The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c7.s3.37

c7.s3.37

From about 200 A. D. pre-puberty marriages became the order of the day. Yājñavalkya, who wrote at about this time, insists that girls should be married before the age of puberty; otherwise every month their guardians will be guilty of the destruction of an embryo². Yama, who came about 400 years later, states that even if a suitable match is impossible, the girl should be married before she comes of age even to an unsuitable husband³. What a difference between the views of Manu and Yama! The former was willing to allow a girl to remain unmarried even to the end of her life, if a proper husband could not be secured. The latter did not mind a girl being chained to an unsuitable and undeserving husband for her whole life, if there was the least danger of the fatal line of the age of puberty being crossed before the marriage.