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8 Traditional forms of Hindu

Marriage in India
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From the days of Grihas Sutra, Dharma Sutra and Smritis the forms of
marriage are said to be eight. But according to historical point of view
there were more prevalent forms than eight. It is believed that the
other forms of marriage, apart from the eight forms of marriage as
ordained by the sastrakaras, were based on custom and convenience of
18 people. N. C. Sengupta believes that inferior forms of marriage
might have been adopted in the Aryan society form non-Aryan sources.
However, the smriti recognized eight modes of obtaining a maiden as
one’s wife and these have come to be known in Hindu law as the eight
forms of marriage.

Manu, the great Hindu law giver, has mentioned eight forms of Hindu
marriage, viz, Brahma, Daiva, Arsa, Prajapatya, Asura, Gandharva.

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 Rakksash and Paisacha. Prior to the enactment of Hindu Marriage Act,
there were eight forms of marriage, four approved and four
unapproved. This was owing to the large extent over which the Hindu
society was spread and the dissimilar elements of which it was
composed.

Manu’s description of the eight forms of marriage is given

below:

(1) Brahma form of marriage:

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Brahma form of marriage is said to be the best and mostly practiced

throughout India. It is considered an advanced stage of social progress.
Manu, the Hindu law-giver, laid so much importance on this form of
marriage that he placed it even above divine marriage. Manu described
this Brahma form of marriage as “the gift of a maiden spontaneously
after clothing and reverencing her, to one learned in the Vedas and of
good character,”

Thus the “gift of the daughter, clothed and decked, to a man learned in
the Vedas, whom her father voluntarily invites and respectfully
receives, is the nuptial rite called “Brahma” C.D. Banerjee is of the view

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 that this form of marriage was called so because it was fit for the
Brahmans. But in the Mahabharata it is also found that the Kshatriyas
practiced the Brahma form of marriage.

The Hindu Sastrakaras have considered it the highest, purest and most
evolved method of marriage as it was free from physical force, carnal
appetite, imposition of conditions and money. In the Brahma form of
marriage social descency was fully maintained and the religious rites
were fully observed. It also implies an advanced stage of social progress
as the form appears to have been intended as a reward for learning in
the Hindu scriptures and thought to be an impelling force for the study
of the Vedas. The Brahma form of marriage resembles the
“Confarreation.” marriage practiced in Rome Manu and Yajnavalkya
held that the son born of a Brahma marriage redeems form sin, ten
ancestors, ten descendants and himself.

(2) Daiva form of Marriage:

The Daiva form of marriage was slightly different from the Brahma
form of marriage in the sense that the suitor was an official priest.
Special qualities like good character, scholarship in the Vedas or good
family background of the bridegroom were not emphasized in
selection. “The rite which sages call ‘Daiva’ is the gift of a daughter
whom her father has decked in gay attire when the sacrifice is already
begin, to the officiating priest, who performs the act of religion. The
Daiva form of marriage was described by Manu as “the gift of a
daughter, after having adorned her, to a sacrificial present rightly
doing his work in a sacrifice begun.”

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Manu and Jajnavalkya hold the view that the son born of such a

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 marriage is said to redeem from sin seven parental ascendants and
seven male descendants and himself. This from of marriage is
exclusively for the Brahmins, because the Brahmins can only officiate
in the sacrifices, as priests. But this form of marriage was rated lower
than the Brahma form of marriage because here the father or other
guardians of the bride took into account the services of the
bridegroom. On the contrary, in the Brahma form of marriage, the
bride figured as an object of ‘dana’ or gift by her father or guardian to
the bridegroom.

(3) Arsha form of Marriage:

“When the father gives his daughter away after having received from
the bridegroom one pair of kine, or two pairs for uses prescribed by
law, that marriage is termed Arsha”. This form of marriage is called
Arsha because it was current mostly in the priestly families as its very
name suggests. In this form of marriage, the pair of kine, or two pairs,
constitute the price of the bride. Sir Gooroodas Banerjee holds the view
that” it means the ceremony of the Rishis and is perhaps indicative of
the pastoral state of Hindu society, when the free gift of daughters in
marriage was not common and cattle formed the pecuniary
consideration for the gift.” The epics and Puranas contain many
examples of this form of marriage, one such being the marriage of sage
Agastya with Lopamudra.

