[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India)](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930) › v2.c26.79 # History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c26.79 History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c26.79 - **Language:** English ### [v2.c26.79](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v2.c26.79) These rules about the proper age for the marriage of girls affected only brāhmaṇas. Sanskrit poets and dramatists always depict that the heroines in their works are grown-up at the time of marriage and even Bhavabhūti imagines that Mālatī, the heroine of his romantic drama of Mālatīmādhava, was so grown-up that it was practically a case of love at first sight. Vaik. (VI. 12) requires a brāhmaṇa bride to be a \*nagnikā\* or \*gaurī\*, but does not prescribe the same qualification for a kṣatriya or vaiśya bride. In the Harṣacarita princess Rājyaśrī is described as quite grown-up at the time of her marriage which was consummated on the very day of marriage (vide the last para. of the 4th Ucchvāsa). The Saṁskāra-prakāśa¹⁰⁶⁰ expressly says that there is no prohibition against marrying a girl who has passed the age of puberty for kṣatriyas and others. Even in Pauranic times grown-up unmarried girls must not have been unheard of. The Gṛ. R. p. 83 quotes a passage from the Brahmapurāṇa where the injunction to observe complete celibacy for one year, 12 days, 6 days or 3 days is construed as respectively referring to girls whose ages were 8, 12, 16 or 20 at the time of marriage.¹⁰⁶¹ - [Previous: v2.c26.78](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v2.c26.78) - [Next: v2.c26.80](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v2.c26.80) - [Up: v2.c26](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v2.c26) ## Cites (3) - [Brahmapurāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.brahma) — Vyāsa, Sanskrit - [Vaikhānasasmārtasūtra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.vedanga.kalpa.grhya.krsnayajur.vaikhanasa) — Vikhanas, Sanskrit - [Harṣacarita](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.historical.aryavarta.harsacarita) — Bāṇabhaṭṭa, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v2.c26.79](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v2.c26.79) · Pramāṇa