Hinduism

SBE 14: Baudhâyana: Prasna I, Adhyâya 11, Kandikâ 20

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This is a passage from a classical Hindu dharmaśāstra (legal-religious text), likely a Dharmasūtra, belonging to the Brahmanical tradition of ancient Indian law. It enumerates and ranks the eight recognized forms of marriage: from the most esteemed Brahma rite (a father giving his daughter to a learned, virtuous student) down through the Gandharva rite (mutual consent between lovers), the Asura rite (bride-price), the Rakshasa rite (abduction), and the Paishacha rite (intercourse with an unconscious or intoxicated woman followed by marriage). The text's central argument is hierarchical and caste-specific: the four higher rites are lawful for Brahmanas, with each earlier form more meritorious; the later forms grow progressively more sinful, but some are assigned as appropriate to lower castes — the Gandharva and Rakshasa rites for Kshatriyas (on the grounds that power is their attribute), and the fifth and eighth for Vaishyas and Shudras respectively. A notable claim is that lower castes are permitted degraded rites precisely because they are allowed to pursue degraded occupations like agriculture and service. One dissenting voice within the text recommends the Gandharva (consent-based) rite universally, on the grounds that it rests on mutual affection — a rare egalitarian note in an otherwise rigidly hierarchical framework.

SBE 14: Baudhâyana: Prasna I, Adhyâya 11, Kandikâ 20

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