DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49827#0086
HINDU FAMILY SYSTEM.
71
hand. It is not my intention to expatiate on this theme. Lectube
Thanks to the researches of Sir H. Maine and others, the IV-
common possession by the Aryan nations of a number of T[ e Q
ancient customs and legal rules has become a truism. Thetalist’s
task of the Orientalist lies in a different direction. His is task-
the historical, and not the comparative method of study.
Let Comparative Jurisprudence trace the remote beginnings
of the modern institutions of India. It remains for the
Historian and Orientalist to investigate the series of gradual
changes which have transformed the earliest recorded laws
into the rules prevalent in the present day, and to examine
the vast detail of the legal history of India.
The general principles of the early Indian family law mAy Division
be classed under three heads : 1, marriage laws and the legal of,t.het
position of women; 2, the relations between male relatives
in the ascending and descending lines; 3, the rights and
duties of male collateral relatives.
Marriage, according to the old Sanskrit law-books, is not Religious
a mere social contract, but a strictly religious institution,^™0^01
to which the famous definition of marriage in Roman Law m India,
is fully applicable. It is, indeed, as in ancient Rome, an
association for life, and productive of a full partnership,
both in human and divine rights and duties.1 Thus it is
stated by Apastamba (II. 10, 27, 1) that the connection (of
husband and wife), takes place through the law. The wife
is not merely her husband’s helpmate in all worldly affairs,
but she assists him in the performance of the regular
sacrifices, and helps him to gain heaven. A legitimate
wife is therefore called Dharmapatni, i.e., as the Commen-
tators explain, Dharmartham patni,—a wife married for the
fulfilment of the Sacred Law. An English writer (Grady)
designs the Law of Marriage as “ the great point to which
all Hindu Law converges.” It is certainly not too much to
say that Marriage is the one decisive event in the life of a
Hindu woman. No other of the Indian Sanskaras or
sacraments than the marriage ceremony can be performed
for a woman, but the performance of this ceremony for
her is obligatory. »
Nothing, indeed, is better capable of characterizing the Marriage
religious sanctity attributed to marriage in the Hinduuectsslt-51
law-books, than the rule that neither any man nor any
1 Nuptise sunt conjunctio maris et feminse et consortium omnis vitae,
divini et humani juris communicatio.
71
hand. It is not my intention to expatiate on this theme. Lectube
Thanks to the researches of Sir H. Maine and others, the IV-
common possession by the Aryan nations of a number of T[ e Q
ancient customs and legal rules has become a truism. Thetalist’s
task of the Orientalist lies in a different direction. His is task-
the historical, and not the comparative method of study.
Let Comparative Jurisprudence trace the remote beginnings
of the modern institutions of India. It remains for the
Historian and Orientalist to investigate the series of gradual
changes which have transformed the earliest recorded laws
into the rules prevalent in the present day, and to examine
the vast detail of the legal history of India.
The general principles of the early Indian family law mAy Division
be classed under three heads : 1, marriage laws and the legal of,t.het
position of women; 2, the relations between male relatives
in the ascending and descending lines; 3, the rights and
duties of male collateral relatives.
Marriage, according to the old Sanskrit law-books, is not Religious
a mere social contract, but a strictly religious institution,^™0^01
to which the famous definition of marriage in Roman Law m India,
is fully applicable. It is, indeed, as in ancient Rome, an
association for life, and productive of a full partnership,
both in human and divine rights and duties.1 Thus it is
stated by Apastamba (II. 10, 27, 1) that the connection (of
husband and wife), takes place through the law. The wife
is not merely her husband’s helpmate in all worldly affairs,
but she assists him in the performance of the regular
sacrifices, and helps him to gain heaven. A legitimate
wife is therefore called Dharmapatni, i.e., as the Commen-
tators explain, Dharmartham patni,—a wife married for the
fulfilment of the Sacred Law. An English writer (Grady)
designs the Law of Marriage as “ the great point to which
all Hindu Law converges.” It is certainly not too much to
say that Marriage is the one decisive event in the life of a
Hindu woman. No other of the Indian Sanskaras or
sacraments than the marriage ceremony can be performed
for a woman, but the performance of this ceremony for
her is obligatory. »
Nothing, indeed, is better capable of characterizing the Marriage
religious sanctity attributed to marriage in the Hinduuectsslt-51
law-books, than the rule that neither any man nor any
1 Nuptise sunt conjunctio maris et feminse et consortium omnis vitae,
divini et humani juris communicatio.