The Social and Military Position of the Ruling Caste in Ancient India, as Represented by the Sanskrit Epic c2.s6.78

c2.s6.78

The price paid for a woman is called çulka, a price or fee.† Gautama says that the debt does not involve the sons if unpaid by the father, and that the price goes first to the mother, or, if she is dead, to the brothers of the girl, according to some lawgivers; others say, to the brothers with the mother; but he leaves this point unsettled.‡ Tacitly, as well as peremptorily, the early law recognizes the sale of a daughter; later on (as well known, both stages are represented in Manu), the law forbids such a sale. In the Vedic times the sale of a daughter appears not to have been unusual (R.V. i. 109. 2). It is the rule to-day in some parts of India. The law-makers resisted the custom, and would have the fee looked upon as a gift. Nevertheless, it remained sales-money by the name of gift or fee, and was not uncommon, though the kind of marriage implying it is reckoned less worthy. The ‘free-choice’ of the woman must have been affected by it; for it is disputed whether it be legit-