The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c7.s3.49

c7.s3.49

In the course of time the advocates of pre-puberty marriages did not remain content with the girl's marriage at 8 or 9. There was an extreme section among them that clamoured for a still lower age. It is represented in *Brahma Purāṇa*, which recommends that a girl should be married at any time after the age of four¹. Texts like those of Manu, which permitted a girl to remain unmarried even throughout her life if a suitable husband was not available, were explained away as emphasising the importance of a proper selection of the bridegroom, and not as permitting any post-puberty marriage².