It is deemed acceptable for women
to marry people of higher social status
(hypergamous marriage), because it is
believed that they are improving the sta-
tus of their group by becoming associat-
ed with a higher status group. Marriage
to a man of lower status was strictly for-
bidden, since the exchange of women
implies some sort of equality between
the two groups, and thus drags the com-
munity’s status down. In the dharma lit-
erature, hypogamous marriage was
known as pratiloma, “against the hair”
(i.e., in an unnatural direction). For fur-
ther information see Jadunath Sarkar, A
History of the Dasanami Naga Sanyasis,
1958.
Hypogamous Marriage