After Janaka completed the account of his ancestors Viswamitra praised the ineage of both the families. These words of Viswamitra clearly suggest that marriage should be settled between those who are suitable in age and appearance to each other after investigating first, the family history:
Ashvalayanacharya: ‘Family ancestry on the side of both the parents must be first taken into consideration as is stated in Dashapeya’.
Dashapeya: ‘If the previous ten generations of both the father and the mother are equal in learning, piety, meritorious deeds etc. the families are mutually suitable for marriage agreement. According to some, the generations on the father’s side only are to be taken into account’.
Manu: ‘a family may be well-known and prosperous in respect of cows, goats, sheep, wealth and farm-produce. However when marriage is contemplated, the following families must be shunned- A family, that does not observe the prescribed rites, a family where there is no male issue, where there is no tradition of Vedic recitations, where the girl has long hair on skin, in which there is a history of disease, in which there is indigestion, tuberculosis, epilepsy, white leprosy, and leprosy’.
Yama: These fourteen families must be regarded as unfit for matrimonial alliances. They are 1) which is not respectable although of a brahmin caste or of sacrificial priests 2) that has too short a known history although belonging to a high class, that is outside the caste-frame (or outcaste), 3) one in which a person is lacking in a limb or has an extra limb (finger etc.), 4) one with a history of indigestion, white leprosy or leprosy, 5) one that is licentious, 6) one having thick, long or excessive hair on skin, 7) one with a history of epilepsy or jaundice, 8) one of thieves, slanderers (or wicked), impotent or non-believers 9) one in which people follow unlawful occupations, 10) one in which there are people of deformed or unnatural appearance, 11) one in which people have developed enmity with the mighty, 12) that in which being in regal power people have committed evil deeds, 13) that in which people are used to snatch away brahmins’ property, that in which there are ignoble or despicable people, 14) that in which there is no progeny or has only female progeny and that in which there are women known to have been responsible for husband’s death or in which they lead an unrestrained life. Such families must be particularly shunned for matrimony’.
The Mahabharata- On being asked by Yudhishthira, ‘Tell me O grandfather, about that root cause of all piety, progeny, home, ancestors, divinities, and guests’, Bhishma replies, ‘Noble men should offer daughter to an eligible bridegroom after ascertaining his character and conduct, occupation, learning, origin and deeds of the past’.
Yajnyavalkya- ‘A bride should be chosen from a noble family of Vedic scholars renowned for the past ten generations’.
Manu: ‘Alliances should always be effected with the higher and higher ones shunning the inferior and lowly if one desires excellence for the family. Connections through marriages should always be formed with those purified through performing pious deeds prescribed by scriptures and Smritis, those who have not deviated from the vow of chastity, who hail from or connected with noble families, who are highly positioned, who are contented, well-wishers of the good, are of saintly nature, with unbiased mind, free of greed, attachment, hatred, anger, infatuation etc.; calm, and kindly disposed’.
Gautama: ‘A daughter should be given in marriage to a bridegroom endowed with learning, good character and conduct and nobly connected’.
Apastamba: ‘The wealth of a bridegroom consists of his relatives, good conduct, attributes, learning and health’.
Ashvalayana: ‘Offer the hand of the daughter to him who is intelligent’.
Yama: ‘The wise should marry their daughter after taking into consideration the family, character, healthy body, age, learning, financial status and the loving elders of the groom ignoring all the rest’.
Attributes of the Bride
Ashvalayanacharya: ‘One should take a girl as his wife if she is endowed with intelligence, good looks, character, qualities and health’.
Yajnyavalkya: ‘A brahmin should marry a girl who is healthy, has a brother, is young does not belong to the same family group or clan as his own’.
Manu: ‘A girl who does not belong to the same group of families to which his father belongs is recommended for marriage for brahmin boys. One should not marry a girl with red tresses or one who has an extra limb (like six fingers or toes) or one who has any disease or one who is devoid of hair on skin or who has excessive hair on the skin, or who is talkative or who has a reddish brown complexion or who is named after a star, tree or river, or whose name ends with the name of a mountain, or who is named after a bird, snake or servant, or whose name has the meaning of ‘being frightening’. One should marry a girl whose name is pleasant to hear, whose gait resembles a swan or an elephant, whose hair on skin are slender, whose teeth are small, and whose body is smooth. One should not marry a girl who does not have a brother or whose father is not known. A wise man should suspect her to be a girl appointed by the father to raise male issue to be adopted by him later as he has no male progeny and should never marry such a girl’.
Apastamba: ‘One should avoid marrying a girl who is offered to someone else or who has withdrawn from her lover’s endearments or who is squinting or red-eyed or who has masculine peculiarities or who has withered limbs or whose body is stooping or who has a hideous or distorted shape or who has a shaven head or is mandushika or who has applied fire to her father or other person’s house or is raataa or is bearded or is mitraa or has a beautiful younger sister or is varshakaari or is named after a star, river or tree or has the letter ‘ra’ or ‘la’ as a penultimate letter of her name’.
