Hindu Law and Custom (Recht und Sitte) c7.531

c7.531

² Four kinds of Svayaṃvara can be clearly distinguished,—three of the epics and one of the Smṛtis. The Svayaṃvara of Sāvitrī is a unique instance of the absolute freedom of a princess to choose her husband. Alone Sāvitrī travels through various countries in quest of a husband and at last meets Satyavān. But it is hardly probable that a princess of a proud noble family already shackled by fetters of long-standing traditions should be allowed to proceed in this way and Hopkins is very probably right when he says that this was the earliest form of Svayaṃvara (JAOS XIII, 168 ff., 357 ff.). Another form of Svayaṃvara is that the bride is *vīryaśulkā*, i.e. she is to be won by a feat of prowess as in the case of Sītā and