The number of persons redeemed by the male offspring of such

marriage is only six (three male descendants and three female
ascendants), Nevertheless, the importance of this form of marriage has
been highlighted in the Visnu Purana and the Matsya Purana. It is said
in the Visnu Purana that the person who gives a maiden in this form of
marriage earns the competence of reaching the region of Vishnu in
heaven.

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 Briefly speaking, this Arsha form of marriage symbolizes the pastoral
stage of the Hindu society where cattle were considered indispensable.
This form of marriage was also peculiar to the Brahmins. However, the
Arsha form of marriage could not be practised in the later period due
to the decline of sacrifices and conception that marriage is a pure gift
by the father is an offence to the religious sentiment of the Hindus.

(4) Prajapatya form Marriage:

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In this form of marriage, the father gives away his daughter with due
honour saying, distinctly: “May both of you perform together your civil
and religious duties “You two be the partners for performing religious
and secular duties. The very name Prajapatya indicates that the pair
enters the solemn bond for repayment of debts or rinas to Prajapati for
procreation and upbringing of children. The basic condition in this
form of marriage is that the bridegroom is to treat the bride as a
partner for secular and religious purposes and the proposal comes
from the bridegroom who is a suitor for the damsel.

The Prajapatya form of marriage is an orthodox form where the

parental approval figures and the economic complications of betrothal
are bypassed. The prajapatya form of marriage is construed to be
inferior to the first three forms because here the gift is not free but it
loses its dignity due to conditions which should not have been imposed
according to the religious concept of a gift. This form of marriage may
have fallen into disuse due to the practice of child marriage. This form
of marriage was also peculiar to the Brahmans only.

(5) Asura form of Marriage:

In the Asura form of marriage, the bride was given to the husband in

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 payment of a consideration called ‘sulka” or bride-price. When the
bridegroom, having given its much wealth as he can afford to the father
or paternal kinsmen and to the damsel herself, takes her voluntarily as
his bride ‘ it Is called the Asura Marriage.

The Ramayana mentions that a fabulous amount of bride price was

given to the guardian of Kaikeyi for her marriage with king Dasaratha.
The Mahabharata also contains descriptions regarding purchase of a
maiden through the offer of a great amount of wealth as an act of
allurement for the kinsmen of the bride. Iravati Karve writes that
Madri was obtained by King Pandu by means of a lavish amount of
money, paid to the king of Madra.

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The Asura form of marriage was prevalent in ancient India when the
bride had a value or she was construed to be an article of merchandise.
He who wished to procure her had to pay for her. Thus this form of
marriage is based on an agreement between two families as a
commercial transaction.

It was called the Asura form of marriage, as being the ceremony of the
Asuras, or the aboriginal non-Aryan tribes of India. But a marriage was
not construed as ‘asura’ form of marriage by the mere fact of the
bridegroom giving the bride or her father a present as a token of
complement.

(6) Gandharva form of marriage:

The Gandharva form of marriage is the union of a man and a woman

by mutual consent. According to Manu “The voluntary connection of a
maiden and a man is to be known as a Gandharva union which arises
from lust”. Thus “the reciprocal connection of a youth and a damsel

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 with mutual desire is the marriage denominated “Gandharva”,
contractual for the purpose of amorous embraces and proceeding from
sensual inclination.” “To some extent this form of marriage appears to
be like “Gretna Green” marriages.” “Gretna Green” marriages are the
run-away marriages by persons governed by the English Law at
“Gretna Green” or elsewhere in Scotland to evade the provision of that
law against ill-advised and clandestine marriages.

It is believed that this form of marriage is called ‘Gandtarva’ because of

its wide practice by the tribe called ‘Gandharva’ living on the slopes of
the Himalayas. However, Manu and Narada prescribed this form of
marriage to all the caste groups. The Mahabharata contains several
instances of this Gandharva form of marriage. King ‘Dusyanta’ induced
‘Sakuntala’ to accept him in the Gandharva form of marriage. Even the
‘Swayamvara’ marriages as found in the epics and puranas may be
conceived as the Gandharva form of marriage.

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The Gandharva marriage somewhat resembles the ‘Usus’ form of

marriage in Roman Law. Though the Gandharva form of marriage was
prevalent in the ancient Hindu social system, the frequency of
solemnization of such marriage was very low on account of a couple of
reasons. First, the individual taste was not given any emphasis in the
Hindu ideology and this did not result in love and mutual consent.

