Social Life in Ancient India: Studies in Vatsyayana's Kamasutra c8.14

c8.14

The object of marriage, according to Indian ideals, was the obtainment of a son who would be competent to offer gifts and oblations after one is gathered to one's forefathers.² Vātsyāyana although mainly concerned with the physical side of marriage, relating to the pleasures and amenities of married life, yet is not unmindful of the other ideals of worldly gain, social position and the spiritual welfare of the couple. To him a good marriage secures the ends of *Dharma* and *Artha*,—that is, both spiritual as well as social and economic welfare and besides, progeny, increase of relatives and friends and also untarnished, genuine love. With this we may compare the five things that determine marriage according to the *Mānava Grhyasūtra*, viz. wealth, personal charms, learning, wisdom and friends³ The objects of marriage, says Vātsyāyana, can best be secured by a man by his acquisition, according to the laws sanctioned by the holy writ (*śāstra*), of a virgin not given to any one before, and coming from the same caste as himself.⁴