The Social and Military Position of the Ruling Caste in Ancient India, as Represented by the Sanskrit Epic c2.s6.86

c2.s6.86

she was regarded as sold to the dead man); an actual marriage is performed by taking seven steps about the fire or by pouring water; a man should wed in this way a girl that loves him and of proper descent (anukulām, anuvaṅcām), after she has been given to him by the brother; she is married by the ceremony (upāgnikām), not by the fee. Compare M. viii. 227 and ix. 71 (where it is questioned by the commentator whether the ‘first’ suitor spoken of is not dead); and Yāj. i. 65, who says that a girl promised to one may be given to another if the latter is ‘better.’ Our text (31-36, 45-46, 48-52, 55-56) is expanded in the next chapter (xiii. 45. 1-6): ‘suppose the fee-giver has gone off without getting the price back; she is still sold to the fee-giver (krītā çulkadasya), and no one else may marry her; all her offspring will be his (if she marry another); but if married to a man of her own election (svayaṃvrta), and with her father’s consent, without a fee, some regard the offspring as not his; this is doubtful; let one do in this matter as the good do. This must be remembered, however, that a marriage is only real by virtue of a proper wedding; a mere cohabiting of a male and a female does not constitute a marriage between them’ (bhāryāpatyor hi sambandhaḥ, strīpumsoḥ svalpa eva tu, 9). Throughout this passage, aside from contradictory admissions, the fee, though disparaged, is recognized as the custom of many.