History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c26.356

v2.c26.356

The gift of a daughter, after decking her (with valuable garments) and honouring her (with jewels &c.), to a man learned in the Vedas and of good conduct, whom the father of the girl himself invites, is called Brāhma. When the father gives away his daughter after decking her (with ornaments &c.) to a priest, who duly officiates at a sacrifice, during the course of its performance, it is the Daiva form.¹²⁰⁵ When there is a gift of one's daughter, after taking one pair of cattle (a cow and a bull) or two pairs only as a matter of fulfilling the law (and not as a sale of the girl), that is named the ārṣa form. The gift of a daughter, after the father has addressed (the couple with the words 'may both of you perform your religious duties together') and after he has honoured the bride-groom (with Madhuparka &c.), is declared to constitute the Prājāpatya form. Yāj. I. 60 calls this 'kāya', because in the Brāhmaṇa works 'ka' means 'Prajāpati'. When the girl is given away at the father's will after the bride-groom gives as much wealth as he can afford to pay to the relatives of the girl and to the girl herself, that is called the Āsura form. The union of a girl and the bride-groom by their mutual consent is known as Gāndharva, which springs from the passion of love and has intercourse as its purpose. The forcible abduction of a maiden from her house, while she weeps and cries aloud, after her kinsmen have been slain (or beaten), wounded and (their houses or fortresses) are broken open, is called the Rākṣasa form. When a man has intercourse with a girl stealthily while she is asleep or intoxicated or disordered in mind (or unconscious), that is the Paiśāca form, which is the basest and the most sinful of all forms.