Hindu Marriage- Whether a sacrament or contract?

In Tikait Munmohinti v. Basant Kumar (1901), it was observed that in Hindu law, marriage was
sacrament and an indissoluble union of flesh with flesh and bone with bone to be continued in
the next world. According to the Hindu texts, a man cannot be said to have material existence or
to be complete until and unless he took a wife. According to the Shastras, a man is the only half
of his self not fully born until he takes a wife. That is why Manu declares, "The person known as
the husband is verily known as the wife"
Marriage which involves the tranfer of dominion over the damsel from the father to the
husband, has always been the foundation of peace and order in any civilized society. Amongst
the Hindus, the institution of marriage has always been a settled one with religious characters
associated with it even during the Vedic period. In the case of Gopal Kishan v. Mithilesh Kumari
(1979), the Allahabad High Court observed that,
• The institution of matrimony under the Hindu law is a sacrament and not a socio-legal
contract.
• The marriage is not performed just for emotional gratification and is not a mere betrothal.
• It is regarded to have religious values and it is a part of the life of the soul.
• Marriage is the process by which the husband and the wife become one and it is
corresponding to consortium omntum vitoe. The bride in the seventh step of the saptapadi,
loses her original Gotra and acquires the Gotra of the bridegroom. The kinship is created and
not mere friendship for pleasure in marriage.
• Thus, A Hindu marriage performed through any modes namely, Brahma, Prajapatya, Arsha
and Daiva is regarded as indissoluble.
In ancient Rome, marriage was an association of life and productive of full partnership both
in human and divine rights and duties. The wife was not merely a husband's helpmate in all
worldly affairs but she assisted him in the performance of religious duties, regular sacrifices and
helped him get to heaven. A legitimate wife is called as dharmapatni meaning, a wife married for
the fulfillment of the sacred law. English writer Grady describes the le of marriage as "the great
point to which all Hindu Law converges." It can certainly be said that marriage was one decisive
event in the life of a Hindu woman. No other of the Hindu sanskaras or sacraments can be
performed for a woman, but the performance of this sanskara for her was obligatory. The
purposes of marriage were to perform religious rites and sacrifices and to procreate children
who would extend spiritual benefits to their deceased ancestors by offering funeral rites and to
carry on the lineage and name of their forefathers. By giving birth to a male child through a
legally wedded wife, every Hindu discharged of the debt to his father which is technically know
as "Pitririn"
The importance of marriage is evident from the pronouncement of the High Courts of Madras
which states that marriage is the last of ten sacraments of the Hindu religion purifying the body
from inherited taint. It was a religious necessity, rather than mere physical luxury for a Hindu, to
marry and to have a son, who alone can save him from a place of torment, the 'Narak' or the hell
after his death.
In Shivanandy v. Bhagawanthymma, 1962, the Court observed that marriage is binding for
life because the marriage rite completed by saptapadi before the consecrated fire creates a
religious tie and a religious tie when one created cannot be untied. It is not mere contract in
which a consenting mind is indispensable.
In the Vedic period, the sacredness of the marriage was emphasised on repeatedly. The wife
on her marriage was given an honoured position in the house at once. She exercised authority
over her husband's brothers and his unmarried sisters. She was of prime importance in all the
religious offerings and rituals that were to be performed with her husband. The old writers have
emphasized time and again that the wife completes her husband. Manu asked men to honour
and respect women by saying that women have to be adorned and honoured by their father's,
brothers, husband's and brothers-in-law if they desire their own welfare. Where the women are
honoured, the gods are pleased but where the women are not, no sacred rite yields rewards.
Disputes between husband and wife were not allowed to be litigated either in the customary
tribunals or in the King's Courts. It is said that the husband receives his wife from the gods, he
must always support her while she's faithful.
Marriage as defined by Raghunandan means the acceptance by the bridegroom of the bride,
constituting his wife. The bride is but, in one sense, real party to the marriage which is a
transaction between the bridegroom and her guardian in which she is subject of the gift. The
expression "bride's marriage" is said to be a figurative one. The Hindu Law vests the girl
absolutely in her parents or guardians by whom the contract of her marriage is made and the
consent or non-consent is not taken into consideration at all. But it should not be like the Hindu
bride is mere a chattel to be given away by the father or taken as such by the bridegroom. The
giving of the girl as a gift to a suitable person is a sacred duty of the father, after performing
which the father gets great spiritual benefit. According to Apastamba "Panigrahana" enables the
male and female to unite in religious ceremonies and to attain the spiritual merits. Marriage,
therefore, is the basis of social and religious organisation and foundation of important legal
rights and obligations.
Under old Hindu Law, marriage was regarded as a sacrament. Therefore at the time of
marriage, performance of religious ceremonies were necessary and marriage was regarded to
be an eternal union.