[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [General history and culture](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general) › [India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.agrawala-1953) › c8.s3 # India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c8.s3: Section 3. Marriage India as Known to Pāṇini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashṭādhyāyī c8.s3 - **Language:** English ### Section 3. Marriage ### [c8.s3.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.agrawala-1953.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). ### [c8.s3.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.agrawala-1953.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). ### [c8.s3.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.agrawala-1953.c8.s3.3) According to Pāṇini, the bride whom the husband marries should be a \*kumārī\*, which is explained by Patañjali as \*apūrva pati\*, \*i.e.\* one who is not previously married (\*Kaumārāpūrvavachane\*, IV.2.13). The virgin after marriage was honoured by the title \*kaumārī bhāryā\*, and her husband \*kaumāra-pati\*. It is the same as the epithet \*ananyapūrvikā\* applied by Yājña-valkya (I.52). The husband and his wife after marriage had to perform jointly the sacrificial rites, from which the wife derived the title of honour as \*patnī\* (\*patyur-no yajña-saṁyoge\*, IV.1.33). It was denied to a woman not properly married. The social status of the husband devolved on his wife, as implied in Pāṇini's \*sūtra\* (\*Puṁyogād ākhyāyām\*, IV.1.48), \*i.e.\* a designation derived from her husband; \*e.g.\* \*mahāmātrī\* (ministrix), wife of a \*mahāmātra\*, a high government official, and \*gaṇakī\*, wife of a \*gaṇaka\* (accountant). Pāṇini also speaks of \*āchār-yānī\* as the wife of an \*āchārya\* (IV.1.49). ### [c8.s3.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.agrawala-1953.c8.s3.4) EXOGAMY—Marriage must have been contracted outside the \*gotra\*. Pāṇini in one place refers to the formation of compound words showing two \*gotras\* united in marital relationship. (\*maithunikā\*) (IV. 3. 125). Patañjali instances (1) \*Atri-Bharadvājikā\*, (2) \*Vasishṭha-Kaśyapikā\*, (3) \*Bhṛigu-Aṅgira-sikā\*, (4) \*Kutsa-Kuśikikā\*, and (5) \*Garga-Bhārgavikā\*, \*i.e.\* marriages contracted between two different \*gotras\* jointly designated (II.4.62; I.492). Most of these \*gotra\* names occur in Pāṇini's \*sūtras\*. ## Cites (3) - [Aṣṭādhyāyī](https://indike.org/pramana/in.vedanga.vyakarana.astadhyayi-school.astadhyayi.1.2.16) — Pāṇini, Sanskrit - [Mānava Dharmaśāstra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.manu.3.43) — Manu & Bhṛgu, Sanskrit - [Yājñavalkyasmṛti](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.yajnavalkya.1.52) — Yājñavalkya, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.agrawala-1953.c8.s3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.agrawala-1953.c8.s3) · Pramāṇa