_Prabhu, Parbhu._--The Maratha caste of clerks, accountants and
patwaris corresponding to the Kayasths. They numbered about 1400
persons in the southern Districts of the Central Provinces and Berar
in 1911. The Prabhus, like the Kayasths, claim to be descendants of
a child of Chandra Sena, a Kshatriya king and himself a son of Arjun,
one of the five Pandava brothers. Chandra Sena was slain by Parasurama,
the Brahman destroyer of the Kshatriyas, but the child was saved by a
Rishi, who promised that he should be brought up as a clerk. The boy
was named Somraj and was married to the daughter of Chitra Gupta, the
recorder of the dead. The caste thus claim Kshatriya origin. The name
Prabhu signifies 'lord,' but the Brahmans pretend that the real name
of the caste was Parbhu, meaning one of irregular birth. The Prabhus
say that Parbhu is a colloquial corruption used by the uneducated. The
_gotras_ of the Prabhus are eponymous, the names being the same as
those of Brahmans. In the Central Provinces many of them have the
surname of Chitnavis or Secretary. Child-marriage is in vogue and
widow-remarriage is forbidden. The wedding ceremony resembles that
of the Brahmans.
In his _Description of a Prabhu marriage_ [448] Rai Bahadur B.A. Gupte
shows how the old customs are being broken through among the educated
classes under the influence of modern ideas. Marriages are no longer
arranged without regard to the wishes of the couple, which are thus
ascertained: "The next step [449] is to find out the inclination of the
hero of the tale. His friends and equals do that easily enough. They
begin talking of the family and the girl, and are soon able to fathom
his mind. They leave on his desk all the photographs of the girls
offered and watch his movements. If he is sensible he quietly drops
or returns all the likenesses except the one he prefers, and keeps
this in his drawer. He dare not display it, for it is immodest to do
so. The news of the approval by the boy soon reaches the parents of the
girl." Similarly in her case: "The girl has no direct voice, but her
likes and dislikes are carefully fathomed through her girl friends. If
she says, 'Why is papa in such a hurry to get rid of me,' or turns
her face and goes away as soon as the proposed family is mentioned,
a sensible father drops the case and turns his attention to some other
boy. This is the direct result of higher education under British rule,
but among the masses the girl has absolutely no voice, and the boy has
very little unless he revolts and disobediently declines to accept a
girl already selected." Similarly the educated Prabhus are beginning
to dispense with the astrologer's calculations showing the agreement
of the horoscopes of the couple, which are too often made a cloak for
the extortion of large presents. "It very often happens that everything
is amicably settled except the greed of the priest, and he manages to
find out some disagreement between the horoscopes of the marriageable
parties to vent his anger. This trick has been sufficiently exposed,
and the educated portion of this ultra-literary caste have in most
cases discarded horoscopes and planetary conjunctions altogether. Under
these restrictions the only thing the council of astrologers have to
do is to draw up two documents giving diagrams based on the names
of the parties--for names are presumably selected according to the
conjunctions of the stars at birth. But they are often not, and depend
on the liking of the father for a family god, a mythological hero,
a patron or a celebrated ancestor in the case of the boy. In that of
the girl the favourite deity or a character in the most recent fable
or drama the father has just read."
According to custom the bridegroom should go to the bride's house to
be married, but if it is more convenient to have the wedding at the
bridegroom's town, the bride goes there to a temporary house taken
by her father, and then the bridegroom proceeds to a temple with
his party and is welcomed as if he had arrived on completion of a
journey. Mr. Gupte thus describes the reception of the bride when
she has come to be married: "But there comes an urgent telegram. The
bride and her mother are expected and information is given to the
bridegroom's father. In all haste preparations are made to give
her a grand and suitable reception. Oh, the flutter among the girls
assembled in the house of the bridegroom from all quarters. Every one
is dressed in her best and is trying to be the foremost in welcoming
the new bride, the Goddess Lakshmi. The numerous maidservants of
the house want to prostrate themselves before their future queen on
the Suna or borderland of the city, which is of course the railway
station. Musicians have been already despatched and the platform is
full of gaily dressed girls. The train arrives, the party assemble at
the waiting-room, a maidservant waves rice and water to 'take off'
the effects of evil eyes and they start amid admiring eyes of the
passengers and onlookers. As soon as the bride reaches her father's
temporary residence another girl waves rice and water and throws
it away. The girls of the bridegroom's house run home and come back
again with a Kalash (water-pot) full of water, with its mouth covered
with mango-leaves and topped over with a cocoanut and a large tray of
sugar. This is called _Sakhar pani_, sugar and water, the first to
wash the mouth with and the second to sweeten it. The girls have by
this time all gathered round the bride and are busy cheering her up
with encouraging remarks: 'Oh, she is a Rati, the goddess of beauty,'
says one, and another, 'How delicate,' 'What a fine nose' from a
third, and 'Look at her eyes' from a fourth. All complimentary and
comforting. 'We are glad it is our house you are coming to,' says
a sister-in-law in prospect. 'We are happy you are going to be our
_malikin_ (mistress),' adds a maidservant. As soon as the elder ladies
have completed their courteous inquiries _pan-supari_ and _attar_ are
distributed and the party returns home. But on arrival the girls gather
round the bridegroom to tease him. 'Oh, you Sudharak (reformer),' 'Oh,
you Sahib (European), _you_ have selected your bride.' 'You have seen
her _before_ marriage. You have broken the rule of the society. You
ought to be excommunicated.' 'But,' says another, 'he will now have
no time to speak to us. His Rati (goddess of beauty) and he! The Sahib
and the Memsahib! We shall all be forgotten now. Who cares for sisters
and cousins in these days of civilisation?' But all these little jokes
of the little girls are meant as congratulations to him for having
secured a good girl." At a wedding among the highest families such
as is described here, the bridegroom is presented with drinking cups
and plates, trays for holding sandalwood paste, betel-leaf and an
incense-burner, all in solid silver to the value of about Rs. 1000;
water-pots and cooking vessels and a small bath in German silver
costing Rs. 300 to Rs. 400; and a set of brass vessels. [450]