Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.494

v1.c3.494

**A-bhrātaraḥ** (‘brotherless’).—The lot of girls without brothers is referred to in the Rigveda¹ as unsatisfactory—apparently they became prostitutes. The Nirukta² expressly forbids marriage with a brotherless maiden, probably because of the risk of her being made a *putrikā* (‘adoptive daughter’) by her father—that is, any son of hers being counted as belonging to her father’s, instead of to her husband’s, family. See *Ayogū*.