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XXIV.
1. Now a Brâhmana may take four wives in the direct order of the (four) castes;
2. A Kshatriya, three;
3. A Vaisya, two;
4. A Sűdra, one only.
5. Among these (wives), if a man marries one of his own caste, their hands shall be joined.
6. In marriages with women of a different class, a Kshatriya bride must hold an arrow in her hand;
7. A Vaisya bride,. a whip;
8. A Sűdra bride, the skirt of a mantle.
9. No one should marry a woman belonging to the same Gotra, or descended from the same Rishi ancestors, or from the same Pravaras.
[XXIV. 1-4. Weber, Ind. Stud. X, 21, 74; M. III, 12-14; Y. I, 56, 57.--5. M. III, 43; Y. I, 62.--6-8. M. III, 44; Y. I, 62.--9, 10. Weber loc. cit. 75; M. III, 5; Y. I, 53; Âpast. II, 5, 11, 15, 16; Gaut. IV, 2-5.--12-16. M. III, 8.--12. Y. I, 53--17-26. M. III, 20, 21, 27-34; Y. I, 58-61; Âpast. II, 5, 11, 17--II, 5; 22, 2; Gaut. IV, 6-13.--27, 28. M. III, 23-26, 39; Âpast. II, 5, 12, 3; Gaut. IV, 14, 15.--29-32. M. III, 37, 38; Y. I, 58-60; Gaut. IV, 30-33.--38. M. V, 151; Y. I, 63.--39- Y. I, 63.--40. M. IX, 90; Y. I, 64.--41. M. IX, 93.
1. This chapter opens the section on Samskâras or sacraments, i. e. the ceremonies on conception and so forth. (Nand.) This section forms the second part of the division treating of Akira. See above, XIX.
9. According to Nand., the term Gotra refers to descent from one of the seven Rishis, or from Agastya as the eighth; the term Ârsha (Rishi ancestors), to descent from the Ârshtishenas or Mudgalas, {footnote p. 107} or from some other subdivision of the Bhrigus or Ângirasas, excepting the Gâmadagnas, Gautamas, and Bhâradvâgas; and the term Pravara, to the Mantrakrits of one's own race, i. e. the ancestors invoked by a Brâhmana at the commencement of a sacrifice. Nand.'s interpretation of the last term is no doubt correct; but it seems preferable to take Gotra in the sense of 'family name' (laukika gotra), and to refer the term samânârsha to descent from the same Rishi (vaidika gotra). See Dr. Bühler's notes on Âpast. II, 5, 11, 15, and Gaut. XVIII, 6; Max Müller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, pp. 379-388; Weber, Ind. Stud. X, 69-41. If ârsha were connected with pravara, the whole compound samânârshapravarâ would denote 'a woman descended from the same Rishi '= samanârshâ, Y. I, 53, and samânapravarâ, Gaut. XVIII, 6.]
10. Nor (should he marry) one descended from his maternal ancestors within the fifth, or from his paternal ancestors within the seventh degree;
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