The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c7.s6.2

c7.s6.2

Betrothal and marriage were the two main parts of the marriage ceremony. Naturally there was not much difference in time between the two events when post-puberty marriages were the order of the day. When, however, child marriages came into vogue, several months, and even years, would sometimes elapse between betrothal and marriage. This would often lead to peculiar complications. During the interval a better party may, for instance, become available. In such a case, Smritis generally allow the former contract to be rescinded, but with due compensation to the party aggrieved. Or, one of the parties may die. If it was the bride, the bridegroom was always at liberty to select a different consort. But what if the bridegroom-elect were to die? Smritis differ on the point. Some of them allow the bride to be married to a different person. They point out that betrothal is not marriage, and that the latter is complete and binding only after the actual performance of the ritual¹. Some, however, regarded even a betrothed bride as a widow, if the bridegroom-elect died before the actual marriage. Manu holds this view; he, however, allows the bride to be united with her brother-in-law but by *niyoga* only¹. This ultra-puritanical view did not meet with public approval ; it is in fact opposed to what Manu himself has stated in an earlier part of his work². There is no evidence to show that betrothed girls were regarded as widows by Hindu society if the persons to whom they had been affianced happened to die before the performance of the marriage.