Marriage in Hinduism is a lifelong relationship that concerns two families and not only the bride and the groom alone. In Hindu religion marriage has another dimension, which is unique in itself. Marriage is not regarded as a purely human affair, but as a sacred agreement between a man and a woman in which gods contribute as witnesses as well as donors of the bride. The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 proposed to secure the rights of marriage for the bride and groom who are Hindu and are bound under the sacred bond of marriage under any ceremony. The law does not describe the kind of ceremony since there are several ways a man and a woman may carry out this religious act.
CONCEPT OF MARRIAGE
The institution of Hindu marriage occupies a prominent place in the social institutions of the civilised world. Probably no other people have endeavoured the institution of marriage as Hindus have done. Even in the patriarchal society of the rig Vedic Hindus, marriage was considered as a sacramental union. A marriage as a sacrosanct implies that the union is primarily for the performance of religious and spiritual duties. The concept of marriage is to establish the relationship of husband and wife. The belief is that marriage is a sacred tie which cannot be broken, even death cannot make the two partners apart from each other as it is not just a religious but holy union. A permanent relationship where the two sexes are bound physically, socially, religiously and spiritually for the purpose of dharma, procreation and sexual pleasure. Its aim was not just physical pleasure but spiritual advancement, it wasn’t just an individual function but had social importance with the aim of fulfilment of dharma, procreation and enjoyment of sexual pleasure.
Manu enjoins on wife that she should become a paturnuvrate, i.e., she should follow the same principles as her husband.
According to Mahabharata, ‘by cherishing woman, one but virtually worships the goddess of prosperity herself, by afflicting her one but afflicts the goddess of prosperity.’ “A man’s half is his wife, the wife is her husband’s best friend, she is the source of dharma, artha, kama and moksha.”
According to Ramayana, the wife is said to be the very soul of her husband. She is grihni (the lady of the house) in her husband’s household, sachiva (wise counsellor), sakhi (confidante) to her husband and dearest disciple of her husband in the pursuit of art. She is grihalakshmi, ardhangini and samrajyi.
Marriage is one of the crucial samskaras (sacraments) for every Hindu. Every Hindu must marry to be mother’s women were created and to be fathers men were created according to the Vedas. The Vedas ordain that dharma must be practised by man together with his wife. He only is a perfect man who consists of his wife, himself and his wife. For a Hindu marriage is of religious or holy character and not just a contractual union. It is obligatory, for begetting a son, for discharging his debt to his ancestors and for performing religious and spiritual duties. The wife is not merely grihapati but also dharmapatni and sadhaharmini. Back then it was believed that marriage is a tie which once tied cannot be untied which meant marriage at any point cannot have been dissolved except in very rare cases. Marriage as a union was eternal, in the words of Manu ‘husband and wife are united to each other not merely in this life but even after death, in the other world. Hence widow remarriage as a rule was not recognised then in Hindu law.
Thus marriage as an exclusive and sacramental union also gave birth to polygamy, concubinage, and prostitution. Man became powerful and started subordinating women. His lust knew no boundaries. In such circumstances it was but natural that man did not quite succeed in his mission of getting absolute fidelity of woman, and there emerged on the scene, the wife’s paramour and the cuckold. Adultery, dubbed as a sin of high order (upapataka) and as the most heinous crime, came into existence as an unavoidable social phenomena.
FORMS OF HINDU MARRIAGE
In Hindu marriage the term ‘forms of marriage’ is concerned with different means of acquiring a mate or a way of acquiring a wife. The Laws of Manu consist eight types of marriage that existed in ancient Hindu life. But according to historical point of view there were more predominant forms than eight. It is believed that the other forms of marriage, apart from the eight forms of marriage, were based on custom and convenience of people. The eight traditional forms of Hindu marriage include Brahma, Daiva, Arsa, Prajapatya, Asura, Gandharva. Rakksash and Paisacha. Out of the eight forms of marriage, four were approved and the other four were unapproved.
