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STUDIES IN THE BHAGAWATI SUTRA
[Ch. IV ladies (avidhavavahu-uvaṇīyaṁ) with the blessing words in accom. paniment of vocal and instrumental music (giyavaiya) was caused to accept the hands of eight brides who also performed similar auspicious ceremonies just before the celebration of the marriage which was solemnized by the holding of their hands by the bridegroom at a time on the same day.
The terms 'Avidhava-vahu-uvaṇīyam" used here in connection with the performance of the marriage ceremony of prince Maha bala denote that the auspicious articles such as Tilaka' and 'Kankana (sacred band) etc. were brought near the bridegroom by the not-widowed housewives (i. e. married ladies). And they clearly imply that the widows were not associated with the marriage ceremony, perhaps with the superstitious belief that some misfortune might befall the married couple due to their participation in the same.
The BhS provides a long list of marriage gifts and other necessaries of life presented by the parents of the prince, Mahā. bala to his eight wives, such as, money, ornaments, dresses, metal images of various goddesses, auspicious articles, palaces with their respective flags and banners, articles of furniture, lights, various kinds of utensils, contingents of palace-staff, different classes of transports, eight herds of cattle, each consisting of ten thousand cows, eight villages, each having ten thousand families, etc.
As regards the contingents of palace-staff they have already been discussed in detail in the administrative section of the third chapter on 'Political conditions' under the heading 'palacestaff', while the dresses and ornaments, palaces and articles of furniture, etc. are dealt with in this chapter under the titles 'Dresses and ornaments', 'Houses' and 'Articles of furniture' respectively. And the villages, herds of cattle, images of goddesses, money and various kinds of transports will be
12 BhS, 11, 11, 430.
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13
8 Ib. The population of ten thousand families in a village seems to be an exaggeration, perhaps it is the favourite figure of those days referred to in the BhS.
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