[INDOLOGY] [RISA-L LIST] sources on markers of girls' transition to adulthood

Sat Sep 5 17:40:55 UTC 2020

There is an enormous amount of literature on this subject. Since the
question concerned pre-modern India, one can only speculate about the
practice, as we cannot rely on witnesses' reports. However, the cumulative
evidence of ancient Indian statements compiled from different sources and
periods, and which does not always concern stipulations only, does carry a
special weight.

"Marriage" in the above sense is a ritually sealed, legally binding act in
the sense that the woman would become a widow after the wedding if her
husband died.

The text passages quoted from *Dharmaśāstra*s and *Gṛhyasūtra*s deal with
the selection of the bride before the wedding and with her ideal marriage
age.

For the older epochs, Ram Gopal (quoted earlier) as well as Alfed
Hillebrandt ("Rituallitteratur. Vedische Opfer und Zauber", Strasburg 1897)
and Rajbali Pandey ("Hindu Saṃskāras. Socio-Religious Study of the Hindu
Sacraments. 2nd ed. Delhi 1969) are very helpful.

It is remarkable in this context that there is only one consecration (
*saṃskāra*) for women at all, namely that of their marriage.

Regards,

WS

Am Sa., 5. Sept. 2020 um 18:58 Uhr schrieb Amy Langenberg <
langenap at eckerd.edu>:

