Hindu Law and Custom (Recht und Sitte) c7.645

c7.645

Gradual hardening of these rules. according to Vyāsa 2,2 this prohibition may apply even to a *sagotrā* of the mother, and according to others even to a *mātṛnāmnī* i.e. a girl bearing the same name as the mother of the bridegroom, as well as to the daughter of the spiritual initiator (*guru*) or the spiritual disciple (*śiṣya*). This spiritual relationship is found in the family law as well as in the law of inheritance. Marriages between relations in the prohibited degrees are to be regarded as null according to the commentators, yet the sin incurred by these marriages may in some cases be expiated for by a penance. The local usages too are to be taken into consideration in this connection; thus Baudh. 1, 2, 3 and Bṛh. 27, 19 declare that marriage between cousins is prevalent in the South and such marriages still actually take place in the Deccan among various Brahmanical sects and many other castes in general.¹