Understanding Marriage

"O Husband and wife, reside together here. Do not separate and attain fulfilment of your ages together with your children and grandchildren in this home.” This shloka from the Rigveda preaches the path of life before attaining 'Grihastha'.

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The essence of marriage is ordinarily defined as a conjunction of two adults who wish to spend their lives together. However, the quintessence of this unification, lucidly explains the need of men and women to be together in their course of life. In Hinduism, marriage is an institution. It is not merely a social contract, but an extended amalgamation of rights and virtues to be undertaken by men and women. It is more than a temporary agreement of a woman to a man, over a folded knee and a ring. It is the attainment of the Grihastha (leading a family life) stage to accomplish one of the Purusharthas vital in running the chariot of life.

Marriage, thus, by and large, divulges the idea of the progression of life into an elevated level of responsibilities and coexistence.

Marriage has been written as the most significant religious sacrament, according to the Manav Dharma stras or Grihya Stras of the Vedas. Written approximately around 200 B.C., Manu Samhita advises the code of conduct of a married couple. To understand the essentiality of marriage, a broader classification of Vedic terminology demands a deeper understanding. The rituals or the Samsakaras form a silhouette of beautiful ceremonies implying the development of one's self on the path of Dharmic living. It is these Samsakaras that provide spiritual awareness and upliftment of social consciousness to men and women in society.

The Purusharthas And The Stages Of Life