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96
KOPAL-KUNDALA.
morning wind. She said, "What pleasure has the flower? That I cannot say. I have never been a flower and bloomed; but had I been a bud like you, then I should have found pleasure in blooming."
Shama was the wife of a Kulin.[1]
- ↑ This means that Shama never or scarcely ever was blessed with the sight of her husband. Large sums are paid by fathers of girls for Kulin bridegrooms. A Kulin Brahman girl, to preserve her caste and social position intact, must be married to a Kulin bridegroom. So it happens that Kulin youths are sometimes married to ten or twenty different wives. They can visit the houses of their numerous fathers-in-law, and are not only well entertained when there, but expect a present on coming away. There have been cases in which poor fathers of Kulin girls have taken them and had them wedded to old men on the point of death. They cannot afford to pay for a young and suitable bridegroom, and it is an indelible disgrace for their daughters to remain unmarried. On the other hand, Brahmans of lower family have to pay for a bride, and a Piroli or a Bhuttacharjya may reach the age of thirty-five before he can afford to marry. The state of things is not so bad as it used to be. The feeling of the upper classes of Hindoos is strongly in favour of monogamy, and a Kulin who marries many wives is regarded with some contempt and aversion. For instance, a Kulin weds the daughter of a rich Tagore (Piroli) family. The wife is the mistress and probably remains on in her father's house. The husband falls into the position of a sort of paid retainer and loses respect and dignity. Even among the Mussulmans one wife is the rule. In case of barrenness, or misconduct of the first wife, a second wife is married nika. But, in the absence of sufficient cause, the man who inflicts a sotin (co-wife) on his first wife is considered worthy of blame.
