The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c10.s2.25

c10.s2.25

From about 1000 A. D. the prohibition of remarriage began to be extended even to the cases of child widows. Devaṇabhaṭṭa (*c.* 1150 A. D.) states that the texts sanctioning remarriages in such cases have no application to the present age³. A section of the puritanical school tried to extend the denotation of the term widow. It was argued that girls betrothed verbally, nay even mentally, should be regarded as married. If perchance their husbands died before the performance of the marriage ritual, they should be regarded as widows and become ineligible for remarriage⁴. If by mistake a person married such a ‘widow,’ he was to perform a penance and abandon her. The marriage was invalid *ab initio*¹. Luckily this absurd doctrine did not appeal to society; it continued to be guided by Manu's sensible opinion that no marital tie arises before the marriage ritual is actually performed.