[INDOLOGY] sources on markers of girls' transition to adulthood

[Madhav Deshpande]

Hello Sundari,

     I see these quotations from various texts embedded in the commentary
Tattvabodhinī on Bhaṭṭoji's Siddhānta-Kaumudī, on rule 3168 of SK [p. 531,
edition of SK with Tattvabodhinī, edited by Wasudev Laxman Shastri
Panshikar, 7th edition, Nirnaya Sagara press, Mumbai, 1933]:  These are
comments on the word *gaurī:*

"गौरी त्वसञ्जातरज:कन्याशङ्करभार्ययो:" ... इति मेदिनी ।..."अष्टवर्षा तु या
दत्ता श्रुतशीलसमन्विते । सा गौरी तत्सुतो यस्तु स गौर: परिकीर्तित: ।।" इति
ब्रह्माण्डवचनं श्राद्धकाण्डे हेमाद्रिणोद्धृतम् । एतेन "गौर: शुच्याचार:"
इत्यादि भाष्यं व्याख्यातम् ।

   The end of the above passage uses the quote fromthe Brahmāṇḍa-Purāṇa to
argue that the word *gauraḥ *used by Patañjali in defining a Brāhmaṇa does
not refer to the skin color, but it has a Dharmaśāstric significance as
"the son of a woman who was given at her age of eight to a learned and
righteous Brahmin."  The same quote is used by the great Nāgeśabhaṭṭa in
one of his commentaries. I have cited that in one of my publications, and I
have to hunt down that reference.  But it is exactly the same argument.
   On a personal level, the history of my own family shows the gradual
change from that old standard for the age of marriage.  My grandmother was
married when she was 9.  My two paternal aunts were married at the age of
14 or 15, and since that was considered rather too late, they were married
to widowers.  My own mother was married at her age of 16.  This is an
interesting trajectory of history within a single family.
    With best wishes,

Madhav M. Deshpande
Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies

[Residence: Campbell, California, USA]


On Fri, Sep 4, 2020 at 5:09 PM Olivelle, J P via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> The most straightforward statement in Kauṭilya’s Arthaśāstra 3.3.1:
>
> A woman 12 years old has reached the age for legal transactions
> (vyavahāra), as also
> a man 16 years old.
>
> Best,
>
>
> Patrick
>
>
>
>
> On Sep 4, 2020, at 5:23 PM, Sundari Johansen Hurwitt via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> I am looking for sources that explore the age at which a girl
> traditionally becomes an adult woman (meaning, she transitions into defacto
> adulthood by the standards of the time) in Hindu culture, prior to the 19th
> century. I'm already aware of the Indian Penal Code setting the age of
> consent for marriage for girls at 10 years old in 1860, and the history
> following that.
>
> In particular I'm looking for primary and/or secondary literature that
> mention bodily processes, rites of passage, age, or other markers of that
> transition to adulthood.
>
> Many thanks!
> -sundari
>
>
>
> --
>
> Sundari Johansen Hurwitt
> sundari.johansen at gmail.com
> sjohansen at ciis.edu
> she/her
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> INDOLOGY mailing list
> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
> indology-owner at list.indology.info (messages to the list's managing
> committee)
> http://listinfo.indology.info (where you can change your list options or
> unsubscribe)
>
> This message is from an external sender. Learn more about why this <<
> matters at https://links.utexas.edu/rtyclf.                        <<
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> INDOLOGY mailing list
> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
> indology-owner at list.indology.info (messages to the list's managing
> committee)
> http://listinfo.indology.info (where you can change your list options or
> unsubscribe)
>


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://list.indology.info/pipermail/indology/attachments/20200904/cc48852a/attachment.htm>