Woman and the practice of Marriage

Woman and the practice of Marriage

 

This is from Mahabarata, this is how Kuru Vamsha started

Shantanu married Ganga and she had a condition that you should not ask me no matter what I do, to which Shantanu agreed
Lated when they got children Ganga killed 6 children and Shantanu did not ask her because of his promise

Later when Ganga was going to kill the 7th child Shantanu could not control and he stopped her and asked why was she doing this
To which Ganga replied all these are Devatas and they were cursed in heaven to take birth on earth but they did not want to live on earth so I promised them that I will kill them as soon as they are born and they can go to heaven.

Now since Shantanu had broken the promise Ganga left the palace with the child.

After several years when Shantanu went to the banks of the river Ganga again Ganga appeared Shantanu was very happy, and Ganga returned the 7th child Devavratha to Shantanu, this 7thh child Devavratha will be called Bishma later on.

After few years Shantanu again fell in love with a fisherwoman by the name Satyavati and wanted to marry her but she had a condition that only her son will become the king and not Devavratha

Shantanu returned to his palace and was heartbroken and went into depression, Devavratha could not see his father this way and asked what they matter was, Shantanu explained the Satyavati episode and her condition, Devratha took a vow and said he will not marry, because of this vow he became to be called Bishma

After this Shantanu and Satyavati married and had 2 sons (Chitrangada and Vichitravirya), Chitrangada died in a battle Vichitravirya was made the king and he was not in good health and not strong
Bishma feared that if his brother died there will be no one to inherit the throne, so he went to Gandhara(present day Afghanistan) and kidnapped 3 princesses Amba, Ambika and Ambalika and got them to marry his brother Vichitravirya, but Amba said she already liked someone else and she left, later she wanted to kill Bishma that is a different story.

Ambika and Ambalika are made to marry Vichitravirya, Vichitravirya also dies soon after the marriage and again the Kingdom is left without a person to inherit

Now Satyavati tells Bishma to marry his 2 brothers wife, but he says no, she asks him to go find some other princess from a different country but he says no,
Not knowing what to do she proposes to use Niyoga method

In ancient India if couple could not have a child and men had a problem the woman was allowed to meet another man and get a child this was not considered Unethical and this practice was called Niyogi

Satyavati calls VedaVyas, now VedaVyas was the sons of Satyavati, Satyavathi met a Rishi Parashar(they did not marry) and had got a boy child (VedaVyasa)

VedaVyasa is called to the palace, when he goes to meet Ambika she could not see the uncouth looking sage she closed her eyes and hence she got a blind son Drutharastra and when Vyasa went to meet Ambalika she too was frightened of Vyasas appearance and she turned pale with fear and hence she got a pale son who suffered bad health his name was Pandu

Long story short now Pandu kills a sage and his wife when they are in private and gets cursed that if Pandu touches his wife’s he will die
Pandu gets married to Kunti and Madri but he can’t get a child because of the curse

One day he calls Kunti and say go meet another man and get a child to which she says she is not willing to do so because she is married to him

Pandu explains different ways to get a son
1st - the son begotten by one's own self upon his wedded wife;
2nd - the son begotten upon one's wife by an accomplished person from motives of kindness
3rd - the son begotten upon one's wife by a person for pecuniary consideration(for money)
4th - the son begotten upon the wife after the husband's death
5th - the maiden-born son, that is if the lady had a son before the marriage
6th - the son born of an unchaste wife
7th - the son given
8th - the son bought for a consideration(money)
9th -
10th - the son received with a pregnant bride (if the girl had got pregnant  before the marriage from a different man)
11th - the brother's son
12th - if the man gets a son from another woman other than his wife

Then Pandu also narrates several incidents where a queen has got  children from other than her husband

Pandu tells O Kunti  I shall now tell about the ancient practices marriage indicated by great Rishis, fully acquainted with every rule of morality, women formerly were not immured within houses and dependent on husbands and other relatives. They used to go about freely, enjoying themselves as best as they liked. they did not then adhere to their husbands faithfully, and yet  they were not regarded sinful, for that was the sanctioned usage of the times. That very usage is followed to this day by birds and beasts without any (exhibition of) jealousy. That practice, sanctioned by precedent, is accepted by great Rishis, this practice is still regarded with respect amongst the Northern Kuru dynasty. Indeed, that usage, so lenient to women, hath the sanction of antiquity. The present practice of marriage, however (of women's being confined to one husband for life) hath been established but lately. I shall tell you in detail who established it and why

Once there was a Rishi named Uddalaka, who had a son named Swetaketu who was also a great Rishi, One day, in the presence of Swetaketu's father a Brahmana came and bought Swetaketu's mother by the hand, told her, 'Let us go.' holding his mother seized by the hand and took away apparently by force, the son was greatly moved and angry. Seeing his son disturbed, Uddalaka addressed him and said, 'Be not angry. O son! This is the practice sanctioned by antiquity. The women of all orders in this world are free, O son; men in this matter, as regards their respective orders, act as kine.' The Rishi's son, Swetaketu, however, disapproved of the usage and established in the world the present practice as regards men and women.

This can be found online as well (complete Mahabarata):

https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m01/m01123.htm

Rig Veda prescribes a widow to marry immediately after her husband dies, if there is a unmarried brother of her dead husband she has to marry him else some one else suitable

Sati system i.e burning the woman after the husband dies is a new practice and not correct


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