Condition of a Hindu marriage
There are three conditions:-
1. Identify of cast.
If the parties did not belong to the same caste, the marriage was invalid.
- Ancient Hindu texts prohibited “Pratiloma” between lower cart of male and higher cast of female.
- Ancient Hindu texts allowed “Anuloma” between higher cast of male and lower cats of female.
- Similarly the prohibition on the basis of same gotra
2. Parties to be beyond the prohibited degrees.
- Descendant that one should not marry a wife belonging to the same gotra or having the same pravara.
- A man cannot marry a girl of the same gotra or pravara and they should not be sapindas of each other. The girls and boys were deemed to have descendant from a common ancestor in male line.
3. Performance of marriage.
- There were three stages in the ritual of all forms of Hindu marriage
- The betrothal
- The formalities including the recital of holy texts before the scalar fire.
- The saptapadi gamana.
Even the second stage of the ritual consisting of the invocation before the scared fire and does not form the operative part of the transaction which is really the completion of the saptapadi or the taking seven step by the bridal pairs in the marriage ceremony.