Essay name: Devala-smriti (critical study)
Author:
Mukund Lalji Wadekar
Affiliation: Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda / Department of Sanskrit Pali and Prakrit
This essay represents an English study of the Devala-smriti鈥攁n ancient text attributed to sage Devala classified as belonging to the Dharma-Shastra branch of Indian literature which encompasses jurisprudence and religious law. This study deals with the reconstructed text of the Devala-smriti based on surviving references, emphasizing Devala鈥檚 unique viewpoints on social, religious, and philosophical aspects, particularly the Sankhya and Yoga philosophies.
Chapter 9 - The distinctive features of the Devalasmriti
41 (of 165)
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giving birth to female offsprings goes to hell, if he or she properly
brings up their daughters & give them to some appropriate persons
(395).
THE FOUR KINDS OF MARRIAGEABLE GIRLS :
The four kinds of marriageable girls are mentioned in the
text (408-412). The girls from seven years upto the time of puberty
are called nagnikas & are considered most suitable for marriages.
The girls between these years are designated by four different
names - viz. (1) Saisavi of 7 years, (2) Gauri of 8 years, (3) Rohini
of nine years, (4) Gandhari from 10 upto puberty.
1 18
17 Yajnavalkya
This reflects upon the fact that Devala, like Manu
Parasara etc. advocates pre-puberty marriages. During the period
of ancient Grhya & Dharma sutras, "girls were married just before
the time of puberty or immediately after it". & that "from about
600 B.C. to about the beginning of the christian Era, it did not
matter at all if a girl was married a few months or a few years
after puberty. But by about 200 A.D. (when the Yajnavalkya-smrti
was composed) popular feeling had become insistent on pre-puberty
marriages" " 19. The above verses of Devala are definitely later than
the period of the Yajnavalkya smrti, when the pre-puberty marriages
became prevalent.
AGE OF THE BRIDEGROOM :
The pre-puberty period is advocated by the author as the age
for the bride, but great age-difference was prescribed to be
maintained between the bride & the bridegroom (409鈥�410). For saisav墨
1 kalpara's
wwwwch am now the
