History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.985

v4.c63.985

*Strīpuṁdharma* (duties of husband and wife). Most of the matters falling under this head have been dealt with in H. of Dh. vol. II. pp. 556-592. The liability of the husband or wife for the debts of the other has been already dealt with under *ṛṇādāna*. The rights of partition, inheritance and maintenance will be discussed later on under *dāyabhāga*. Nār. XV. 1 defines this title of law as that in which the rules of the marriage of women and men and other related matters are described. Under this head Nār. speaks of the essential ceremonies of marriage, the rules about selecting a bride and a bridegroom, restrictions as to the caste of the bride, the guardians for marriage, faults or defects in a proposed bride or bridegroom, the forms of marriage, women called *punarbhū* and *svairiṇī*, the practice of *niyoga*, illicit sexual intercourse, punishment of women for adultery, re-marriage, *varṇasaṅkara*, mixed castes. In IX. 1 Manu promises that he will dilate upon the obligatory duties of man and wife, whether they are staying together or apart. Manu IX. 2 holds that the first duty of the husband and the males in his family is to keep women dependent and under their control if they become attached to a life of pleasure and Nār. XVI. 30 states that even women of good family come to ruin by independence. The next most important matter acc. to Manu IX. 5 and Bṛ. (S. B. E. 33 p. 367 verse 2)⁹⁹⁰ is to guard women against improper attachments however trifling, since if they go astray they bring sorrow to both families (of the husband and of the father). Acc. to Hārīta,⁹⁹¹ Śaṅkha-Likhita,⁹⁹² Manu (IX. 7, 9) and others the husband has to guard the wife from the approaches of other men in order to ensure the purity of the issue and by guarding her the husband guards his reputation, family, soul and his *dharma*, since a woman gives birth to a son similar to the male with whom she consorts or on whom she sets her heart during the days after the monthly illness. Here there is some anticipation of modern Eugenics. Manu IX. 10 was quite clear that women could not be completely guarded by confining them with force in seclusion, that their minds must be occupied in family work as stated by him in IX. 11 and by Bṛ. (S. B. E. 33 p. 368⁹⁹³ verse 4), that the husband must try to deserve her regard and affection and show her honour (Manu IX. 22-24, 26, Yāj. I. 82). Divorce has been already dealt with in H. of Dh. vol. II. pp. 619-623. Vide 'Selections from Peshwa's *daftar*' vol. 43 p. 112 where the divorce of a woman (*ghaṭasphoṭa*) is ordered because the husband was really a converted Mahomedan who had been illegally admitted to caste after an incorrect method of expiation.