The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c7.s2.6

c7.s2.6

Examples of Kshātra marriages preserved in ancient Indian tradition are not many. In Ṛigveda (I, 116) Vimada is described as having won his bride in a battle. The Mahābhārata informs us that Bhīshma defeated the king of Kāśī and carried away his daughter, Ambā, as a bride for his brother Vichitravīrya. It is, however, necessary to point out that this procedure of Bhīshma has been later condemned in the epic by Śiśupāla¹. It is clear that though the Kshātra marriage continued to be recognised by Smṛitis and epics, it had ceased to be approved even by enlightened Kshatriyas in the 3rd century B. C. It is not to be supposed, however, that even in the earlier period it was the normal or the usual form of marriage among the Kshatriyas : some warriors used to have recourse to it if need arose. Normally Kshatriya marriages too were settled otherwise than by an appeal to arms.