The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c7.s3.11

c7.s3.11

The case continued to be the same down to about the 5th century B. C. The Gṛihya Sūtra literature composed at about this time lays down that the consummation of the marriage should take place on the fourth succeeding day. *Chaturthīkarma*, ‘the event of the fourth day’, long continued to be the technical name for the ritual prescribed at the consummation of the marriage. Some Gṛihya Sūtras also provide for the contingency of the bride being in her monthly course during the marriage ceremony. It is true that in a few works of this class it is laid down that the bride should be a *nagnikā* at the time of her marriage. This term has been no doubt interpreted by some later commentators as denoting a girl of five or six who has no sense of bashfulness and moves about without properly covering her body¹. This, however, is not the real or original meaning of the word. The Mahābhārata describes a bride of 16 as *nagnikā*² and one Gṛihya Sūtra lays it down that the *nagnikā* bride should also be a virgin at the time of her wedding³. Such a requirement in the case of a girl of five would be superfluous. As pointed out by Matridatta, the term *nagnikā* therefore really refers to a woman who is fit to welcome her husband in privacy, immediately after her marriage⁴. When child marriages came into vogue, the meaning of the term was changed and it was maintained that it denotes a girl playing in dust without properly clothing herself⁴.