The righteous condemn the practice of begetting issue upon Sudra women. A
Brahmana, by begetting children upon a Sudra woman, incurs the liability
of performing an expiation. A person of thirty years of age should wed a
girl of ten years of age called a Nagnika.[279] Or, a person of one and
twenty years of age should wed a girl of seven years of age. That girl
who has no brother nor father should not be wed, O chief of Bharata's
race, for she may be intended as Putrika of her sire.[280] After the
appearance of puberty, the girl (if not married) should wait for three
years. On the fourth year, she should look for a husband herself (without
waiting any longer for her kinsmen to select one for her). The offspring
of such a girl do not lose their respectability, nor does union with such
a girl become disgraceful. If, instead of selecting a husband for
herself, she acts otherwise, she incurs the reproach of Prajapati
herself. One should wed that girl who is not a Sapinda of one's mother or
of the same Gotra with one's father. Even this is the usage (consistent
with the sacred law) which Manu has declared.'[281]
"Yudhishthira said, 'Desirous of marriage someone actually gives a dower
to the girl's kinsmen; someone says, the girl's kinsmen consenting
promises to give a dower; someone says, 'I shall abduct the girl by
force;' someone simply displays his wealth (to the girl's kinsmen,
intending to offer a portion thereof as dower for her); someone, again,
actually takes the hand of the girl with rites of wedding.
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