'not well known, let no sensible man espouse, through CHAP.

6

fear lest, in the former case, her father should take her first son as his own to perform his obsequies; or, in the second case, lest an illicit marriage should be contracted.

12. For the first marriage of the twice-born classes, a woman of the same class is recommended; but for

such as are impelled by inclination to marry again, women in the direct order of the classes are to be preferred:

13. A Súdrà woman only must be the wife of a Súdra; she and a Vaisyà, of a Vaisya; they two and a Cshatriyà, of a Cshatriya; those two and a Bráhment of a Bráhmen.

14 A woman of the servile class is not mentioned, even in the recital of any ancient story, as the first 'wife of a Bráhmen or of a Cshatriya, though in the greatest difficulty to find a suitable match.

6

15. Men of the twice-born classes, who through 'weakness of intellect, irregularly marry women of the lowest class, very soon degrade their families and progeny to the state of Súdras:

16. According to ATRI and to (GO'TAMA) the son ' of UTAT'HYA, he who thus marries a woman of the servile class, if he be a priest, is degraded instantly; according to SAUNACA, on the birth of a son, if he be a warriour; and, if he be a merchant, on the 'birth of a son's son, according to (me) BHrigu.

17. A Bráhmen,

III.

CHAP. 17. A Bráhmen, if he take a Súdrà to his bed, as

his first wife, sinks to the regions of torment; if he

beget a child by her, he loses even his priestly rank:

18. His sacrifices to the Gods, his oblations to the Manes, and his hospitable attentions to strangers, must be supplied principally by her; but the Gods and Manes will not eat such offerings; nor can heaven be attained by such hospitality.

6

19. For the crime of him, who thus illegally drinks 'the moisture of a Súdra's lips, who is tainted by her breath, and who even begets a child on her body, the law declares no expiation.

20. Now learn compendiously the eight forms of 'the nuptial ceremony, used by the four classes, some good and some bad in this world, and in the next :

6

21. The ceremony of BRAHMA', of the Dévas, of the Rishis, of the Prajapatis, of the Asuras, of the Gandharvas, and of the Racshases; the eighth and basest is that of the Pisáchas.

22. Which of them is permitted by law to each class and what are the good and bad properties of ' each ceremony, all this I will fully declare to you, together with the qualities, good and bad, of the offspring.

23. Let mankind know, that the six first in direct order are by some held valid in the case of a priest; the four last, in that of a warriour; and the same • four,

four, except the Rácshasa marriage, in the cases of CHAP.

' a merchant and a man of the servile class:

24. Some consider the four first only as approved

in the case of a priest; one, that of Racshases, as peculiar to a soldier; and that of Asuras, to a mer'cantile and a servile man.

25. But in this code, three of the five last are ' held legal, and two illegal: the ceremonies of Pisáchas and Asuras must never be performed.

6

6

6

6

26. For a military man the before mentioned marriages of Gandharvas and Racshases, whether separate or mixed, as when a girl is made captive by her lover, after a victory over her kinsmen, are permitted by law.

27. The gift of a daughter, clothed only with a

single robe, to a man learned in the Véda, whom

her father voluntarily invites, and respectfully re'ceives, is the nuptial right called Bráhma.

28. The rite which sages call Daiva, is the gift of

a daughter, whom her father has decked in gay attire,

when the sacrifice is already begun, to the officiating priest, who performs that act of religion.

29. When the father gives his daughter away, after having received from the bridegroom one pair of kine,

⚫ or two pairs, for uses prescribed by law, that marriage is termed Arsha.

30. The nuptial rite called Prájápatya, is when the 'father

III.

III.

6

CHAP. father gives away his daughter with due honour, saying distinctly, "May both of you perform together your 'civil and religious duties!"

31. When the bridegroom, having given as much 'wealth as he can afford to the father and paternal kinsmen, and to the damsel herself, takes her voluntarily as his bride, that marriage is named A'sura.

6

32. The reciprocal connexion of a youth and a damsel, with mutual desire, is the marriage deno'minated Gandharva, contracted for the purpose of 'amorous embraces, and proceeding from sensual in⚫clination.

6

33. The seizure of a maiden by force from her house, 'while she weeps and calls for assistance, after her 'kinsmen and friends have been slain in battle, or

wounded, and their houses broken open, is the marriage styled Rácshasa.

34. When the lover secretly embraces the damsel, ' either sleeping or flushed with strong liquor, or disordered in her intellect, that sinful marriage, called 'Paisácha, is the eighth and the basest.

6

35. The gift of daughters in marriage by the sacer'dotal class, is most approved, when they previously have poured water into the hands of the bridegroom; but the ceremonies of the other classes may be per'formed according to their several fancies.

36. Among these nuptial rites, what quality is

• ascribed

6

ascribed by MENU to each, hear now ye Bráhmens, CHAP. hear it all from me, who fully declare it!

37. The son of a Bráhmì, or wife by the first cere

mony, redeems from sin, if he performs virtuous acts,

ten ancestors, ten descendants, and himself the twenty-first person.

38. A son, born of a wife by the Daiva nuptials, 'redeems seven and seven in higher and lower degrees; ' of a wife by the Arsha, three and three; of a wife by the Prájápatya, six and six.

39. By four marriages, the Brahma and so forth, ' in direct order, are born sons illumined by the Veda, learned men, beloved by the learned,

40.

Adorned with beauty, and with the quality of ' goodness, wealthy, famed, amply gratified with law'ful enjoyments, performing all duties, and living a hundred years:

41. But in the other four base marriages, which

remain, are produced sons acting cruelly, speaking falsely, abhorring the Véda, and the duties prescribed ' in it.

42. From the blameless nuptial rites of men spring a blameless progeny; from the reprehensible, a reprehensible offspring: let mankind, therefore, studiously avoid the culpable forms of marriage.

43. The ceremony of joining hands is appointed 'for those, who marry women of their own class; • but

K

III.