History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c26.297.2

v2.c26.297.2

461) is relied upon by Professors Macdonell and Keith (Vedic Index vol. I. p. 236) for holding that marriages within the third and fourth degrees on both maternal and paternal sides were allowed in the days of the Śatapatha and that therefore a man could marry in those days his paternal uncle's daughter. This latter is a startling proposition. The passage in the Śat. Br. is no doubt expressed in general words ('one may be united in the third or fourth generation'). But that passage is generally applicable even if only a marriage with a maternal uncle's daughter or paternal aunt's daughter is meant. The passage does not expressly allow paternal cousins' marriages. The dharma-sūtras prohibit sagotra marriages. Both the learned Professors, as most western scholars do, probably hold that the Śatapatha is not separated from the sūtras by more than a few centuries. If a paternal uncle's daughter had been eligible for marriage in the times of the Śatapatha, but became forbidden in the times of the sūtras we shall have to suppose that an usage died out from one end of the country to another and an opposite usage became prevalent throughout within a few centuries. The smṛtis are not afraid of stating ancient practices which they themselves do not accept (i. e. *niyoga*). The smṛtis do not say that marriages with paternal uncle's daughters were ever allowed anywhere.