History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c26.56

v2.c26.56

Coming to the ancient gṛhya and dharma sūtras, it will be seen from several considerations that girls were married just before the time of puberty or immediately after it. Among the several requirements of the bride to be chosen several gṛhya sūtras lay down that she must be a ‘*nagnikā*’. Vide Hir. gṛ. I. 19. 2, Gobhila gṛ. III. 4. 6, Mānava gṛ. I. 7. 8, Vaik. VI. 12.¹⁰⁴⁶ The word *nagnikā* is variously explained by the commentators. Mātṛdatta on Hir. gṛ. explains that nagnikā means ‘one whose menstrual period is near’ i. e. one who is fit for intercourse. Aṣṭāvakra, the commentator of the Mānava gṛ., explains nagnikā as ‘one who has not yet experienced the impulses and emotions of youth’ or ‘one who looks pretty even without clothes’ (taking the word along with ‘śreṣṭhām’ that follows). The Gṛhyāsaṁgraha¹⁰⁴⁷ (which is much later than the Gobhila gṛ.) explains ‘nagnikā’ as one who has not yet reached puberty. These varying explanations of the word ‘nagnikā’ are due to the fact that when some smṛtis and commentators wrote child marriages were not in vogue, while they were in vogue when and where others flourished. Vas. Dh. S. 17. 70 says ‘the father should give away his daughter while she is still nagnikā through fear of her attaining puberty (while unmarried).' This shows that according to Vas. nagnikā must have been a girl of tender years or one that had not attained puberty.