DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6523#0074
" To the statement that premature marriage is in
vogue among Hindus because the Shastras enjoin it,
no great attention need be paid." And he does put
forward one argument that is worth attending to,
that as a rule it is rather the custom that makes the
writing, than the writing that makes the custom. I
think that there is something in that, although not
quite so far as he pushes it. What I am more con-
cerned with are the reasons that he gives for the
prevalence of early marriage and the amount of sup-
port it gains from the Smrtis. " Whatever may or
may not be the present degeneration, there can be
little doubt that the Aryan forbear of the present day
Brahmin stood for a civilisation and morality infinitely
higher than that of the JDravidian hordes, with which,
even as a leader, he had to associate himself "—and
that is a point that must not be forgotten, whether
you are dealing with marriage, or whether you are
dealing with the caste system. In the early days
the Aryans were a small minority, and to keep
their blood pure, to save themselves from being
lost in the hordes of the aborigines, various lines
of action were necessarily adopted. But then he
goes on to say: " The premature marryings of the
early Aryan we may then ascribe to two influences.
First to his desire to safeguard the purity of his race
and morality of his daughter, by securing for her
a husband within her own community at the earliest
possible moment; secondly, to an imitation, albeit one
vogue among Hindus because the Shastras enjoin it,
no great attention need be paid." And he does put
forward one argument that is worth attending to,
that as a rule it is rather the custom that makes the
writing, than the writing that makes the custom. I
think that there is something in that, although not
quite so far as he pushes it. What I am more con-
cerned with are the reasons that he gives for the
prevalence of early marriage and the amount of sup-
port it gains from the Smrtis. " Whatever may or
may not be the present degeneration, there can be
little doubt that the Aryan forbear of the present day
Brahmin stood for a civilisation and morality infinitely
higher than that of the JDravidian hordes, with which,
even as a leader, he had to associate himself "—and
that is a point that must not be forgotten, whether
you are dealing with marriage, or whether you are
dealing with the caste system. In the early days
the Aryans were a small minority, and to keep
their blood pure, to save themselves from being
lost in the hordes of the aborigines, various lines
of action were necessarily adopted. But then he
goes on to say: " The premature marryings of the
early Aryan we may then ascribe to two influences.
First to his desire to safeguard the purity of his race
and morality of his daughter, by securing for her
a husband within her own community at the earliest
possible moment; secondly, to an imitation, albeit one