| Women In The Sacred Laws |
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THE MANU-SAMHITA |
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In the next verse he refers to the first four kinds of marriages as legal for a Brahmana, and the Rakshasa as being legal for a Kshatriya: but he quotes it as the opinion of the sages.’ It is the Baudhayana that we find the exact parallel of the above passage of Mahabharata. ‘ Among these eight rites18 the four first named are lawful for a Brahmana.’ ‘Among these, the sixth and the, seventh agree with the law of the Kshatriya’.19 The fifth and the eighth are lawful for Vaisyas and Sudra. 20 Hence we see that the passage though ascribed to the, authority of Manu, agrees in content with the laws of Baudhayana. We find in Manu, for the first time, different ways of taking the oath at the marriage prescribed for each caste. Thus marriage is solemnized between people of equal castes by joining their hands. 21 But, where an inter-caste marriage, takes place, the bride has to hold in her hands articles significant of the essential qualities of the respective caste. Thus a Kshatriya bride, when marrying a Brahmana, has to hold in her hand an arrow; a Vaisya bride, when marrying one of higher caste, has, to take a goad and a Sudra female has to hold the hem, of the bridegroom’s garment. 22 |
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| About The Manu-Samhita | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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