Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s21.228

v1.c3.s21.228

Polyandry.—On the other hand, polyandry is not Vedic.⁵⁰ There is no passage containing any clear reference to such a custom. The most that can be said is that in the Rigveda⁵¹ and the Atharvaveda⁵² verses are occasionally found in which husbands are mentioned in relation to a single wife. It is difficult to be certain of the correct explanation of each separate instance of this mode of expression; but even if Weber’s⁵³ view, that the plural is here used *majestatis causā*, is not accepted, Delbrück’s⁵⁴ explanation by mythology is probably right. In other passages⁵⁵ the plural is simply generic.