Families protected their children to uphold and continue their lineages and family traditions. Faith provided basis for their conduct and morality, while caste rules limited their ability to disobey their elders who held the key to occupational knowledge. The laws and punitive punishments were mostly disproportionate to the crime if the accused were lower castes. Since they formed the majority, it deterred them from breaking the laws. As observed by Megasthanese and later by Hieun Tsang, people in ancient India lived frugally and led simple but virtuous lives.
They upheld virtue, truth and morality. Thefts were exceedingly rare, since the punishments were severe. In such a morally sensitive and restrictive environment that showed no lenience for the weak and the poor, there was hardly any incentive for people to engage in any sexual misconduct or immorality. The complex nature of Hinduism and the privileges that were enjoyed by the higher castes and by men of status in society also led to a complex set of marriages laws, customs and traditions. They prescribed the ground rules for people of different castes, governed their public conduct, and gave them an opportunity to legitimize and sublimate their sexual mores, desires, preferences and indulgences through scriptural authority and the backing of an established tradition.
They suggested the manner in which men of different social backgrounds could marry and raise their families according to their wealth, power, status, and strength and how they could channel their desires in permissible ways without disrupting the orderly progression of society. The Hindu law books thus approached the institution of marriage from a very broad perspective to reflect the diverse ways and circumstances in which men could enter marital relationships or consummate their marriages.
In doing so, they used human conduct as the criteria and considered the extremes to which men could go in their pursuit of marriage and relationships with women. Indeed, it was a unique feature of Hinduism, which is not found in any other culture or tradition outside India.
The Hindu law books recognize either six Apastamba or eight types of marriages Manusmriti by which men could marry and become householders. All the eight types were prevalent in ancient India since the Vedic times. It was probably not true that the law books invented the eight types. They might be prevailing practices to which the law books might have given their stamp of approval.
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The classification was done mainly according to the manner in which the bride was chosen by the groom and the specific rituals and practices that were associated with each type of marriage. The law books gave specific names to each marriage type and specified which of them were lawful or unlawful and which of them were suitable or unsuitable to the practice of Dharma and continuation of family. They are considered increasingly lawful in the ascending order, and increasingly unlawful in the descending order, according to the karma and the progeny they produce and how far they comply with the tenets of the faith.
The Manusmriti declares that one should avoid unlawful marriages because they produce children with evil impurities. According to such criteria, the first one Brahma is the most lawful and produce most virtuous children and the eighth one Paisachika is the most unlawful and produce most evil children.
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Manu suggested that of them, were lawful for Brahmanas, for Kshatriyas, and for Vaisyas and Sudras. The last two were to be avoided by all means. In most classifications, the first four are considered auspicious and lawful, and the last four are considered unlawful and inauspicious. Although we do not find any descriptions of it in the law books, it appears that in ancient times the Brahma type marriage was practiced by the Brahmanas since it led to the birth of virtuous progeny, and the Daiva type by the Kshatriyas, since gods like Indra, Varuna, or Soma, who acted as the witnesses to the marriage were warrior gods.
The Arsha type was practiced by the seers and sages, since they required to gift at least a cow and bull to the bride's father, which they generally kept in their households. As the name suggests, the Prajapatya type was probably practiced by the common folk praja since among the first four, which were generally deemed lawful, it was the simplest and the least expensive.
The Asura type marriage suited the feudal lords, kings, and wealthy merchants who occupied positions of power and enjoyed wealth and influence. With their wealth and power they could easily bribe the fathers of the brides whom they desired and obtain their consent to marry them. The Gandharva type marriage was probably more prevalent among kings, warriors, artists, writers, musicians, entertainers, etc. Of the eight types, the last two, namely the Rakshasa and the Paisachika types were probably practiced by certain tribes who were not yet integrated into Vedism.
The Rakshasa type marriage suited those who relied upon their individual or collective aggression in a display of brute power to settle scores with their rival groups or humiliate them. In the marriage, they would kidnap and forcibly carry away the girl without her parent's consent and marry her forcibly by threats or coercion to a member of their group. According to a recent report, such marriages are still practiced in some parts of northern India, and it is usually the groom rather than the bride who is kidnapped and forced to marry.
The last type of marriage is called demonic Paisachika and considered the most heinous because in it the bride is first raped when she was asleep, intoxicated or out of senses, and forced into a marriage.
Hinduism and Premarital Relationships
Rapes are rampant in present-day Indian society, but unlike in the past now they result in court cases rather than marriages. The law books are clear about which types of marriages are lawful. They make it abundantly clear that the consent of the father is of utmost importance because as her father and chief provider or nourisher he is primarily responsible for her birth, life, and existence. Hence, no marriage is lawful if his permission is not taken before her marriage or if she is obtained by tempting him with money against his free will.
According to the law books, women who are married in this manner are not qualified to be called lawful wives or have the right to share the obligatory duties dharma of their husbands. The Hindu law books prevaricated the possibility of premarital sex with their emphasis upon maidenhood as a precondition for marriage.
