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[Full title: (C) The distinctive sacramental features; (I) Part 1; (8): The marriage sacrament].

8) THE MARRIAGE SACRAMENT : THE SONLESS DOES NOT GO TO HELL鈥擳he sonless person may be afraid of falling into Hell, on account of various declarations to that effect, in the smrtis. But, Devala seems to suggest that they should not be so frightened, if they have only daughters & no son. Neither the father nor the mother, :

703 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 (409-410). For saisavi 1 kalpara's wwwwch am now the

710 bride of 7 years, the bridegroom was to be of 18 years & for gauri of 8 years, he was to be of 25 years. From this, it follows that in case of rohini & gandhari types of brides also, the bridegroom must be of higher age, as considered from the above 20 two cases. The Manusmrti (IX. 94) also enjoins a similar rule that the bridegroom of 30 years & 24 years should marry brides of 12 & 8 years respectively. THE QUALIFICATIONS OF THE BRIDE : According to Devala (408) the five qualifications of the bride were to be considered & given importance for marriage. They are (1) Kula-family, (2) Sila-character, (3) Vaya-age, (4) Vrtta-Conduct, (5) Rupa-beauty. The beauty is mentioned at the end & hence it is only a last qualification to be considered. Learning or education is not at all mentioned here by the author. This reflects upon the fact, that girls were mostly illiterate & education was not given much importance in case of women. This also shows the 21 attitude of the author towards education as a qualification for marriage. The Bharadvaja Grihyasutra (I. 11) also mentions four qualifications namely wealth, beauty, intellect &family. The smrtis like those of Manu, Yajnavalkya, etc. also dilate upon the external signs of beauty. It may be remarked that Devala's enumeration of qualifications of the bride is the most ideal & perfect one and may be with vidya or education, to modernize it. } } i

711 SAPINDYA : The general rule about sapindya (common ancestor is that www ship) it does not remain after the fifth degree on the mother's side & the seventh degree on the father's side%3B But Devala (416-417) also introduces an alternative or option. If a girl of the proximate relation is to be married, she should at least be beyond three degrees from the father's & mother's side. This view of Devala is remarkable. RELIGIOUS CEREMONY, NECESSARY FOR ALL FORMS OF MARRIAGES : The eight forms of marriages are described in the text. In the later forms of marriages (i.e. in the gandharva, asura, raksasa 1 & paisaca), there is prior acceptance or kidnapping of the bride. be But the marriage ceremony should performed afterwards, in the A presence of fire, in case of persons, belonging to the three varnas.(407). As long as the marriage ceremony is not performed in the presence of fire, the marriage is not considered valid & irrevocable. Thus the sacrament of marriage, was considered quite necessary & even compulsory, in every form of it, in the society. The above injunction of Devala also reflects upon another fact. The latter forms of marriages were also prevalent in the society, but the marriage sacraments might not be performed intentionally by some. Hence there was necessity of explicit declaration that the marriage sacraments were compulsory for legalizing all forms of marriages. " 27