- Brahma – In this form of marriage, the father of the bride invites a person, who is well versed in the Vedas of good character, and offers his daughter as the gift to him. Manu placed this form of marriage even above divine marriage. Yajnavalkya believed that the son born of a Brahma marriage redeems form sin, ten ancestors, ten descendants and himself. No dowry is involved and the girl enters the boy’s house with some ornaments and two sets of clothes. The boy should have finished his Brahmacharya Ashram (student hood). Of the eight forms of marriage the Dharmasastras consider this as the highest and it is mostly practised throughout India.
- Daiva – Marrying a girl to a priest as a sacrifice is called “daiva“. Manu and Yajnavalkya held the opinion that the son born of such marriage is said to redeem from sin seven parental ascendants and seven male descendants and himself. In this type of marriage the parents if unable to get a suitable husband for their daughter offer her to the priest who performs religious acts and rituals. This form of marriage is exclusively for the Brahmins, since the Brahmins can only officiate in the sacrifices, as priests. This type of marriage is considered inferior to brahma because special qualities like scholarship of the bridegroom in the Vedas, good character were not emphasized in this form of marriage.
- Arsha – In this form of marriage the father of the bride gives his daughter to the groom after having received from him one pair of kine, or two pairs for uses prescribed by law. This form of marriage was peculiar to the Brahmins. The pair of kine, or two pairs, constitute the price of the bride. The marriage of sage Agastya with Lopamudra is an example of this kind of marriage. The Arsha form of marriage could not be practised in the later period due to the decline of sacrifices and because there was a monetary consideration involved in this wedding.
- Prajapatya – In this form of marriage, unlike the Brahma form, the girl’s family looks for the groom. An eligible groom is enticed with presents and wealth by bride’s father to marry her daughter. Here, the father gives his daughter away after blessing the couple by reciting the words “May both of you perform together your dharma.” The couple has to perform religious and civic duties together. Stress is laid on continuing the family lineage by begetting child soon after the marriage. Prajapati is considered the least desirable of the four approved forms of marriage as here the gift is not free but it loses its dignity due to conditions which should not have been forced according to the religious concept of a gift. This form of marriage has lately not been practised because of the practise of child marriage. This form was also peculiar to the Brahmans only.
- Asura – In this form of marriage, the bridegroom gets a maiden after bestowing wealth to the bride and her kinsmen called ‘sulka’ or bride price. Hence, this form of marriage is founded on an agreement between the two families as a commercial transaction. The Ramayana indicates that huge amount of bride price was given to the guardian of Kaikeyi for her marriage with king Dasaratha. The Mahabharata also comprises descriptions concerning purchase of a maiden after offer of a great amount of wealth. This form of marriage is considered greatly inferior to the four Prashasta forms of marriage. It is no longer practiced among Hindus. This form of marriage being the ceremony of the Asuras or the indigenous non-Aryan tribes of India was called as Asura.
- Gandharva – This form of marriage is synonymous with modern-day love marriage or elopement. The Gandharva form of marriage is the union of a man and a woman by mutual consent without any other consideration. It is believed that this form of marriage is called ‘Gandtarva’ because of its widespread practice by the tribe called ‘Gandharva’ who live on the slopes of the Himalayas. A minor girl is incompetent to contract this ‘Gandharava’ form of marriage because she is incapable of giving her consent. It was predominant among the Rajbanshis and in Manipur. Eventually this form of marriage dropped due to the child- marriage practice in the Hindu society. But afterwards, along with the introduction of post-puberty marriage, it has been practiced in the name of love marriage. Generally the consent of the parents is not taken or is not obtainable because either or both parents are against the marriage. The most famous example of Gandharva marriage is the marriage of Dushyanta and Shakuntala in Mahabharata.
- Rakshasa – To marry a woman by abduction or by capture, against the wishes of the parent is Rakshasa vivaha. The groom may also win over the bride’s family in the battleground. Krsna Paramatman married Rukmini in this manner only. Traditionally, it was allowed to the Kshatriyas or military classes. In the modern Indian society this form of marriage has been banned, and its practice is a punishable offence vide section 366 of IPC.
