प्राचीन भारत में शिक्षा (डॉ. ए.एस. अल्तेकर - गुरुकुल एवं बौद्ध विहार शिक्षण इतिहास)

216 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. period however permit the postponement of a girl's marriage to the age of 16 or 17 in case a suitable match could not be arranged.¹ Manu, though in favour of a marriage at 12 in normal circumstances, was prepared to contemplate the possibility of a girl remaining unmarried to the end of her life, if no suitable bridegroom could be found.² Later writers, however, of this period like Yājñavalkya,³ Saṁvarta⁴ and Yama,⁵ most vehemently condemn the guardian who fails to marry a girl before the attainment of the puberty. This condemnation had the natural effect ; from Alberuni we learn that in the 11th century Hindus used to marry at an early age, and that a Brahmana was never allowed to marry a girl above the age of 12.⁶ Many marriages must have taken place much earlier, for the Smṛitis written at the end of this period begin to glorify the merits of a girl's marriage at the age of 7, 8, or 9.⁷ When it was regarded as an ideal thing to celebrate a girl's marriage at so young an age, female education could hardly prosper. Female Education in cultured Families :— Though in society as a whole female education received

1. E. g., Va. Dh. S , कुमारी ऋतुमती त्रीणि वर्षाण्युपासीत । ऊर्ध्वं त्रिभ्यो वर्षेभ्यः पतिं विन्देत्तुल्यम् । XVII. 59 See also Vishṇu, 24, 41.
2. काममामरणात्तिष्ठेद्गृहे कन्यर्तुमत्यपि । न चैवैनां प्रयच्छेत्तु गुणहीनाय कर्हिचित् ॥ IX, 89.
3. अप्रयच्छन्समाप्नोति भ्रूणहत्यां ऋतौ ऋतौ । I, 64.
4. I, 67. 5. I, 22.
5. Sachau, II, 131.
6. See Āśvalāyana, Saṁvarta, Kāśyapa etc. quoted in VMS., p. 767.