A text of Manu prescribes: [409] "If a young woman marry while she is
pregnant, whether her pregnancy be known or unknown, the male child in
her womb belongs to the bridegroom and is called a son received with
his bride." But at present a Brahman girl who is known to be pregnant
will be wholly debarred from the sacrament of marriage. An invitation
to a wedding is sent by means of grains of rice coloured yellow with
turmeric and placed in a brass bowl with areca-nuts over them. All
the members of the caste or subcaste who eat food with the host and
are resident in the same town or close at hand are as a rule invited,
and all relatives of the family who reside at a distance. The head of
the family goes himself to the residence of the guests and invites
them with expressions of humility to honour his home. Before the
wedding the ancestors of the family and also the divine mothers are
worshipped, these latter consisting of the consorts of the principal
gods. In front of the wedding procession are carried _kalashas_ or
earthen jars filled to the brim with water, and with green shoots
and branches floating on the top. The _kalasha_ is said to represent
the universe and to contain the principal gods and divine mothers,
while the waters in it are the seven seas. All these are witnesses
to the wedding. Among other ceremonies, presents of fruit, food,
ornaments and jewellery are exchanged between the parties, and these
are called _choli-ka-bharana_ or filling the bride's breast-cloth. The
original object of giving these presents was thus, it would appear
from the name, to render the bride fertile. The father then gives
his daughter away in a set form of speech. After reciting the exact
moment of time, the hour, the day, the minute according to solar
and lunar reckoning, the year and the epoch, he proceeds: "In the
name of Vishnu (repeating the name three times), the supreme spirit,
father and creator of the universe, and in furtherance of his wish for
the propagation of the human species, I (specifying his full name and
section, etc.), in the company of my married wife, do hereby offer the
hand of my daughter--may she live long--full of all virtuous qualities,
image of Lakshmi, wife of Vishnu, anxious of union in lawful wedlock,
ornamented and dressed, brought up and instructed according to the best
of my means, by name (naming her and repeating the full description
of ancestors, class, etc.) in the solemn presence of the Brahmans,
Gurus, fire and deities, to you--may you live long--(repeating the
bridegroom's name and full description), anxious to obtain a wife
with a view to secure the abode of bliss and eternal happiness in
the heaven of Brahma. Accept her with _kusha_ grass, grains of rice,
water and presents of money." Afterwards the father asks the bridegroom
never to disregard the feelings and sentiments of his wife in matters
of religion, social pleasures and the acquisition of money, and the
bridegroom agrees. The binding portion of the ceremony consists in
walking seven times round the sacred post, and when the seventh round
is completed the marriage is irrevocable. Among the Maratha Brahmans
the bridegroom is called Nawar Deo or the new god. During the five
days of the wedding he is considered to be a sort of king, and is
put in the highest place, and everybody defers to him. They make the
bridegroom and bride name each other for a joke, as they are ashamed
to do this, and will not untie their clothes to let them bathe until
they have done it. At all the feasts the bride and bridegroom are
made to eat out of the same plate, and they put pieces of food in
each other's mouth, which is supposed to produce affection between
them. The wedding expenses in an ordinary Kanaujia Brahman's family,
whose income is perhaps Rs. 20 to 40 a month, are estimated at Rs. 200
for the bridegroom's party and Rs. 175 for the bride's, exclusive
of any bride- or bridegroom-price. The bulk of the expenditure is on
feasts to the caste. The bride does not live with her husband until
after she arrives at puberty, but it is thought desirable that she
should spend long visits with his family before this, in order that
she may assimilate their customs and be trained by her mother-in-law,
according to the saying, 'Tender branches are easily bent.' Among
some Maratha Brahmans, when the bride arrives at puberty a ceremony
called Garhbhadan is performed, and the husband confesses whether he
has cohabited with his wife before her puberty, and if so, he is fined
a small sum. Such instances usually occur when the signs of puberty
are delayed. If the planet Mangal or Mars is adverse to a girl in her
horoscope, it is thought that her husband will die. The women of her
family will, therefore, first marry her secretly to a pipal-tree,
so that the tree may die instead. But they do not tell this to the
bridegroom. In Saugor, girls whose horoscope is unfavourable to the
husband are first married to the _arka_ or swallow-wort plant. If
a Brahman has not sufficient funds to arrange for the marriage of
his daughter he will go about and beg, and it is considered that
alms given for this purpose acquire special merit for the donor,
nor will any good Brahman refuse a contribution according to his means.