Sexual Life in Ancient India: A Study in the Comparative History of Indian Culture v1.c5.323

v1.c5.323

But it is not only the caste which must be looked to in marriage, but the younger brother must not marry before the elder, nor the younger sister before one that is above her in years, an offence of which, indeed, the law books often speak. In the case of such an offence all three (the two brothers and the wife) according to xii, 165.68,69 must, since they have lost their caste through this wrongdoing, undertake the Cāndrāyaṇa or the Kṛcchra mortification to be freed from their sin. On the other hand, xii, 35.27, 28 lays down an atonement only for the two brothers, and that only a twelve days’ Kṛcchra vow; but the younger brother must marry a second time (niveṣyaṃ tu punas tena sadā tārayatā pitṛn), as, according to xii, 165.70 the “re-marrying man” (parivettar) must respectfully offer the “re-married man” (parivitti) his wife as daughter-in-law (snushā)¹; if then the elder brother has given him leave, and if his offence has been atoned for, then he shall take her to himself by gripping her hand.² Thus according to xii, 165.20 the two men and the woman are freed of their fault. As opposed to this, xii, 35.28 declares: “na tu striyā bhaved dosho, na tu sā tena lipyate, but in the woman is no guilt, she is not thereby stained,” which is in contradiction with the view also represented elsewhere in the Smṛti; for according to Manu, iii, 172; Baudhāy., ii, 1.1, 39; Parāçara, iv, 23, for instance, all three, together with the girl’s guardian, and the sacrificial priest who officiated at the ceremony, go to hell. Rām., iv, 17.36 teaches: “The murderer of king or Brahman, the cow-slayer, the thief, he that rejoices in destroying living creatures, the atheist (nihilist), and the re-marrier—they all come into hell.” According to xii, 34.4 the following stand on the same level with the Brahman-murderer: the re-marrying man, the re-married man, the younger sister that marries before the elder (agredidhishu), and the husband of an elder sister that marries after the younger sister (didhishūpati); another statement is in Manu, iii, 173.¹