CHAPTER THE THIRD.

On Marriage; or, on the Second Order.

1. THE difcipline of a student in the three • Védas may be continued for thirty-fix years, ' in the house of his preceptor; or for half that time, or for a quarter of it, or until he perfectly comprehend them:

2. A ftudent, whofe rules have not been 'violated, may affume the order of a married 6 man, after he has read in fucceffion a s'ác bá or branch, from each of the three, or from two, or from any one of them.

3. Being juftly applauded for the strict per⚫formance of his duty, and having received from

his natural or Spiritual father the facred gift of ⚫ the Véda, let him fit on an elegant bed, decked 'with a garland of flowers; and let his father 'honour him, before his nuptials, with a present ⚫ of a cow.

4.

'Let the twice born man, having obtained • the consent of his venerable guide, and having performed his ablution with stated ceremonies on his return home, as the law directs,

espouse a wife of the fame class with himself • and endued with the marks of excellence.

5. She, who is not defcended from his paC ternal or maternal ancestors within the fixth degree, and who is not known by the family name to be of the fame primitive stock with his father or mother, is eligible by a twice born man for nuptials and holy union:

6. In conne&ing himself with a wife, let him * ftudiously avoid the ten following families, be * they ever fo great, or ever so rich in kine, goats, fheep, gold, and grain:

7. "The family, which has omitted prescribed acts of religion; that, which has produced no male children; that, in which the Véda has not been read; that, which has thick hair on the body; and those, which have been fubject to hemorrhoids, to phthifis, to dyspepfia, to epilepfy, to leprofy, and to elephantiasis.

8. Let him not marry a girl with reddish hair, nor with any deformed limb; nor one ⚫ troubled withhabitual ficknefs; nor one either with no hair or with too much; nor one immoderately talkative; nor one with inflamed eyes;

9. "Nor one with the name of a conftellation, " of a tree, or of a river, of a barbarous nation, or of a mountain, of a winged creature, a fnake, * or a flave; nor one with any name raifing and image of terrour.

10. Let him chufe for his wife a girl, ‹ whose form has no defect; who has an agree*able name; who walks gracefully like a phenicopteros or like a young elephant; whofe hair • and teeth are moderate refpectively in quantity and in fize; whose body has exquifite • foftness.

6

II. 'Her, who has no brother, or whofe father is not well known, let no fenfible man espouse, through fear left, in the former cafe, her father should take her firft fon as his own to perform his obfequies; or, in the fecond cafe, left an illicit marriage fhould be con• tracted.

12. For the first marriage of the twice born claffes a woman of the fame class is recommended; but for fuch, as are impelled by ⚫ inclination to marry again, women in the di⚫rect order of the claffes are to be preferred:

13.

• A Súdra woman only must be the wife of a Súdra; fhe and a Vaifyà, of a Vaifya; they

two and a Chatriyá, of a Chhatriya; those two " and a Brahmani, of a Bráhmen.

6

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

6

15. Men of the twice born claffes, who,

⚫ through weakness of intellect, irregularly marry 'women of the lowest class, very foon degrade ⚫ their families and progeny to the state of Súdras:

6

6

16. According to ATRI and to (GO'TAMA) ⚫ the fon of UTAT'HYA, he, who thus marries a ' woman of the fervile clafs, if he be a priest, is degraded inftantly; according to SAUNACA, on the birth of a fon, 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, if he take a Súdra to his bed, as his first wife, finks to the regions of tor

ment; if he beget a child by her, he loses even ⚫ his priestly rank :

18. His facrifices to the Gods, his oblations to the Manes, and his hofpitable attentions to ftrangers, must be supplied principally by her ; but the Gods and Manes will not eat fuch offerings; nor can heaven be attained by fuch hofpitality.

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.

6

20. Now learn compendioufly the eight • forms of the nuptial ceremony used by the four claffes, fome good and fome bad in this world and in the next :

21. The ceremony of BRAHMA', of the Devas, of the Ribis, of the Prajapatis, of the Afuras, of the Gandharvas, and of the Racfbafas; the 'eighth and bafeft is that of the Pifáchas.

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 fix first in 'direct order are by fome held valid in the cafe " of a priest; the four last in that of a warriour;

and the fame four, except the Rácfbafa mar'riage, in the cafes of a merchant and a man of the fervile class:

24. • Some confider the four first only as approved in the case of a priest; one, that of Racsbafas, as peculiar to the foldier; and, that of Afuras, to a mercantile and a fervile man:

25. But in this code, three of the five last are held legal, and two illegal: the ceremonies of Pisáchas and Afuras must never be per• formed.

26. For a military man the beforementioned 'marriages of Gandharvas and Racfbafas, whether separate, or mixed, as when a girl is made captive by her lover, after a victory over her kinf men, are permitted by law.

27. The gift of a daughter, clothed only with