Hindu views on interracial dating
Traditionally, the Hindu code of conduct, as enshrined in the law books, does not recognize any marriage in which the bride is not a maiden. This is true in case of all the eight types of marriages which we have discussed before. The bride has to be a virgin for the marriage to consummate. Otherwise, she is automatically disqualified. Such unequivocal emphasis upon virginal purity of the bride precluded any possibility of premarital sex by maidens.
It also discouraged men from engaging them in sexual relationships and incur evil karma. The evidence that the Hindu law books intended the sacrament of marriage for maidens only and men were meant to marry only maidens as part of their family tradition and professional duties can be found in the tradition of Hindu marriage itself. It becomes obvious when you consider the names that are used to describe the various customs and practices of a typical Hindu marriage.
For example, in all the ceremonial practices associated with Hindu marriages, the bride is invariably referred to as maiden kanya only, not as woman, as evident from the following. The very act of giving away the bride by the father to the bridegroom is called kanya-dan, which means giving away the maiden in a marriage.
Both the words mentioned above, kanya-dan and kanya-grahanam, are also alternative terms to Hindu marriage. The price that is meant to be paid to the father by the groom or his parents is called kanya-sulkam, meaning tax, or debt, paid to obtain the virgin.
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The father has a right to collect it because he takes care of the bride up to her marriage in good faith as his duty, whereas her husband is morally and karmically responsible for her upbringing from the day of her birth. If the bride has any defect or blemish which effects her suitability or compatibility for marriage, it is called kanya-dhosham. For the good of all, it has to be resolved before she is married. The dowry given by the bride's father to the groom's parents is called kanya-dhanam.
How sex is viewed in Hinduism
It is currently one of the major social evils of Hinduism in several parts of India. From the above clearly Hindu marriages traditionally recognized only maidens as qualified for marriages. Virginity of the bride in traditional Hindu marriages is not just a moral or social imperative, but a spiritual one also.
During the marriage ceremony, the bride has to be gifted to the gods before she can be married to the bridegroom. Upon receiving the virgin bride as a gift, the gods give her away in turn as their gift to the groom in good trust, and the groom has to promise them in the presence of celestial witnesses that he will look after well until his last breath. The agreement is important to the gods, because they depend upon it ensure their nourishment, which will come to them as offerings when the married couple perform rituals, sacraments, and sacrificial ceremonies as part of their obligatory duties to discharge their karmic debts or to commemorate auspicious events in their lives, such as birth, conception, initiation, etc.
Thus, every marriage in Hinduism is a covenant between humans and gods in which the bride becomes the consideration or the gift for its execution. For the gods it ensures the continuity of the tradition and another addition to their network of providers. Therefore, during the marriage ceremony the bride's father first gifts his daughter to the gods, and gods then give her away as their gift to the bridegroom in return for a promise that he would protect her and nourish them, and ensure the order and regularity of society through his progeny.
Maidenhood of the bride is vital to the agreement because gods will not accept the bride if she is already taken by another or gifted to another. Hence, Vedic beliefs make virginal purity a divine necessity in Hindu marriage tradition. The rules of celibacy and chastity prescribed by the law books for the boys and girls precluded any possibility of premarital sex among the children of upper castes.
In fact, boys faced even stricter regulations than the girls before their marriage and during their education, which precluded any possibility on their part to indulge in premarital sex or sexual misconduct. The phase itself was called the phase of celibacy brahmacarya, which in most cases lasted until the age of During this phase, they were not allowed to put on any make up, wear ornaments, and seek any form of pleasure or entertainment. For them the law books prescribed several rules to keep them segregated from the opposite sex and help them focus upon their education which was vital to their future survival and continuation of family tradition.
Thus by prescribing a strict code of conduct for both boys and girls, providing ideals, prescribing punishments as deterrence, and by enforcing them through various institutions, the elders in Vedic society prevented the incidence of premarital sex and the problem of misconduct among them. Since in the Vedic society maidenhood was important to the marriage of girls, they were closely guarded by her parents or her guardians and not allowed to go out or meet men alone.
They were also denied schooling. Whatever education they received was either from their parents or husbands. Mass education of women in India became possible only in the last years during the last phase of the British rule. Such controls, and carefully laid out strategies of the Vedic society, prevented the possibility of premarital sex among young people.
They helped them regulate their conduct around the central purpose of practicing dharma and ensuring the order and regularity of society. Adherence to dharma, and belief in rebirth and karma inspired them to live responsibly knowing that their lives were the result of their past deed and they had an obligation towards their parents, gods, and others to continue their family tradition, and preserve their name and reputation.
Although India derives its original name Bharat from the legendary King Bharata who was born out of a secret wedlock gandharva marriage between Shakuntala, a beautiful princess, and Dushyanta, a native king, it is important not to generalize such incidences and infer from them that premarital sex was common or lover marriage were popular in ancient India.
The truth is, in the earlier days, as it is now, mainstream Hinduism neither approved free sex nor condoned premarital sex. If there were any exceptions to them in the past, they very rarely happened and mostly with regard to princely families and warrior classes who considered themselves above the law they promulgated. Shakuntala herself was born out of a union between Meneka, a celestial nymph, and Viswamitra, a renowned warrior sage.
Indra sent her to tempt him and disturb his austerities. She succeeds in her attempt to entice him, which led to her motherhood.