Marriage is a matter of religious duty for Hindus. For Hindus, marriage is not a matter of “social contract “, nor is it deemed as a “license for sex life”.

3. Marriage is one of the universal social
institutions established by man to control and
regulate sex behavior.
Marriage is an institution of society which
can have a very different implications in
different societies.
Its purposes , functions and forms may differ
from society to society , but it is present
everywhere as an institution.
Marriage is a matter of religious duty for
Hindus. For Hindus , marriage is not a matter
of “social contract “ , nor is it deemed as a
“license for sex life” .

4. In the Hindu society in the early period , eight modes of acquiring a wife
were referred to , of which four were considered proper and
desirable(dharmya) which had approval of the father/family , and four were
regarded as undesirable(adharmya) which did not have the approval of the
father . The proper marriages recognized by the Smritis were BRAHMA ,
DAIVA , ARSHA , and PRAJAPATYA , while the four undesirable marriages
were ASURA,GANDHARVA , RAKSASA , and PAISHACHA .
In Brahma , the marriage is settled by the parents . A Brahmin is called to
preside over the marriage rites , and the daughter is given by her father to the
groom along with some dowry of ornaments and clothes , etc.
In Daiva , the Brahmin who officiates over the ceremony is not paid any
dakshina(gift) but is given daughter , properly bejeweled and decorated .
In Arsha , the Bride’s father gets something from the groom-say a pair of cattle or
two in exchange for his daughter . This is just for the sake of the ceremony .
In Prajapatya , though consent of parents is essential but no ceremony is
performed .
In Asura , bride-price is given by the groom to bride’s father this is sort of an
economic contract . There is no limit of the amount given .
In Gandharva , neither is the consent of parents necessary nor are the rites or dowry
essential . Only the will of the marrying parties is given importance . This marriage is
believed to spring from desire and has sex satisfaction as its chief purpose .
In Raksasa , marriage is by capture or abduction without obtaining the consent of the
girl or her parents . This was practiced in times when group conflicts and tribal wars
were very common . The victorious group used to carry away the girls of the
conquered groups and keep them as ‘keeps’ .
In Paishacha , a woman who is seduced when asleep or unconscious or when
incapable of protecting herself is given the social status of wife .

5. POLYGYNY: Polygyny is the marriage of one male with more than one female , or
what may be called the ‘plurality of wives’ . Polygynous marriage may be
unrestricted or conditional . According to Apastamba Dharmasutra , a man could
marry again after ten years of his first marriage if his wife was barren , or he could
marry after thirteen or fourteen years if he had only daughters from his wife and
wanted a son .
POLYANDRY: Polyandry is marriage of one woman with
may men , that is , it is a practice involving plurality of
husbands .
In early India , polygyny was a rare practice ,
polyandry was not sanctioned , and monogamy
was the only form of marriage practiced .

6. All societies have a mechanism for controlling who gets married to
whom . There are three problems in mate selection : (1) the field of
mate selection , that is , the restrictions imposed by religion , caste
, class , kinship , etc. on acquiring a spouse .
(2) The party to selection , that is , who determines the choice of
the marriage partner ; and
(3)The criteria of selection , that is , what are the family and
individuals consideration in mate selection , or what are the
attributes desired in the boy/girl to be selected for marriage .

7. (1)Endogamy : Endogamy is a social rule that requires a person to select
a spouse from within certain groups . These endogamous groups
specifically refer to varna , caste and sub-caste . Thus , a Brahmin boy
has not only to marry a Brahmin girl but a Kanyakubja boy has to marry a
Kanyakubja girl .
(2)Exogamy : Exogamy is a social rule which forbids selection
of a spouse from certain groups . The two types of exogamy
practiced by Hindus are : gotra exogamy and sapinda exogamy
. In certain cases , besides gotra and sapinda , village is also
treated as an exogamous group .
(3)Hypergamy : It is a social practice according to which a boy from upper
caste can marry a girl from lower caste and vise-versa .

8. In the man-woman relationship based on marriage , the
personalities of individuals involved are significant because it is
the personality that makes or mars the process of adjustment .
This requires full freedom in selecting one’s mate . But in India ,
freedom was denied till recently . Since last three of four decades
, we find that parents have started consulting their children in
mate selection . Initially , they consulted only sons but after on
even daughters also came to be consulted . In some cases ,
children select their own partners and settled their marriage
without consulting their parents . It could thus be said that
change in the process of mate selection is from ‘parental’ to ‘joint’
selection .

9. Parents have different considerations in selecting mates for
the children , since they consider marriage a family affair .
They lay considerable emphasis on the reputation on the
prospective partner's family , morality of the family members
, wealth of the family , physical fitness of the boy/girl ,
character and potency of the boy/girl , girl’s training , and
boy’s service and income . While children are given an
opportunity of self-choice , they are given importance to
factors like character , education , training , intellect ,
personal charm , etc. rather than caste , dowry and such
factors .

