History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s2.1.2

v1.c6.s2.1.2

1 and Nirukta III. 4-5. These passages constitute the basis of the rules of the dharmasūtras and the Yājñavalkya-smṛti against marrying a brotherless maiden²⁴. This bar against marrying a brotherless maiden seems to have been due to the fear that such a girl might be an appointed daughter (*putrikā*) and that a son born of such a girl would be affiliated to his mother's father. This custom of *putrikā* is an ancient one and is alluded to in the Ṛgveda, according to Yāska²⁵. Ṛgveda X. 85 is a very interesting hymn as regards marriage; verses from it are used even to this day in the marriage ritual.²⁶ It shows that in the remote Vedic age the marriage rite resembled in essence the Brāhma form as described in the Dharmasūtras and Manu.²⁷ But the purchase of a bride (i. e. what is called Āsura marriage in later literature) was not unknown in the Vedic age. A passage of the Maitrāyaṇīyasaṁhitā (I. 10. 11) is referred to in the Vasiṣṭhadharmasūtra²⁸ in this connection, viz. 'she who being purchased by the husband'. The Gāndharva form is hinted at in the words²⁹ 'when a bride is fine-looking and well adorned, she seeks by herself her friend among men'. The importance of the *aurasa* son was felt even in the remote Vedic ages. 'Another (person) born of another's loins, though very pleasing, should not be taken, should not be even thought of (as to be taken in adoption³⁰)'. The Taittirīya-saṁhitā (VI. 3. 10. 5) propounds the well-known theory of the three debts³¹.