Hindu Marriage – An Overview

Marriage is a Sacred Bond and Pledge

A person’s real journey of self- growth from self-centeredness to other-centeredness begins with marriage. The seeds of ethics and morality that a child receives in his subconscious from the family and environment start sprouting and growing rapidly after marriage. The virtues of love and devotion, self-control and sacrifice, piety and forbearance, etc. have ample opportunities to develop fully in married life. The family is a school of achieving perfection in all spheres of life and the marriage marks an admission to this school. As the foundation of primary education is essential for the students in order to pursue higher studies; in the same way, the institution of marriage is of paramount importance in the proper nurturing of family life. In order to inculcate this objective, Vedas advise the bridegroom to proclaim:

Gribhnami te saubhagatvaya hastam mayapatya jardastirayathasah|
Bhagoaryyamma savita purandhiramahyam tvadurgaharpatya devah||

That is – “Oh dear! On this auspicious occasion of our life, I take your hand in mine in the presence of invoked deities. Oh blessed woman! You be with me as a fortunate partner for a very long time. I hand over the control of my family in your hands, discharge your duties joyously.”

There is hardly a social institution in the entire ascent of Human Race and the civilisation which has come under so much of criticism, has been a basis of humour, ridicule and sarcasm and yet withstood robustly the test of time as the “marriage”. It is one of those institutions which differentiates man from being called just “a two legged animal” and bears testimony of his capability of organised behaviour; it is one of those institutions that distinguish “society” from what could otherwise would be a simply termed as “a herd of human beings”. Ironically, the institution has existed through the millennia of human existence on what could be correctly termed as “unstable equilibrium” where a microscopic change would cause a catastrophic effect, like a huge rock meticulously balanced on the mountain peak. That is what makes the analysis of this institution a philosophers’ delight.

The Hindu marriage has espoused a great interest in the West not only because it is one of the oldest in the human history but the kind of mystic aura that surrounds it and the various religious rites and rituals that are involved in it. For some strange reasons the West has been under the impression that the Hindus are obsessed with fidelity and celibacy and propose a forced human behaviour though the reality has been completely contrary to the commonly perceived beliefs.



The Hindu marriage is a carefully crafted, a beautifully sculpted institution and, like many concepts in the Hindu tradition, it is soaked in the acute and careful understanding of human nature.