2021 | 67,501 words
This page relates ‘Marriage (b): Polygamy’ of the study on the Markandeya Purana, one of the oldest of the eigtheen Mahapuranas preserving the history, civilisation, culture and traditions of ancient India. The Markandeyapurana commences with the questions raised by Rishi Jaimini (a pupil of Vyasa), who approaches the sage Markandeya with doubts related to the Mahabharata. This study examines various social topics such as the status of women, modes of worship, yoga, etc.
Marriage (b): Polygamy
When a man marries more than one wife then it is called Polygamy. In the earlier period of time, polygamy system was very noticeable. In the Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣad, we find that sage Yājñavalkya married two wives named Maitreyī and Kātyāyanī[1] . The Aitareyabrāhmaṇa also describes that the king Hariścandra had one hundred wives.[2] Smṛti texts permit the Kṣatriyas and the Brāhmaṇas to accept wives from other castes.[3] The Bhāgavatapurāṇa[4] and the Mahābhārata[5] explain the distribution of the daughters of Dakṣa.
In the Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa we get various instances of the acquisition of wives. Such as-king Dakṣa had twenty-four daughters. Dharma married thirteen out of the twenty four.[6] Svārociṣa, Manu’s father, had three wives.[7] Marīci’s son Kāśyapa had also married thirteen wives,[8] king Khanitra had three wives.[9] It is also noted that king Avikṣita[10] and Marutta[11] had many wives.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣad, 4.5.1
[2]:
Aitareyabrāhmaṇa, 7.33.1
[3]:
Yājñavalkyasmṛti, 1.57; Vasiṣṭhasmṛti, 2.11-12
[4]:
Bhāgavatapurāṇa, 6.6.1-2
[5]:
Mahābhārata, Śāntiparva,200.20-24
[6]:
Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa, 47.19-21
[7]:
Ibid., 60.61; 61.19
[8]:
Ibid., 101.3-4
[9]:
Ibid., 115.20
[10]:
Ibid., 119.16
[11]:
Ibid., 128.44-47