CHAPTER I.

ON MARRIAGE.

When a girl of the same caste, and a virgin, is married in accordance

with the precepts of Holy Writ, the results of such an union are: the

acquisition of Dharma and Artha, offspring, affinity, increase of

friends, and untarnished love. For this reason a man should fix his

affections upon a girl who is of good family, whose parents are alive,

and who is three years or more younger than himself. She should be born

of a highly respectable family, possessed of wealth, well connected, and

with many relations and friends. She should also be beautiful, of a good

disposition, with lucky marks on her body, and with good hair, nails,

teeth, ears, eyes, and breasts, neither more nor less than they ought to

be, and no one of them entirely wanting, and not troubled with a sickly

body. The man should, of course, also possess these qualities himself.

But at all events, says Ghotakamukha, a girl who has been already joined

with others (_i.e._, no longer a maiden) should never be loved, for it

would be reproachable to do such a thing.

Now in order to bring about a marriage with such a girl as described

above, the parents and relations of the man should exert themselves, as

also such friends on both sides as may be desired to assist in the

matter. These friends should bring to the notice of the girl's parents,

the faults, both present and future, of all the other men that may wish

to marry her, and should at the same time extol even to exaggeration

all the excellencies, ancestral, and paternal, of their friend, so as to

endear him to them, and particularly to those that may be liked by the

girl's mother. One of the friends should also disguise himself as an

astrologer and declare the future good fortune and wealth of his friend

by showing the existence of all the lucky omens[43] and signs,[44] the

good influence of planets, the auspicious entrance of the sun into a

sign of the Zodiac, propitious stars and fortunate marks on his body.

Others again should rouse the jealousy of the girl's mother by telling

her that their friend has a chance of getting from some other quarter

even a better girl than hers.

A girl should be taken as a wife, as also given in marriage, when

fortune, signs, omens, and the words[45] of others are favourable, for,

says Ghotakamukha, a man should not marry at any time he likes. A girl

who is asleep, crying, or gone out of the house when sought in marriage,

or who is betrothed to another, should not be married. The following

also should be avoided:

One who is kept concealed.

One who has an ill-sounding name.

One who has her nose depressed.

One who has her nostril turned up.

One who is formed like a male.

One who is bent down.

One who has crooked thighs.

One who has a projecting forehead.

One who has a bald head.

One who does not like purity.

One who has been polluted by another.

One who is afflicted with the Gulma.[46]

One who is disfigured in any way.

One who has fully arrived at puberty.

One who is a friend.

One who is a younger sister.

One who is a Varshakari.[47]

In the same way a girl who is called by the name of one of the

twenty-seven stars, or by the name of a tree, or of a river, is

considered worthless, as also a girl whose name ends in "r" or "l." But

some authors say that prosperity is gained only by marrying that girl to

whom one becomes attached, and that therefore no other girl but the one

who is loved should be married by anyone.

When a girl becomes marriageable her parents should dress her smartly,

and should place her where she can be easily seen by all. Every

afternoon, having dressed her and decorated her in a becoming manner,

they should send her with her female companions to sports, sacrifices,

and marriage ceremonies, and thus show her to advantage in society,

because she is a kind of merchandise. They should also receive with kind

words and signs of friendliness those of an auspicious appearance who

may come accompanied by their friends and relations for the purpose of

marrying their daughter, and under some pretext or other having first

dressed her becomingly, should then present her to them. After this they

should await the pleasure of fortune, and with this object should

appoint a future day on which a determination could be come to with

regard to their daughter's marriage. On this occasion when the persons

have come, the parents of the girl should ask them to bathe and dine,

and should say, "Everything will take place at the proper time," and

should not then comply with the request, but should settle the matter

later.

When a girl is thus acquired, either according to the custom of the

country, or according to his own desire, the man should marry her in

accordance with the precepts of the Holy Writ, according to one of the

four kinds of marriage.

Thus ends marriage.

There are also some verses on the subject as follows:--

Amusement in society, such as completing verses begun by others,

marriages, and auspicious ceremonies should be carried on neither with

superiors, nor inferiors, but with our equals. That should be known as a

high connection when a man, after marrying a girl, has to serve her and

her relations afterwards like a servant, and such a connection is

censured by the good. On the other hand, that reproachable connection,

where a man, together with his relations, lords it over his wife, is

called a low connection by the wise. But when both the man and the woman

afford mutual pleasure to each other, and when the relatives on both

sides pay respect to one another, such is called a connection in the

proper sense of the word. Therefore a man should contract neither a high

connection by which he is obliged to bow down afterwards to his kinsmen,

nor a low connection, which is universally reprehended by all.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 43: The flight of a blue jay on a person's left side is

considered a lucky omen when one starts on any business; the appearance

of a cat before anyone at such a time is looked on as a bad omen. There

are many omens of the same kind.]

[Footnote 44: Such as the throbbing of the right eye of men and the left

eye of women, etc.]

[Footnote 45: Before anything is begun it is a custom to go early in the

morning to a neighbour's house, and overhear the first words that may be

spoken in his family, and according as the words heard are of good or

bad import, so draw an inference as to the success or failure of the

undertaking.]

[Footnote 46: A disease consisting of any glandular enlargement in any

part of the body.]

[Footnote 47: A woman, the palms of whose hands and the soles of whose

feet are always perspiring.]