Gautama: ‘A householder should get for himself a suitable wife who is young and never belonged to another man (virgin)’.
Visnu: ‘A wise man should not marry a girl with the mark of a beard or having a masculine appearance or with a harsh voice or with a shrill tone or with precisely round eyes or who is vrittakshi or whose shanks are hairy or whose ankles are prominent or who has dimples on her cheek when she laughs or has a very stern appearance or pale nails or red eyes. An intelligent shrewd man should not marry a girl with muscular hands and feet or one who is too short or too tall or one who has eyebrows joined to each other or whose teeth have too many slits in between or who has a fierce face’.
Viswamitra requested Janaka to offer in marriage the other two daughters of Kushadhvaja who were suitably matched to Bharata and Shatrughna.
The constellation favourable to marriage 1.72.12, 13
Bodhayana: ‘Rohini, Mrigashirsha, Uttaraphalguni and Swati are constellations suitable for marriages’. ‘ Magha, Mrigashira, Hasta, Swati, Mula, Anuradha, Rewati, Rohini as also the three constellations prefixed with the word ‘uttara’ (Uttarashadha, Uttarabhadrapada and Uttaraphalguni) are good for marriages, invitations, learning new subjects, sowing all kinds of seeds and for entering a new house or a village’
This suggests that a ceremony (shraddha) in honour of the forefathers should be performed prior to auspicious celebrations.
Nandishraddha: 1.72.21
Vishnupurana: When a son is born a jatakarman [one of the sixteen purificatory rites consisting of touching the tongue of the newly born with ghee with recitation of mantras] has to be performed. The father (of the child) should take ritual bath and after performing the shraddha [a ceremony in honour of some dead ancestors consisting of offering rice / meals to them with mantras, performed on all occasions of happy celebrations in the family] in the morning should do the jatakarman. This shraddha should be performed on the occasion of marriages of sons and daughters entering a new house or the ceremony of simantonnayana (yet another one of the the sixteen purificatory rites of Hindus. Literally meaning parting of hair),
Ashvalayana, on offering of cows as gift (godana): ‘Godana, a ceremony performed by youth of 16 or 18 years (when one attains puberty and shortly before marriage)’.
Khadiragrihya: ‘On the occasion of godana the ceremony should be performed like chaula (the tonsure ceremony). A pair (male and female) of cattle, horses, or goats is prescribed as the gift for the brahmin (who performs the ceremony).
Matrimonial Alliances: 1.72.3
After Janaka completed the account of his ancestors Viswamitra praised the ineage of both the families. These words of Viswamitra clearly suggest that marriage should be settled between those who are suitable in age and appearance to each other after investigating first, the family history:
Ashvalayanacharya: ‘Family ancestry on the side of both the parents must be first taken into consideration as is stated in Dashapeya’.
Dashapeya: ‘If the previous ten generations of both the father and the mother are equal in learning, piety, meritorious deeds etc. the families are mutually suitable for marriage agreement. According to some, the generations on the father’s side only are to be taken into account’.
Manu: ‘a family may be well-known and prosperous in respect of cows, goats, sheep, wealth and farm-produce. However when marriage is contemplated, the following families must be shunned- A family, that does not observe the prescribed rites, a family where there is no male issue, where there is no tradition of Vedic recitations, where the girl has long hair on skin, in which there is a history of disease, in which there is indigestion, tuberculosis, epilepsy, white leprosy, and leprosy’.
Yama: These fourteen families must be regarded as unfit for matrimonial alliances. They are 1) which is not respectable although of a brahmin caste or of sacrificial priests 2) that has too short a known history although belonging to a high class, that is outside the caste-frame (or outcaste), 3) one in which a person is lacking in a limb or has an extra limb (finger etc.), 4) one with a history of indigestion, white leprosy or leprosy, 5) one that is licentious, 6) one having thick, long or excessive hair on skin, 7) one with a history of epilepsy or jaundice, 8) one of thieves, slanderers (or wicked), impotent or non-believers 9) one in which people follow unlawful occupations, 10) one in which there are people of deformed or unnatural appearance, 11) one in which people have developed enmity with the mighty, 12) that in which being in regal power people have committed evil deeds, 13) that in which people are used to snatch away brahmins’ property, that in which there are ignoble or despicable people, 14) that in which there is no progeny or has only female progeny and that in which there are women known to have been responsible for husband’s death or in which they lead an unrestrained life. Such families must be particularly shunned for matrimony’.
The Mahabharata- On being asked by Yudhishthira, ‘Tell me O grandfather, about that root cause of all piety, progeny, home, ancestors, divinities, and guests’, Bhishma replies, ‘Noble men should offer daughter to an eligible bridegroom after ascertaining his character and conduct, occupation, learning, origin and deeds of the past’.
Yajnyavalkya- ‘A bride should be chosen from a noble family of Vedic scholars renowned for the past ten generations’.
