As per vedas there are eight types of marriages namely brahma, daiva, arsha, prajapatya, gandharva, asura, rakshasa & paishacha marriage. These are given in succeeding paras.
Brahma Marriage
Once a boy completed his Brahmacharya (studenthood), his parents approached the parents of a girl belonging to a good family and ask them to give their daughter in marriage to their son. A marriage arranged in this manner is Brahma. In this the girl’s family does not give any dowry in any form to the boy’s family. There is no “commercial transaction” and the goal of a brahma marriage is the dharmic advancement of two families. Of the eight forms of marriage the dharma sastras regard this as the highest. The Brahma marriage sanctifies 21 generation i.e. a son born of such an union was said to rescue from hell, twenty-one generations of his ancestors on paternal and maternal side. This type of marriage is still prevalent amongst the Brahmins of Kumaon.
Daiva Marriage
After waiting a reasonable period for a young man to turn up and ask for their daughter’s hand. The parents of the girl, marry their daughter to a priest during a sacrifice is called daiva. This type of marriage is considered inferior to brahma. In the sastras womanhood is elevated in that it is the groom’s family that has to seeking bride for their son. The Daiva sanctifies 14 generations i.e. a son born of a daivya marriage is said to rescue from hell fourteen generations of his ancestors on both his paternal & maternal side.
Arsha Marriage
The third form, “arsha” suggests that it is concerned with the rishis, sages. In arsha the bride is given in exchange for two cows received from the groom. If the term is taken to mean “giving away a girl in marriage to a rishi”, we must take it that the girl is married off to an old sage because the parents could not celebrate her marriage according to the brahma rite at the right time. The fact that cows are taken in exchange for the bride shows that the groom does not possess any remarkable qualities. According to the sastras, in marriages of noble kind there is no place for money or anything smacking of a business transaction. Compared to the previous two forms of marriage, a son born to such a marriage rescues a mere six generations of his ancestors from hell.
Prajapatya Marriage
In prajapatya there is no trading and kanyadana is a part of it as in the brahma ceremony. The brahma type is a better type of marriage than prajapatya since, in that type of marriage the groom’s parents go seeking a bride who is to be the Grahalaksmi of their household. Six generations is all that are rescued from a son born of a prajapatya marriage as well.
Gandharva Marriage
Bridegroom and bride marry secretly, without the knowledge of their parents. This was considered inferior because it was the result of lustful impulses. Sakuntala and Dusyanta got married in this way. The gandharva type is the “love marriage” which again has very enthusiastic support these days.
Asura Marriage
In the asura type the groom is in no way a match for the girl but the bridegroom voluntarily gave lot of wealth to the bride’s relatives as ‘bride money’. This was not in accordance with the injunctions of the scriptures because it was like buying the bride, which was prohibited in the scriptures.
Rakshasa Marriage
In the raksasa form the groom battles with the girl’s family, overcomes them takes their daughter away and then persuades her to marry. This was considered inferior. It was in this manner that Paramatman married Rukmini.
Paishacha Marriage
The eighth and last is paisaca. In paisaca the girl’s wish do not count, nor is any money or material given to her parents. Men would marry a woman, whom he had seduced while she was asleep, intoxicated or insane or is taken against her wish and her family antagonized. This was prohibited later.
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