This is not a study of the different types of marriage described in the classical Sanskrit texts; studies of this kind are available elsewhere in the scholarly literature. This article intends to examine the sūtra and śāstra texts dealing with the forms of marriage. A variety of texts —prose and verse; dharma, artha, and gṛhya— lay down rules for the same subject-matter. What are their individual characteristics? How do they relate to one another? No definitive answers will be obtained from a restricted analysis such as this. This is only a case study, leading to a number of general observations. But if the same type of analysis is repeated for various other topics, we may hope to come to a better understanding of the nature and scope of this branch —or, these branches— of Sanskrit literature.

Ten different texts will be drawn into the discussion: four prose Dharmasūtras, one Gṛhyasūtra, three versified Dharmaśāstras, one dharma text in which prose and verse alternate, and one text on artha. They are the following:

Āpastamba (Āp) 2.5.11.17–12.2

Gautama (G) 4.4–11

BaudhĀyana (Bau) 1.11.20.2–9

Vasiṣṭha (Va) 1.30–35

Āśvalāyana (Āśv) 1.6.1–8

Manu (M) 3.27–34

Yājnavalkya (Y) 1.58–61

Nārada (N) 12.40–43

Viṣṇu (Vi) 24.19–26

Kauṭilya (Kau) 3.2.2–9

Eight of these ten texts agree in listing eight different types of marriage. The names are identical, but for one exception. Y alone includes a type called kāya, which obviously stands for the usual prājāpatya: ka is an accepted synonym for prajāpati (cf. also M 3.38).