Manu: ‘Alliances should always be effected with the higher and higher ones shunning the inferior and lowly if one desires excellence for the family. Connections through marriages should always be formed with those purified through performing pious deeds prescribed by scriptures and Smritis, those who have not deviated from the vow of chastity, who hail from or connected with noble families, who are highly positioned, who are contented, well-wishers of the good, are of saintly nature, with unbiased mind, free of greed, attachment, hatred, anger, infatuation etc.; calm, and kindly disposed’.
Gautama: ‘A daughter should be given in marriage to a bridegroom endowed with learning, good character and conduct and nobly connected’.
Apastamba: ‘The wealth of a bridegroom consists of his relatives, good conduct, attributes, learning and health’.
Ashvalayana: ‘Offer the hand of the daughter to him who is intelligent’.
Yama: ‘The wise should marry their daughter after taking into consideration the family, character, healthy body, age, learning, financial status and the loving elders of the groom ignoring all the rest’.
Attributes of the Bride
Ashvalayanacharya: ‘One should take a girl as his wife if she is endowed with intelligence, good looks, character, qualities and health’.
Yajnyavalkya: ‘A brahmin should marry a girl who is healthy, has a brother, is young does not belong to the same family group or clan as his own’.
Manu: ‘A girl who does not belong to the same group of families to which his father belongs is recommended for marriage for brahmin boys. One should not marry a girl with red tresses or one who has an extra limb (like six fingers or toes) or one who has any disease or one who is devoid of hair on skin or who has excessive hair on the skin, or who is talkative or who has a reddish brown complexion or who is named after a star, tree or river, or whose name ends with the name of a mountain, or who is named after a bird, snake or servant, or whose name has the meaning of ‘being frightening’. One should marry a girl whose name is pleasant to hear, whose gait resembles a swan or an elephant, whose hair on skin are slender, whose teeth are small, and whose body is smooth. One should not marry a girl who does not have a brother or whose father is not known. A wise man should suspect her to be a girl appointed by the father to raise male issue to be adopted by him later as he has no male progeny and should never marry such a girl’.
Apastamba: ‘One should avoid marrying a girl who is offered to someone else or who has withdrawn from her lover’s endearments or who is squinting or red-eyed or who has masculine peculiarities or who has withered limbs or whose body is stooping or who has a hideous or distorted shape or who has a shaven head or is mandushika or who has applied fire to her father or other person’s house or is raataa or is bearded or is mitraa or has a beautiful younger sister or is varshakaari or is named after a star, river or tree or has the letter ‘ra’ or ‘la’ as a penultimate letter of her name’.
Gautama: ‘A householder should get for himself a suitable wife who is young and never belonged to another man (virgin)’.
Visnu: ‘A wise man should not marry a girl with the mark of a beard or having a masculine appearance or with a harsh voice or with a shrill tone or with precisely round eyes or who is vrittakshi or whose shanks are hairy or whose ankles are prominent or who has dimples on her cheek when she laughs or has a very stern appearance or pale nails or red eyes. An intelligent shrewd man should not marry a girl with muscular hands and feet or one who is too short or too tall or one who has eyebrows joined to each other or whose teeth have too many slits in between or who has a fierce face’.
Viswamitra requested Janaka to offer in marriage the other two daughters of Kushadhvaja who were suitably matched to Bharata and Shatrughna.
The constellation favourable to marriage 1.72.12, 13
Bodhayana: ‘Rohini, Mrigashirsha, Uttaraphalguni and Swati are constellations suitable for marriages’. ‘ Magha, Mrigashira, Hasta, Swati, Mula, Anuradha, Rewati, Rohini as also the three constellations prefixed with the word ‘uttara’ (Uttarashadha, Uttarabhadrapada and Uttaraphalguni) are good for marriages, invitations, learning new subjects, sowing all kinds of seeds and for entering a new house or a village’
This suggests that a ceremony (shraddha) in honour of the forefathers should be performed prior to auspicious celebrations.
Nandishraddha: 1.72.21
Vishnupurana: When a son is born a jatakarman [one of the sixteen purificatory rites consisting of touching the tongue of the newly born with ghee with recitation of mantras] has to be performed. The father (of the child) should take ritual bath and after performing the shraddha [a ceremony in honour of some dead ancestors consisting of offering rice / meals to them with mantras, performed on all occasions of happy celebrations in the family] in the morning should do the jatakarman. This shraddha should be performed on the occasion of marriages of sons and daughters entering a new house or the ceremony of simantonnayana (yet another one of the the sixteen purificatory rites of Hindus. Literally meaning parting of hair),
Ashvalayana, on offering of cows as gift (godana): ‘Godana, a ceremony performed by youth of 16 or 18 years (when one attains puberty and shortly before marriage)’.
Khadiragrihya: ‘On the occasion of godana the ceremony should be performed like chaula (the tonsure ceremony). A pair (male and female) of cattle, horses, or goats is prescribed as the gift for the brahmin (who performs the ceremony).