The menace of early marriage in the lives of girls
At times the swayambars would lead to quarrels between
the princes, which would further lead to a bloodbath. But, it must be remembered
that only princesses had their ‘swayambars’ ; there is no mention of the lives of the common men and women in the
texts, which implies that perhaps the ordinary young girl was bound to wed someone pointed out by
her family, or (if she was lucky) could marry someone she loved.
However with the passage of time certain things were
rigidly comparmentalised. The Smrtis
brought down the marriageable age still lower by dividing the marriageable
girls into five classes:
(1) Nagnika or naked,
(2) Gauri, 8
years old,
(3) Rohini, 9
years old,
(4) Kanya, 10
years old and
(5) Rajasvala,
above ten years.
Nagnika
was regarded as the best stage, hence many girls were married at that stage
itself.
It did not help that in Medieval Era
invaders invaded India and looted and plundered everything. Education for women
was completely forgotten: they
remained confined to homes from birth to death, married off in childhood itself
and deprived of all opportunities. Moreover, there was a belief that girls must
be married before puberty. As a result girls who did not get married early
remained unmarried forever. They were considered a burden on their families and
some of them turned to prostitution in order to support themselves.
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