The Social and Military Position of the Ruling Caste in Ancient India, as Represented by the Sanskrit Epic c2.s6.64

c2.s6.64

The pseudo-Epic chimes in with the rule that a man of thirty may wed a girl of ten (still clotheless); or a man of twenty, one of seven. In its informal part we find also the same advice, but expressed more indefinitely: ‘a long abode in the house of relatives is not a good thing for women.’* The statement in the Epic ‘they extol a wife whose maturity is past (*gatayauvanā*)’ points to the same view; for it is the married woman whose youthful folly has passed into middle age that renders the house and peace of the husband perfect (v. 35. 69). The law-book of Manu does not specify more nearly than to say that the girl may marry at eight, or before the age of puberty; but it adds a very special injunction that a girl is better unmarried forever than given to an unsuitable husband. The oldest commentator on this law objects to so early an age as eight, saying plainly that in such a case the girl is simply sold by her father. In India the marriageable age is usually reached between ten and twelve.