The Vedic Law of Marriage or The Emancipation of Women

One of the chief obstacles in the way of reform seems to me that the interpretation of the Shastras in favour of reform has not been based on the line of exegesis which would carry convition to the leaders of the orthodox community who attach all importance to the traditional method of interpretation. [...] If the tradition of the time and the land embodied in the current practices and Smritis (law books) conflict with the rules derived from an independent study of the Vedic mantras which are the primary source of law the tradition should give way to the paramount authority of the Veda. [...] What Shri Shankaracharya is said to have done for the religion and philosophy of the Upanishad for the Jnana-kanda of the Veda by freeing the popular religious systems of the day from the pernicious influences of the Smri tis and Agamas—the scriptures of the Bhairava Shakta Saura Ganapatya and other non-Vedic cults and systems of philosophy—and by giving them a broad basis in the pure philoso [...] Whatever duties and responsibilities as to the early education and training of the girl rested on the shoulders of her father or the uncle.or the elder brother in the golden era of the Vedic Aryans these have been transferred to the husband by the act of gift which is soon followed by the more binding ritual called marriage. [...] DIC \.\\' self-control and who as ordained in the Shastras seeks marriage more for the purpose of serving God and humanity than for the satisfaction of the animal passion fills in the first part of the joint life the role of the teacher to the girl-wife and in the fulness of time fills also the role of the protector adviser and life-companion to the woman.