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 Moreover, love, emotion or mutual consent were discouraged by the
Hindu society. Secondly, in the ancient days, romantic attachment
between partners could not develop due to the rare possibility of
physical proximity. However, the ancient Hindu Juridical literature
empowered a maiden to select a husband of her own caste, provided
that she was not given in marriage by her father or guardians within
three months or three years of the attainment of puberty.

A minor girl is incompetent to contract this ‘Gandharava’ form of

marriage as she is incapable of giving her consent. This form of
marriage indicates that the parties must be adults so that they will be
capable of sexual enjoyment. This form of marriage was prevalent
among the Rajbanshis and in Manipur.

Gradually this form of marriage declined due to the child- marriage

practice in the Hindu society. But later on, along with the introduction
of post-puberty marriage, it has been practiced in the name of love
marriage.

(7) Rakshasa form of marriage:

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In simple terms the ‘Rakshasa’ form of marriage may be described as

marriage by capture, resembling the right of a victor to the person of
the captive in war. Manu holds, “The seizure of a maiden by force from
her house while she weeps and calls for assistance, after her kinsmen

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 and friends have been slain in battle or wounded, and their houses
broken open, is the marriage styled Rakshasa” According to P.V. Kane,
this form of marriage is called Rakshasa because ‘Rakshasas (demons)
are known from the legends to have been addicted to cruelty and
forceful method.

Traditionally, this form was allowed to the Kshatriyas or military

classes. The Gonds of Berar and Betul also practiced this form of
marriage. The Gonds also practiced the marriage by capture in the
name of ‘posisthur’. About Rakshasa form of marriage, says
Westermarck among no people it is known to have been usual or
normal mode of conducting a marriage. It is chiefly found either as an
incident of war or as a method of procuring a wife when it is difficult or
inconvenient to get one in the ordinary manner.” In the modern Indian
society this Rakshasa form of marriage has been banned, and its
practice is a punishable offence vide section 366 of IPC.

(8) ‘Paishacha’ form of marriage:

It is the worst form of marriage among the Hindus. When the lover
secretly embraces the damsel, either sleeping of flushed with strong
liqueur, or disordered in her intellect, that sinful marriage, called
paishacha is the eighth and the lowest form. This form of marriage was
the most abominable and reprehensible, originating from a sort of rape
committed by man upon a damsel either when asleep or when made
drunk by administering intoxicating drug. P.V. Kane thinks that this
marriage is called paishacha because in it there is action like that of
pisachas (goblins) that are supposed to act stealthily at night
Vatsyayan’s ‘Kamasutra’ places the paisacha form of marriage as the
seventh, before the Rakshasa and thus considers it better than the
Rakshasa form of marriage. According to Sir G.D. Banerjee the
paishacha form of marriage has been enumerated as a form of

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 marriage only out of regard for the honour of the unfortunate damsel.

The difference between the ‘Paishacha’ and the ‘Rakshasa’ forms of

marriage lies in the fact that whereas in the latter there is the scope of
display of bravery and force at the same time, in the former the maiden
is taken by deception and fraud. Therefore, Sternabach considers the
‘Paishacha’ form of marriage as a part or a special branch of the
‘Rakshasa’ vivaha. However, in the modern socio-cultural matrix, this
form of marriage is a punishable offence under the I.P.C. as rape as the
principle of law holds that a culprit should not be allowed to be
benefited for any wrong-doings caused by him.

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Out of the eight forms of Hindu marriage, the first four, i.e. ‘Brahma’,
‘Daiva’, ‘Arsha’ and ‘Prajapatya’ were the approved forms of marriage
and the last four, such as, ‘Asura’, ‘Gandharva’, ‘Rakshasa’ and
‘Paisacha’ were unapproved forms of marriage. In the first four forms
of marriage, the dominion of the father or guardian over the maiden is
fully recognised. The dominion of the father is completely undermined
in the ‘Gandharva’, ‘Paishacha’ and ‘Rakshasa’ forms of marriage.

In the present Indian scenario, considering from the socio-legal point

of view, three forms of Hindu marriage appear to be existent. These are
the Brahma, Asura and Gandharva forms of marriage. The higher caste
Hindus solemnize the Brahma form of marriage in the most cultured

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 form. The Asura form of marriage is commonly practised among the
lower castes and the Gandharva marriage is gaining momentum
among the modern youths in the form of love marriage.

Related Articles:
1. Traditional Forms of Hindu Marriage in India
2. Top 8 Traditional forms of Hindu Marriage

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