cannot be carried out in the individual self, but must be gradually worked out through a continuous line of sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons. The motive of marriage was therefore sacred. It was a religious purpose they had in view, when the male and female individuals contributed by marital union their assistance, first, in the propagation of the human race; second, in spreading the Zoroastrian faith; and third, in giving stability to the religious kingdom of God by contributing to the victory of the good cause, which victory will be complete about the time of resurrection. The objects of the marriage bond were, therefore, purely religious, tending to the success of light, piety or virtue in this world. For this reason the Avesta declares that married men are far above those who remain single; that those who have a settled home are far above those who have none; and that those who have children are of far greater value to humanity than those who have no offspring.
While daughters were believed to be less useful than sons for the continuation of the father's race, they were, however, not disliked, but also objects of love and tenderness. Marriages were not the result of any barter or capture, but of pure selection on the part of the two individuals. If they were still of minor age, the marriage was subject to the confirmation of the parents or guardians.
Infanticide was strictly prohibited. There were also laws against the destruction of the fruit of adultery. Such illegitimate offspring had to be fed and brought up at the expense of the male sinner until they became seven years of age.
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Like the valleys of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, and like the highlands of Central Asia, or Ariyana, so the mountains, plains and forests of India were inhabited long before the dawn of history by masses of men of various races and split into many hundreds of tribes. Of these races descendants exist in almost the same conditions as their ancestors did many thousand years ago. In Southern India the Kader are still living in primitive tree-huts. Assam and Bhutan are regions abounding with villages which are the exact counterparts of the pre-historical lake-dwellings of Switzerland.
These vast regions of India were at some unknown time invaded by tribes of Aryan or Indo-Germanic race. While among the aborigines of India women were subjected to all the hardships and bad treatment of primeval times, the women of the Aryans enjoyed, as stated above, a far higher position. Like their husbands they were the "rulers of the house," had the entire management of household affairs, and were allowed to appear freely in public. Husband and wife also drew near
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