Nature of Hindu Marriage

Hindu Marriage as Sanskar :
Marriage among the Hindus was treated to be as sanskar (Sacrament) and the matrimonial bond was thought to be eternal and indissoluble (Parasara Grihasutra I, 1, 5-10). According to old law a Hindu marriage subsisted not only during the life time of the spouses but continued to subsist in subsequent existence also. A Hindu widow was thus not allowed to remarry because she was never thought to be separated from her husband, even when her husband was deceased. The death of the husband did not dissolve the Hindu marriage.
In V.Tulasamma v. Sesha Reddy, (1977) it was held that unlike marriage under Muslim law, Hindu marriage is a sacrament. The wife is completely transplanted into the household of the husband and takes a new birth as a partner of the husband, thus becoming a part and parcel of the body of the husband. Therefore, the position of wife is that of half the body of the husband.
According to Hindu believes, marriage is necessary because the continuity of family line is essential and this continuity depended on the presence of a male issue as his daughter always belonged to the other family. The Moksha is obtainable through sons and grand sons only. It was said that those who had wives could fulfill their due obligations in this world, those that had wives, truly lead a family life, those that had wives could be happy and those that had wives could lead a full life.
For a Hindu woman, marriage was the only sanskar, which could purify her body for taking part in religious rites. It was also a view that the women were created for the sake of sons. The texts declared that a Hindu was not completely born till he took a wife and gave birth to a son. The wife and son made a man complete and perfect as well as fortunate. A married man received respects from the society and was much adored than a chronic bachelor.
Manu declared that, 'where women are honoured, there the Gods are pleased, but where they are not honoured, no sacred rites yields reward'. Where female relations live in grief, the family soon wholly perishes, but that family where they are not unhappy, ever prosper.
The Hindu belief was that the husband and wife were united to each other not merely in that life till death, but even after death in the other world.
Marriage regulates sexual behaviour. It was a religious necessity too, because the Mukti of a Hindu depended upon the existence of a 'son', who alone could carry him to heaven and deliver him from the 'Put Narka'. Hindu marriage was thus declared a 'Sacrament'. In H.B.Singh v. T.N.H.Ongbi, (1959) the High Court observed that Hindu Shastras declare Hindu marriage a sanskar and its purpose was to perpetuate the family by the birth of the sons. The High Court further declared that a Hindu marriage was a social institution then.
Hindu Marriage as Contract
After the enactment of Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 the Hindu scholars are mostly of the view that the Hindu marriage is no more a sacrament but is acquiring the shape of a civil contract. This conclusion may be tested with the reference to the following situations:
I. Is the marriage tie dissoluble : If the marriage tie is created by Mantras, it can be dissolved only by other prescribed Mantras, if any. No such Mantras exist and so the Hindu Marriage is indissoluble. Manu says : ld`r~ dU;k iznh;rsA A maiden is goven only once (in marriage). This is because there is no other religious ceremony for undoing the effect of the marriage ceremony. This shows that the Hindu marriage is a sacrament.
II. Marriage of an impotent person: Under the English Law Marriage of an impotent person is void for he cannot fulfill the duties imposed by the contract of marriage. Since under the Hindu Law marriage is not contract, the question arises whether an impotent person can validly marry under that system of law. In this regard it is noted that the Smriti texts provide that an impotent male is excluded from inheritance, but his children can claim a share. No doubt the Smritis contemplate such a person having children by Niyoga (i.e.,appointing a near male relation to raise up issue on his wife). This Niyoga practice was condemned by Manu and long ago became obsolete. In the light of this we have to consider whether the marriage of an impotent person can be considered valid.
III. Marriage of a Lunatic: it is a ground of voidable marriage.
However, in conclusion we may say that Hindu marriage has not ceased to be a sacrament fully, because a Hindu marriage is still valid inspite of the absence of the consent of the parties to marriage provided the consent is not obtained by fraud and force. A Hindu marriage is still solemnized by a Pandit or Purohit which gives a sacramental character and during marriage certain matrimonial ceremonies which are either vedic or customary in nature are performed and last a Hindu marriage is not a civil contract, though it has some resemblance to it because of its dissoluble character.

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