Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s21.263

v1.c3.s21.263

*Forms of Marriage.*—The state of society revealed in the Vedic age seems to point to considerable freedom on the part of both man and woman in selecting a wife or a husband. At any rate, it is not clear that either the father or the mother controlled the marriage of son or daughter of mature age,⁸² though no doubt the parents or parent often arranged a suitable match.⁸³ The marriage was frequently arranged through an intermediary, the ‘wooer’ (*vara*),⁸⁴ presumably after those concerned had in effect come to an agreement. The sale of a daughter was not unknown,⁸⁵ but a certain amount of discredit would seem to have attached to it,⁸⁶ and sons-in-law in such cases were sometimes stingy. On the other hand, dowries were not infrequently given, especially no doubt when damsels suffered from bodily defects.⁸⁷ Occasionally marriages by capture may have taken place, but only as knightly feats, as when Vimada carried off Purumitra’s daughter against her father’s wish, but very possibly with her own consent.⁸⁸ The later law-books and the Epic describe in much detail various forms of marriage, but they all seem reducible to three types: (*a*) that which is based on mutual consent, the *prājāpatya* (‘connected with Prajāpati’); (*b*) that in which a price is paid for the bride, the *āsura* (‘Asura-like’), *ārṣa* (‘connected with the Ṛṣis’), *brāhma* (‘relating to Brahman’), or *daiva* (‘divine’); (*c*) those which consist in stealing the bride, the *kṣatra* (‘warrior-like’) or the *rākṣasa* (‘demon-like’) mode, of all of which traces are found in Vedic literature.⁸⁹ For instance, the gift of a maiden for services rendered or other object is exemplified in the story of Cyavana in the Jaiminīya Brāhmaṇa,⁹⁰ and in that of Śyāvāśva in the Bṛhaddevatā.⁹¹