The Kama Sutra

One who is kept concealed.

One who has an ill-sounding name.

One who has her nose depressed.

One who has her nostril turned up.

One who is formed like a male.

One who is bent down.

One who has crooked thighs.

One who has a projecting forehead.

One who has a bald head.

One who does not like purity.

One who has been polluted by another.

One who is afflicted with the Gulma.[46]

One who is disfigured in any way.

One who has fully arrived at puberty.

One who is a friend.

One who is a younger sister.

One who is a Varshakari.[47]

In the same way a girl who is called by the name of one of the

twenty-seven stars, or by the name of a tree, or of a river, is

considered worthless, as also a girl whose name ends in "r" or "l." But

some authors say that prosperity is gained only by marrying that girl to

whom one becomes attached, and that therefore no other girl but the one

who is loved should be married by anyone.

When a girl becomes marriageable her parents should dress her smartly,

and should place her where she can be easily seen by all. Every

afternoon, having dressed her and decorated her in a becoming manner,

they should send her with her female companions to sports, sacrifices,

and marriage ceremonies, and thus show her to advantage in society,

because she is a kind of merchandise. They should also receive with kind

words and signs of friendliness those of an auspicious appearance who

may come accompanied by their friends and relations for the purpose of

marrying their daughter, and under some pretext or other having first

dressed her becomingly, should then present her to them. After this they

should await the pleasure of fortune, and with this object should

appoint a future day on which a determination could be come to with

regard to their daughter's marriage. On this occasion when the persons

have come, the parents of the girl should ask them to bathe and dine,

and should say, "Everything will take place at the proper time," and

should not then comply with the request, but should settle the matter

later.

When a girl is thus acquired, either according to the custom of the

country, or according to his own desire, the man should marry her in

accordance with the precepts of the Holy Writ, according to one of the

four kinds of marriage.

Thus ends marriage.

There are also some verses on the subject as follows:--

Amusement in society, such as completing verses begun by others,

marriages, and auspicious ceremonies should be carried on neither with

superiors, nor inferiors, but with our equals. That should be known as a

high connection when a man, after marrying a girl, has to serve her and

her relations afterwards like a servant, and such a connection is

censured by the good. On the other hand, that reproachable connection,

where a man, together with his relations, lords it over his wife, is

called a low connection by the wise. But when both the man and the woman

afford mutual pleasure to each other, and when the relatives on both

sides pay respect to one another, such is called a connection in the

proper sense of the word. Therefore a man should contract neither a high

connection by which he is obliged to bow down afterwards to his kinsmen,

nor a low connection, which is universally reprehended by all.