The Hindu Marriage

INTRODUCTION

The Hindu marriage is considered to be sacramental and divine. The objective of the institution of Hindu marriage is to achieve, by cohabitation of man and woman, the supreme values of Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha., these being the material determinants of the concept of marriage. Marriage is one of the essential samskaras (sacraments) for every Hindu. Quoting Manu, a famous Dharma shastrakar,

“every Hindu must marry. To be mothers, were women created and to be father, men. The Veda ordained that Dharma must be practiced by man together with his wife”.

Marriage as a sacramental union implies that primarily it is a ‘sacrosanct union’, meant for the performance of religious and spiritual duties. Further, a sacramental union means that it is a ‘permanent union’. Marriage is a tie which once tied, cannot be untied. The Hindu law has, as can be seen, related marriage to a divine union between a man and woman. This implies that marriage cannot be dissolved. Lastly, sacramental union means that it is an ‘eternal union’. It is valid not merely in this life, but in lives to come and in all possibilities, a breakdown of marriage should be avoided. According to Manu, husband and wife are united to each other not merely in this life but even after death, in the other world too. Its implication has been that the widow re-marriage as a rule was not recognized in Hindu law. The rule is that, “once is a maiden given in marriage, she cannot withdraw from the union. A true wife must preserve her chastity as much after as before her husband’s death” . The union between man and woman of marriage is recognized by divine revelations and thus, as we can see, this union has been in force in our society since times immemorial. Men and ...

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...se of marriage as well as in times of its breakdown and after that, the parties to this union do not suffer a the hands of either the wrongdoer or the society. The concept of marriage has undergone various changes and developments over the years, covering areas from codification of basic ceremonies to covering antecedent areas such as dowry, maintenance, inheritance etc, granting rights to both parties to the union. Gender bias against women since the very inception can be seen in the idea that a woman is expected to leave her home and enter into a new life with the husband, and not the contrary. Further, the condition of women was much lower to that of her counterpart in areas of matrimonial rights too. This chapter shall deal with the entire area of marriage, delving into the rights given to women and whether the bias against them has actually been managed or not.