India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c8.s3.1

c8.s3.1

The householder's life began with marriage. Its ceremony was performed round the Fire as witness. Pāṇini refers to marriage by the word *upayamana* (I.2.16), which he explains as *sva-karaṇa*, *i.e.* 'the bridegroom making the bride his own' (I.3.56). The marriage ceremony was solemnised by *pāṇigrahaṇa*, 'the holding by the bridegroom of the bride's hand.' Pāṇini uses two other terms for it, *haste-kṛitya* and *pāṇau-kṛitya*. This holding of the hand was a symbol of *sva-karaṇa*, *i.e.* formal transfer of the father's dominion over the girl to the husband. We may cite Manu's comment that this ceremony was observed for marriage within the same caste (III.43).