Garudapurana 1.95

The glorious Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa — 95 / Yājñavalkya said: / Let the sages who have restrained their vows hear the duties of the householder. / Having given wealth to the guru and bathed with his permission,

having completed his celibate studenthood, he should marry an auspicious woman / who has not belonged to another before, lovely, not a sapīṇḍa, younger,

free from disease, having brothers, not born of the same ṛṣi or lineage, / beyond the fifth degree on the mother's side and beyond the seventh on the father's,

from an illustrious great family of learned scholars renowned for ten generations. / The groom should be of the same caste, learned in the Veda, wise, and not possessed of faults.

As for what is said regarding twice-born men taking wives from the śūdra caste, / that is not my opinion, because one is born therein himself.

Three wives in order of caste [for a brāhmaṇa], two [for a kṣatriya], and one for a vaiśya respectively; / for a śūdra-born man, [only] his own [caste].

A Brāhma marriage is when [the bride], adorned according to one's ability, is given after summoning [the groom]. / The son born of it purifies twenty-one men on both sides.

The Daiva is to an officiating priest engaged in a sacrifice; the Ārṣa is when taking a pair of cattle. / The son born of the former purifies fourteen, and the son born of the latter, six.

She who is given to a suitor after saying, “May the two of you practice dharma together,” / is the Prājāpatya. The son born of it purifies six descendants along with himself.

The Āsura is through taking wealth; the Gāndharva is by mutual consent; / the Rākṣasa is by abduction in battle; the Paiśāca is by deceiving a maiden.

The first four are for a brāhmaṇa, as well as the Gāndharva and Rākṣasa [forms];
[the same] for a king; likewise the Āsura for a vaiśya; but for a śūdra the last is condemned.

The hand should be grasped with women of the same caste; a kṣatriya woman should hold an arrow;
a vaiśya woman should take a goad at her wedding to a twice-born.

The father, the grandfather, a brother, a kinsman, and likewise the mother—
each subsequent one gives away the maiden if the prior one is absent, provided they are of sound mind.

If he does not give her away, he incurs [the sin of] destroying an embryo at every season.
In the absence of these givers, the maiden may choose her own husband.

A maiden is given away once; he who abducts her incurs the punishment of a thief.
One who abandons an uncorrupted woman is to be punished, but a very depraved woman he should abandon.

A sonless woman, known [and permitted] by the elders, may go to a brother-in-law desiring a son,
or a sapiṇḍa or one of the same gotra, anointed with clarified butter, during her season.

He should approach her until conception takes place; otherwise, he becomes fallen.
Born by this rite, he is the son of the owner of the field.

Deprived of her rights, unkempt, partaking only of a morsel of food,
humiliated, sleeping on the ground—thus he should cause an adulteress to dwell.

Soma gave them purity, a Gandharva sweet speech,
and the Fire all-cleansing power; therefore women are indeed pure.

Her purification from infidelity occurs at her season, but conception causes her abandonment;
[so also] in the killing of a fetus or a husband, and likewise in a major sin.

A woman who drinks liquor, is diseased, malicious, barren, wasteful, or speaks harshly,
when superseded by another wife, must still be maintained; otherwise it would be a great sin.

Where there is harmony between husband and wife, there the threefold aim of life flourishes.
She who, whether her husband is dead or alive, does not go to another man,

attains renown in this world and rejoices with Umā.
He who abandons a pure woman should give a third of his property to her until death.

Women must obey the husband's word; this is the highest dharma for a woman.
There are sixteen nights in a woman's fertile period; on the even ones among them he should lie with her.

Remaining celibate, he should avoid the parvan days and the first [nights].
Approaching the woman thus, he should avoid a wasted woman, as well as the Maghā and Mūla asterisms.

He will certainly beget an auspicious son free from disease.
Or he may act according to desire, bearing in mind the pledge of women.

Devoted to his own wife, women should be protected by him from every [danger].
By a husband, brother, father, kinsmen, mother-in-law, father-in-law, and brothers-in-law,

and by relatives, women are to be honored with ornaments, clothing, and food.
Restrained in household utensils, skilled, cheerful, averse to expenditure,

she should always perform obeisance to the feet of her mother-in-law and father-in-law.
Pastimes, bodily adornment, attending festive assemblies,

laughter, and going to another's house—a woman whose husband is abroad should avoid these.
A father should protect a maiden in childhood, the husband indeed in her youth,

and a son protects her in old age; otherwise, her kinsmen [protect her].
She should not stay without a protector by day or by night.

He should employ the senior wife in religious rites, never the junior.
The husband should cremate a virtuous wife with the agnihotra fire.

He should take another wife according to the rule and the fire without delay.
She who is devoted to the welfare of her husband attains heaven after acquiring fame in this world.

Thus ends the ninety-fifth chapter, titled 'Determination of the Duties of a Householder Spoken by Yājñavalkya,' in the Ācārakāṇḍa of the first part in the Pūrvakhaṇḍa of the glorious Mahāpurāṇa composed by Garuḍa.