> Dear colleagues,
> It would be helpful to know in these contexts what "marriage" means and
> whether attaining adulthood refers to sexual maturity, or a legal/ritual
> status, or whether the two are conflated in theory and/or in practice.
>
> These are very young female bodies we are talking about. I'm sure this
> needs no mentioning, but I will mention it anyway.
>
> Listening in with interest!
> Amy Langenberg
>
> On Sat, Sep 5, 2020 at 12:31 PM Walter Slaje <walter.slaje at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Another recommendation:
>>
>> Harry Falk, Die Kurus und ihre jungen Frauen. *Studia Orientalia
>> Electronica*, 110 (2014): 93-101.
>> Retrieved from https://journal.fi/store/article/view/45354
>>
>>
>>
>> Am Sa., 5. Sept. 2020 um 18:10 Uhr schrieb Martin Straube via INDOLOGY <
>> indology at list.indology.info>:
>>
>>>
>>> One small addition: On kaumārī cf. P. Thieme, "Jungfrauengatte",
>>> Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung, 78 (1963); reprinted
>>> in: Kleine Schriften, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden 1984, pp. 426ff.
>>>
>>> Regards
>>> Martin Straube
>>>
>>> Zitat von Walter Slaje via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>:
>>>
>>> > Below are some additional indications that could be followed up in the
>>> > course of your research.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > Kind regards,
>>> >
>>> > WS
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > 1) See *Richard Schmidt* (*Beiträge zur indischen Erotik*. 3. Aufl.
>>> Berlin
>>> > 1922: 645–649) with source quotes on marriage age and also marks of
>>> > pubescence).
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > 2) See moreover *Ram Gopal*, *India of Vedic Kalpasūtras*. Delhi
>>> 21983: 212
>>> > with relevant quotes (p. 220, n. 59) also on the important term
>>> *nagnikā*
>>> > („naked“) in the context of the ideal marriage age:
>>> >
>>> > *nagnikām* [=] *aprāptastrībhāvām* *ayauvanarasām* *upayaccheta* (“let
>>> him
>>> > approach a *nagnikā* girl for intercourse in whom the sexual
>>> > characteristics of a woman are not yet developed and in whom the
>>> menstrual
>>> > fluid (*yauvanarasa*) has not yet emerged.”).
>>> >
>>> > *nagnikā*, defined as the “best” (*śreṣṭhā*) in the above passage of
>>> > *Mānavagṛhyasūtra* as cited by Gopal, seems actually to refer to the
>>> > absence of pubic hair (*ajātalomnī*) as also discussed, e.g., by
>>> > Bhaṭṭanārāyaṇa on *Gobhilagṛhyasūtra* 2.5.7. According to the latter’s
>>> > testimony there were Ācāryas who stipulated intercourse with
>>> prepubescent
>>> > married girls lacking pubic hair, if these girls themselves desired so:
>>> >
>>> > *yady ajātalomny evātīva puruṣābhogārthinī syāt, tathā sati, *[…]
>>> *maithunaṃ
>>> > kartavyam ity eke ācāryā manyante*.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > 3) The Kashmirian *Kāṭhakagṛhyasūtra* determines the age of marriage of
>>> > girls at 10, at the very latest at 12 years (*daśavārṣikaṃ**
>>> brahmacaryaṃ
>>> > kumārīṇāṃ dvādaśavārṣikaṃ vā *KGS 19.2), on which Devapāla comments:
>>> > *varṣadaśakād
>>> > ūrdhvaṃ **brahmacarye kumārī **na** sthāpayitavyā pitrā **।* *agatyā
>>> **vā
>>> > dvādaśa **varṣāṇi nātikramaṇīyāni* ॥ (Devapālabhāṣya *ad* 19.2. ||
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > 4) *Manusmṛti*
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > *triṃśadvarṣo vahet kanyāṃ hṛdyāṃ dvādaśavārṣikīm | tryaṣṭavarṣo
>>> 'ṣṭavarṣāṃ
>>> > vā dharme sīdati satvaraḥ* || MDhŚ 9.94 ||
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > “A 30-year-old man should marry a charming girl of 12 years, or an
>>> > 18-year-old, *a girl of 8 years* - *sooner, if* his fulfilling the Law
>>> > would suffer.” (Olivelle 2005, p. 194).
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > There is a wider range of evidence for an ideal marriage age for girls
>>> aged
>>> > 8 (*a**ṣṭ**avar**ṣ**ā*): To start with Pārvatī, Śiva’s wife, it is said
>>> > that she was married at the age of eight (8), i.e. before puberty, the
>>> > technical term for which is *gaurī* (significantly also used as an
>>> epithet
>>> > for her):
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > 5) Jayadratha’s *Haracaritacint**ā**ma**ṇ**i*
>>> >
>>> > *dev**ī** himavata**ḥ** putr**ī** k**ā**l**ī**
>>> n**ī**lotpalacchavi**ḥ** | *
>>> >
>>> > *a**ṣṭ**avar**ṣ**ā** tapoyukt**ā** bhart**ā**ra**ṃ** pr**ā**pa
>>> dh**ū**rja*
>>> > *ṭ**im* || Hc 22.3 ||
>>> >
>>> > *sā krīḍantī pitṛgehe śambhunā saha pārvatī* |
>>> >
>>> > *dṛṣṭvā dṛṣṭvā vapuḥ śyāmaṃ nāhaṃ gaurīty alajjata* || Hc 22.4 ||
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > 6) *gaurī* = *aṣṭavarṣā* = prepubescent:
>>> >
>>> > *Brhadyamasmrti* (= *Parāśarasmṛti* 7.4):
>>> >
>>> > *aṣṭavarṣā** bhaved gaurī navavarṣā ca rohiṇī |*
>>> >
>>> > *daśavarṣā bhavet kanyā  ata ūrdhvaṃ rajasvalā* || YS 182v 3.21 ||
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > 7) *Aṣṭavarṣā* marriage in the *Revākhaṇḍa* of the *Vāyupurāṇa*:
>>> >
>>> > *puṇyāham adya saṃjātam ahaṃ tvaddarśanotsukaḥ |*
>>> >
>>> > *kanyā** madīyā rājendra hy aṣṭavarṣā vyajāyata* || RKV 142.18 ||
>>> > […]
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > *caturbhujo mama sutas triṣu lokeṣu viśrutaḥ | tasyeyaṃ dīyatāṃ kanyā
>>> > śiśupālasya bhīṣmaka* || RKV 142.20 ||
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > 8) *Rāmāyaṇa*
>>> >
>>> > Sītā, too, was married before the age of puberty as a “*kaumārī*”:
>>> >
>>> > *svayaṃ tu bhāryāṃ kaumārīṃ ciram adhyuṣitāṃ satīm |*
>>> >
>>> > *śailūṣa iva māṃ rāma parebhyo dātum icchasi* || Rām 2.27.8 (CE)||
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > The Gītā Press translates from an emic insight point of view: „who was
>>> > married to you before puberty”.
>>> >
>>> > The commentaries *Rāmāyaṇaśiromaṇi* und *Bhūṣaṇa* on this passage (Rām
>>> > 2.30,8) confirm *kaumārī* as “*kumārāvasthāyāṃ eva vivāhitā*” (“married
>>> > already in the period of life of a ten to twelve years old maiden”).
>>> >
>>> > *kumārī* = 1. “A young girl, one from 10 to 12 years old“ (Apte)
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > 9) A significant term for a a sexually mature, fully developed girl is
>>> > *prauḍhā* (cp., eg., *Bhāgavatapurāṇa *4.25.21 (*a-prauḍhā* – “not yet
>>> > fully developed”), or *ūḍhā* (cp. *nava-ūḍhā* – “having just attained
>>> > puberty”, as in *Brahmavaivartap*., ch. 112).
>>> >
>>> > Am Sa., 5. Sept. 2020 um 03:08 Uhr schrieb Madhav Deshpande via
>>> INDOLOGY <
>>> > indology at list.indology.info>:
>>> >
>>> >> 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
>>> >>>
>>> >>>
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>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Martin Straube
>>> Research Fellow in Pali Lexicography
>>> Pali Text Society
>>>
>>> Philipps-Universität Marburg
>>> Indologie und Tibetologie
>>> Deutschhausstrasse 12
>>> 35032 Marburg
>>> Germany
>>>
>>>
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