The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c7.s2.33

c7.s2.33

Brāhma, Daiva, Prājāpatya and Ārsha are the four approved forms of marriage. Among these Ārsha ranks the last. In this marriage the father of the bride is permitted to accept a cow and a bull from his son-in-law for facilitating the performance of sacrifices, which require the cow's milk. There is, however, no reason why he should not have called upon his son, who was to inherit all his property, to make the necessary provision in this respect. The truth is that this gift, which the son-in-law gave to his father-in-law, is a relic of the bride-price, which was once very common. It would appear that some families like those of Śalya, for instance, were determined not to lose their time-honoured right of receiving the bride-price; a compromise was eventually arrived at by permitting them to receive only a pair of cow and bull, ostensibly, for the purpose of getting milk for religious sacrifices. We can now understand why Ārsha form is usually placed last in the list of approved marriages. Nay, some writers continued to regard it as a variety of Āsura marriage; they maintained that the gift of a pair of cow and bull was nothing less than a bride-price in disguise. This historically correct view is opposed by Jaimini and Śabara, who had to defend loyally the compromise that had been arrived at. The former points out that the gift given by the son-in-law, being for religious purposes, could not be regarded as bride-price. The latter observes that prices of articles vary in the market according to their quality; in Ārsha marriages all sons-in-law offer the same present to their fathers-in-law, and so it cannot be called bride-price¹. These arguments, while undoubtedly true of the character of Ārsha marriages in the days of Smritis, do not disprove the theory that they are a refined relic of Āsura marriages.