Hindu Law and Custom (Recht und Sitte) c7.658

c7.658

The privileges of the eldest i. e. the first married wife is often enlarged upon, for even among several wives of the same caste she, as a rule, holds the premier position. Thus according to Vi. 26, 1—4 he who has several wives (bhāryā) of his own caste should perform his religious duties with the eldest; if he has several wives of different castes, the wife of his own caste enjoys this privilege even though she is the youngest; if he has no wife of his own caste, or if the wife of his own caste is absent, the wife of the next highest caste shall occupy her place; but a Śūdra wife shall always be excluded from this privilege. Of course the various wives of a polygamist could not always remain satisfied with this state of things; the historical and poetical literature offer us many an instance of it and even M. 9,83 speaks of the punishment of a "supplanted" wife who leaves the house of her husband in anger. The sad lot of such a wife was proverbial according to Nār. 1, 203. Yet the husband who subordinates her to another wife had to