kills his long-standing adversary Karna,
who is actually his own half brother.
After destroying the Kauravas in
the Mahabharata war, Arjuna serves
his elder brother, Yudhishthira,
who becomes king; after the conflict,
however, the need for such a warrior
has passed.
Arjuna is also known as a listener. At
the moment when the great war is about
to begin, Arjuna has sudden doubts
about the propriety of killing his friends
and relatives, even during a just war. To
allay his doubts and to help him regain
his resolve, his charioteer Krishna
recites the Bhagavad Gita, one of the
single most influential Hindu religious
texts. The Gita’s advice on the nature of
Self, struggle, and the search for God has
served to counsel those fighting literal
and metaphorical battles, most notably
Mohandas K. Gandhiduring the struggle
for Indian independence.
Arranged Marriage
A marriage that is arranged by the
parents of the bride and groom,
although it has become fairly common
for the prospective couple to meet
beforehand to assess whether or not
they are compatible.
Although this practice seems strange
by mainstream American standards,
proponents of arranged marriages see
them as better and longer lasting than
love marriages. It is assumed that with
arranged marriages parents will be able
to take a more detached and rational
perspective. They will usually choose
spouses who come from similar social
and economic backgrounds, in many
cases from the same jati, or social sub-
group. Parents may compare their chil-
dren’s horoscopes for clues, and they
may also try to match people with com-
patible personalities. Ideally, all of this is
done with great care and with the
understanding that their highest priori-
ty will be their children’s long-term wel-
fare. Marriage is widely seen as the most
important event in a person’s life since it
is the basis of family life, and the family
is the foundation of society. Part of the
marriage negotiations between the two
sides includes whether or not the bride
will have a dowry, and if she will, what
this will be.
One of the assumptions with
arranged marriages is that men and
womenwill play fairly traditional roles.
This gives the couple some idea of what
to expect and what is expected of them,
but it can also be confining for people
who do not wish to fulfill such roles. At
least in northern India, the adjustments
often fall much more heavily on the new
bride, since she will become part of her
husband’s family.
Arranged marriages are still extremely
popular among modern Hindu families,
and many young people would not
dream of fixing their own marriages. A
practical consideration supporting the
popularity of arranged marriages is that
it is often difficult for young people to
meet and develop the friendships that
could lead to love marriages. Indian
society is still very sex segregated. Social
interaction between unrelated single
men and women is still uncommon in
villages and smaller towns, although this
pattern is breaking down in larger cities
since more women are working outside
the home.
In both contexts the biggest mixing
place tends to be the college or
university, but even there women and
men tend to associate in groups
rather than as individuals. In a society
in which contact is limited, and formal
dating even more unusual, an arranged
marriage is often the best way to find
a compatible spouse.Arsha Marriage
One of the eight ways to perform
a marriage recognized in the Dharma
Shastras, the treatises on religious
duty (dharma). In an arsha marriage,
the bride’s father receives a pair of cattle
from the bridegroom with the under-
standing that the cattle are to be used
for sacrifice.Arranged Marriage