Types of Marriage in Ancient India

The Indian subcontinent has been home to a wide variety of marriages. Over the
time, from historical Vedic religion to classical orthodox Hinduism and
eventually era of social reform and female emancipation, marriage has changed
and evolved in interesting ways. Some of the ancient marriage types are still
prevalent, while other types have vanished or have got modernised with the
strong winds of industrialisation, urbanisation and globalisation witnessed by
India.

Ancient forms of marriage: According to Arthashastra and Manu Smiriti, the

laws of Manu or Manava Dharma Shastra, there existed eight main forms of
Hindu marriages in ancient India namely Brahma Vivah, Daiva Vivah, Arsha
Vivah, Prajapatya Vivah, Gandharva Vivah, Asura Vivah, Rakshasa Vivah and
Pisaka Vivah. Although not all eight marriages had religious sanction, it is said
that in the ancient time, all these forms of marriages were observed among
many communities of the people. Out of these eight different forms of marriage
only first four were approved and encouraged in the society. The specific
characteristics of these eight different forms of Hindu marriages are as follows:

1. Brahma Marriage: In this type of marriage, the girl’s father

himself invited a Veda learned and pious man and gave him his
highly dressed and bejeweled daughter in the marriage solemnized
by a Brahmin.
2. Daiva Marriage: In this type of marriage, the girl’s father gifted
her properly dressed and bejeweled daughter to a priest as dakshina
(fees) for officiating over a sacrifice.
3. Arsha Marriage: Marriage in which the girl’s father gave away
his daughter, according to the rule, in exchange of a pair of cattle
or two cows given by the bridegroom, for the fulfillment of the
sacred law.
4. Prajapatya Marriage: Marriage in which the bridegroom was
duly worshipped and married to the bride by her father with due
honor and words of blessings "May both of you perform together
your duties". Besides this, no marriage ceremonies were
performed.
5. Asuras Marriage: Marriage in which the bridegroom received a
maiden, after bestowing as much wealth as he can afford, to the
kinsmen and to the bride herself, according to his own will.
6. Gandharva Marriage:Marriage in which there is voluntary union
of a girl with a man in solitude when both of them were in love. In
this form of marriage, neither the consent of the parents nor the
rites of dowry was essential. Only the will of the marrying parties
 was given importance. This marriage was believed to spring from
desire and had sex satisfaction as its chief purpose.
7. Rakshasa Marriage: It was marriage by capture or abduction that
is without obtaining the consent of the girl or her parents. The
maiden was captured or abducted from her home after her kinsmen
have been slain or wounded and their houses broken open.
8. Pisaka Marriage: It was marriage by seduction, stealing or fraud.
The girl was sexually violated while she was asleep or intoxicated
or unconscious or mentally disturbed and later given her the social
status of a wife.

Conjugal forms
While most Hindus of the Indian subcontinent predominantly practise
monogamy today, polygamous marriages have also characterised Hindu society
for millennia.
Polygyny
Polygyny refers to a form of marriage where a man is married to more than one
woman during the same period of time. While polygyny was never the norm of
mainstream Hindu society, having more than one wife was a social custom that
was believed to increase the prestige of a man. Members of royalty and
aristocracy were often polygynous, and they were among the few who could
afford to support more than one wife in their households. Polygyny was
sanctioned by the Manusmriti among members of the dvija (twice-born) varnas:
Brahmins were allowed to have up to four wives, Kshatriyas could have three
wives, and the Vaishyas could have two wives; the Shudras, however, were
permitted to have only one wife. The Apastamba Dharmasutra allows a man to
take a new wife after ten years if his present wife was judged to be barren, and
could marry after thirteen or fourteen years if his wife only produced daughters,
and he desired a son. Until the passage of the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955,
every Hindu in India was theoretically allowed to have multiple wives.
Polyandry
Polyandry refers to a marriage where a woman is married to more than one man
during the same period of time. This form of marriage was exceedingly rare
among Hindu society in Indian history, and the Mahabharata's polyandrous
marriage of Draupadi to the five Pandava brothers is the most cited example of
this custom. The Mahabharata, however, does state that it is a great adharma for
a woman to have multiple husbands. The Aitareya Brahmana prohibits a woman
from having two husbands. The practice of polyandry has historically existed
among the Nair community of Kerala, called Sambandam, though its practice is
very rare in the modern period. The Todas of the Nilgiris,
the Khasa of Dehradun, and a few communities of northern India are also cited
to have been polyandrous. Polyandry is viewed with contempt in India today, a
practice little removed from promiscuity on the part of a woman.
Monogamy
Monogamy refers to a marriage where a man is married to only one woman
during a given period of time. Ever since the Vedic period, monogamy has been
the dominant form of conjugal relationship and form of marriage in India.
Monogamy is counselled to men by Vatsyayana, a philosopher and an authority
of the Kama Sutra, with the belief that a man is only capable of physically,
psychologically, and spiritually pleasing one woman at a time. Hindu texts that
permit bigamy and polygyny recommend the monogamous marriage as the most
appropriate form of the concept. It is exemplified in Hindu texts such
as Ramayana, where Rama is believed to have taken the ekapatnivrata, literally
meaning the, 'vow of one wife', the act of fidelity to one wife, Sita, and
forbidding himself from engaging in sexual relations with other women.