India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c8.s4.4

c8.s4.4

A maiden of marriageable age was known as *varyā*, i.e. one to be wooed freely without restriction (*anirodha*, III.1.101). When she became engaged, she was called *vṛityā*. No doubt parents exercised their choice in fixing proper matches, but girls of mature age were free to choose their husbands and were described as *patiṃvarā* (III.2.46). *WIFE*—The bride is called *janī* and the maids in attendance who conducted her to the prospective husband *janyāḥ*. The newly wedded bride was called by the Vedic name *sumaṅgalī*, which Pāṇini cites as current in later Sanskrit also (*saṃjñā-chhandasoḥ*, IV.1.30). The term *Jāyā* was used for the wife with reference to the ideal of motherhood, whereas *Patnī* as stated above denoted her religious function (IV.1.33). She is also called *Jāni* in the examples *yuvajāni* and *vṛiddha-jāni* (V.4.134). The term *Palīvatnī* was used to indicate that so long as her husband lived she was the mistress of the household (IV.1.32). Reference to polygamy can be traced in the word *sapatnī* (IV.1.35).