India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c8.s3.2

c8.s3.2

This formality was considered so important in marriage that Kātyāyana calls the legally wedded wife as *pāṇi-gṛihītī* (*vār.* on IV.1.52; *Bhāshya* II.221), whereas the girl married without proper ritual was marked out by the different term *pāṇi-gṛihītā* (*yasyā hi yathākathaṁchit pāṇir-gṛihyate*, II.221). *SOCIAL EFFECT OF MARRIAGE*—The legal effect of marriage is an important proposition in Hindu law. The term *sva-karaṇa* of Pāṇini is explained by Patañjali as 'making one's own what was not so previously' (*asvaṁ yadā svaṁ karoti*, *Bhāshya*, I.3.56; I.284). According to Manu marriage meant the gift (*pradāna*) of a girl by her parents by which they transferred their dominion over her to the bridegroom (*pradānaṁ svāmya-kāraṇam*, V.152).