- Paishacha – Here the bride is taken away against her will while she is asleep or by the administration of an intoxicant. In this from of marriage the girl’s wish does not count, she is detained against her wish and her family antagonised. It is considered to be the lowest or worst form of marriage. However, in the modern socio-cultural matrix, this form of marriage is a punishable offence under the I.P.C. as rape as the principle of law holds that a culprit should not be allowed to be benefited for any wrong-doings caused by him.
EVOLUTION OF MARRIAGE
Human society was a nomadic society. Before civilization, there was perhaps a herd-instinct type of marital relationship. But eventually with time, the nomadic human society started evolving into an agricultural society and at some stage of human development, the necessity arises to know human belongings and ownership of material belongings as a natural result of human and as a result the males have to know about their children.
Now, it was vital to know the paternity of the children. So the sex relationship remained unregulated. Only the maternity was likely to know but the paternity left unregulated.
It was possible to define the paternity if sex relationship can be transformed into an exclusive union of men and women. Hence, we can say that the man’s exploration to know the paternity of children became the seed of the institution of marriage.
Marriage became the centre of family life and the contractual relationship became the basis between men and women. In addition to that, as civilization advanced, marriage became to be observed more seriously and the wedding ceremony became regular.
Initially the wedding ceremonies were a community affair and also primitive man had no records, so with time the marriage ceremony started to be witnessed by many people.
Marriage in Hinduism is a sacred relationship. It is both a samskara (sacrament) and an obligatory duty (dharma). In some parts of southern India, marriages between cousins are considered normal. In ancient India, if a woman’s husband died, she could marry her deceased husband’s brother, severely for the purpose of progeny. Polygamy was an acceptable custom in ancient Hindu society. But currently Hindus are expected to be monogamous.
Hindu Marriages in Modern Society – Love marriages are on the increase, but there’s still a lot of scepticism about them. Love marriages within the financial background and caste are favoured, as compared to inter-religious and inter-caste marriages. These problems are more severe in the rural areas compared to the urban areas. A lot depends upon the family background. If parents are enlightened and educated on both sides, things would be much easier for the children.
MARRIAGE UNDER HINDU MARRIAGE ACT, 1955
The modern concept is that of marriage as a contract where consent of both the parties involved is relevant. This was an outcome of the industrial revolution, of its lofty ideals of liberty and equality the greatest contribution was the emergence of the idea that all human and social relations must be based on free volition of individuals, the highest human and social and human relation, i.e., marriage must be squarely based on volition, and thus marriage started to being considered as contractual union. But back then absence of consent of either party in the marriage wouldn’t render the marriage invalid.
But with this act the Hindu law was reformed for better. The act was intended to secure the rights of the bride and groom in a marriage. Before this there were times when men or women were petrified or humiliated under a fraud case of marriage. The law did not prescribe any specific ceremonies as there are various ways this can be done. The act has secularised the Hindu law of marriage in all respects except in a few matters. It is in regard to ceremonial validity of a Hindu marriage that the religious, sacramental, or non-secular character of Hindu marriage is retained.
The act is applicable to all the Hindus which includes Sikhs, Jains, and Buddhists and not to Muslims, Christians, Parsis or Jews. Sec 2 defines who is a Hindu. Sec 5 of the act says makes it clear that marriage is result of mutual consent and not so much of religion. Sec 3 says of the new prohibited degrees of relationship revoking the earlier prohibitions as defined by the smritikars.
The act incorporated monogamy and prohibited bigamy and polygamy also making it a criminal offence under the IPC. There are no such restrictions on inter caste or inter communal marriages and have been declared lawful under this act. Marriages of inter communal nature to be dealt under the special marriage act. The act also does not discriminate between a maiden and a widow and both are treated equally. At the time of the marriage the age of groom to be 21 yrs. and bride that of 18 yrs. in order to make the marriage lawful. Sec 8 discuses about the registering of marriage. Sec 9 defines the restitution of conjugal rights of husband and wife. Sec 15 says that after a valid divorce either party is eligible to remarry. Sec 6 discuss the legitimacy of child born of the alliance. Sec 24 talks about the provision of permanent alimony and maintenance for the alliance. Sec 26 defines the provisions for custody, maintenance, and education of minor children during and after legal proceedings of divorce.
By – Shipra Sahu & Astha Rao