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

Sat Sep 5 20:27:56 UTC 2020

Thank you to everyone for these very helpful responses.

Amy, you have a very good question, and it's certainly part of what is
driving my initial query. I think Patrick Olivelle's earlier response here
is relevant, which quoted Kauṭilya’s Arthaśāstra 3.3.1 (his translation):

"A woman 12 years old has reached the age for legal transactions
(vyavahāra), as also a man 16 years old."

To Walter Slaje's point, a marriage is a legal contract, and being able to
enter into legal contracts has long been established as the marker of legal
adulthood. For me that begs the question: what other binding legal
contracts were girls and women allowed to enter besides marriage? For
example, do we know if they were able to bring grievances to have them
resolved via the legal system? (And this may be further complicated by
caste/class/etc.)

Another pertinent question for me: was it age, marriage, or consummation of
marriage that marked a girl's legal adulthood? The marriage age dropped
over time, and girls married at very young ages were often not sent to live
with their husbands until after menarche. (It's a modern example, but here
in the US several states have no minimum age for marriage, parental and/or
judicial consent is all that's required. Girls as young as 10 have been
married to men in their mid-late 20s and early 30s, fairly recently, and it
most frequently happens in evangelical communities in the rural South. If
married at 16 or older, they are legally an adult. But 15 or under, they're
not, and can't even hire a lawyer or seek a divorce without permission of
their guardian... which is their spouse.)

All of the (very) helpful responses so far reminded me of a book I read a
long while back. Narendra Nath Bhattacharyya has some interesting
information on all of this in *Indian Puberty Rites *(p. 37-38)
*:*

“In the Dharmasūtra of Gautama it is stated that the girl should be given
in marriage at puberty; she is allowed to remain a virgin until her third
menstruation. [citation: XVIII.20-23] Parāśara says:

‘A girl of eight is called Gaurī; but one who is nine years old is a
Rohinī; one who is ten years old is a Kanyā; beyond this one is Rajasvalā
(i.e. one who has the experience of menstruation). If a person does not
give away a maiden when she has reached her twelfth year, his Pitṛs
(ancestors) will have to drink every month her menstrual discharge. The
parents and also the eldest brother go to hell on seeing an unmarried girl
becoming Rajasvalā.’ [citation: Parāśara Smṛti, VII.6-9]

“The same is also stated in other Smṛtis. [citation: Samvarta, 65-66;
Bṛhad-yama, III.19-22, Aṅgiras, 126-28] The Vāyu Purāṇa [citation:
LXXXIII.44] extols the marriage of a Gaurī by remarking that her son
purifies 21 ancestors on his father’s side and six male ancestors of his
mother’s side. In a later work it is stated that a Brāhmaṇa should marry a
Brāhmaṇa girl who is a Nagnikā or Gaurī, the former being a girl over eight
years but less than ten, and the latter being one who is between ten and
twelve and has not had menstruation. [citation: Vaikhānasa, VI.12] As the
marriageable age of the girls came down, the rite of Caturthīkarma
naturally became irrelevant and it was performed when the girls attained
maturity long after the marriage and it accordingly came to be known as
Garbhādhāna.”

Just as a final thought, legal "adulthood" has for quite a large part of
human history in most cultures been very different for women than for
men, with differing ages, privileges, responsibilities, and legal
implications. For that matter, both the idea of a "child" or "childhood" as
well as what marks the boundary between "child" and "adult" have also
changed.

Speaking of... if anybody is still reading this—not to hijack my own
thread, but I'm reminded that I'm also looking for references on children,
children's bodies, and rules around children's participation in ritual and
public life. Especially on girls, but I'm also interested in the
similarities and differences as ideals represented in the texts. But that
may be another post!

Thank you all so far!
-s

--

Sundari Johansen Hurwitt | sundari.johansen at gmail.com | she/her

On Sat, Sep 5, 2020 at 9:58 AM Amy Langenberg <langenap at eckerd.edu> wrote:

> 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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