10. 1.Dharma: Marriage is not desired not so
much for sex or for children as for acquiring
a partner for the fulfillment of one’s religious
duties.
2.Praja(Progeny):The desire to get issues or
children is completely felt by all the people .
The desire for ‘praja’ or progeny is regarded
by the Hindu Shastrakaras as one of the
sacred purposes of marriage.
3.Rati(Kama or Pleasure): Though sex is one of
the functions of marriage it is given the third place.
It is least desirable aim of marriage.

11. 1.VAGDANA
2.HOMA
3.KANYADAANA
4.PANIGRAHANA
5.MANGALAYA DHARANA
6.SAPTAPADI

12. 1.In the presence of the people , the names ,
gotras , and pravaras of the bride and
bridegroom are announced along with the
announcement that they are ready for the
marriage
2.Homa refers to the offering in the sacred fire. A
number of Homa rituals are observed in the
marriage of which LAJA HOMA is an important
one.
3.This is the most important ceremony
connected with marriage. It is the ceremony of
giving away the bride as a gift to the bridegroom
in the presence of the sacred fire and in the
presence of the people gathered

14. 1.Indissoluble Marital Bond : According to the traditional Hindu belief, marital
bond is said to be inseparable and irrevocable . The parties to the marriage
cannot dissolve it at will . They are bound to each other until death of either
of them . The belief states that the wife is supposed to be bound to her
husband even after his death . It involves the sacrifices on the part of both
the husband and the wife for each is called upon to bear with each other .
2.Belief That Marriage Is A Social Duty Towards The Family And The
Community : the question of conflict between the husband and the wife did not
perhaps arise in the old days for it never involved purely individual interests .
The husband never expected any intellectual co-operation from his wife . The
wife was more of a passive partner in the performance of religious duties than
an intellectually active participant in all his affairs .

15. 3.The Ideal Of ‘PATIRVRATYA’ Associated With Marriage : as per the
ideal Patirvratya popularized by the puranic writers , the wife is expected
to be devoted to her husband alone . It implies that fidelity and modest
service to the husband are the sole duty and main purpose in her life .
The wife is expected to prove herself as a real ‘sati’ with all dedication
and reverence to the husband .
*Glorification of ‘Sati’ System: On the death of the husband the wife
had either to live chastely , renouncing all the joys of life , or to
follow her husband by jumping into he funeral pyre .
*Marriage , the only Sacrament for Women: A Hindu male goes
through the performance of several sacrament during the course
of his life. For the Hindu women marriage is said to be essential
for it is the only sacrament that can be performed for her.

16. 1.Change in the form of marriage: Traditional form of
marriage , polygamy , bigamy. Only monogamy
2.Change in the Aim or Purpose of marriage: The
traditional Hindu marriage considers ‘dharma’ as its
primary object whereas the modern Hindus give
more importance to ‘life-long companionship’
between husband and wife
3.Change in the process of Mate Selection: In the
three areas of mate selection we find significant
changes today
A . Field of Selection
B . Party of Selection
C . Criteria of Selection

17. 4.Change in the age at marriage: Boy-21 years ;
Girls-18 years
5.Change in the Stability of marriage: Legislative provisions
for divorce ha virtually affected the stability of the marriage.
The legislative provisions for divorce and widow remarriage
has undermined the importance of the value of ‘pativratya’ .
6.Change in the Economic Aspects of Marriage: Dowry-Big
Social Evil-Huge amounts as dowry-Costly Affair
7.An Increase in the Instances of Divorce and Desertion:
Increase of divorces-Importance of marriage has not
diminished-Still universally practiced-Emotionally practised

19. 1.Domestic Disharmony(including quarrels between
husband and wife , ill-treatment by husband , and
quarrel with in-laws)
2.Barrenness of wife
3.Personal nature
4.Immoral conduct of spouse
5.Husband’s conviction
6.Spose’s inability to fulfill marital obligations
due to disease

20. 1.Desertion and Cruelty
2.Adultery
3.Impotency
4.Miscellaneous

21. Divides it into two:- Environmental factors
Personality factors
Environmental Factors:-
1.illicit relationships
2.Inadequate home-life
3.Physical assault
4.Poverty and non-support
5.wife’s working place
6.role-conflict

22. Personality Factors:-
1.Irritative nature
2.Chronic disease
3.Impotency
4.Barrenness
5.Wide age disparity
6.Domineering nature

23. 1.Ahuja , Ram , “Society in India- Concepts ,
Theories and Recent Trends , 2011 , New Delhi ,
Rawat Publication
2.Ahuja , Ram , “Indian Social System” , 2010 ,
New Delhi , Rawat Publication
3.Rao , Shankar , “Sociology-Principles of Sociology with an
Introduction to School of Thoughts , 2016 , New Delhi , Nirja
Publishers & Printers , S.Chand Company