Introduction

A clever man should marry a woman who possesses auspicious physical and spiritual signs. One must first examine these signs and reject a maiden who bears inauspicious traits. 2 For this reason, as far as possible before marriage, one should consult a wise scholar using this Balavani JatakaA specific astrological treatise or system for analyzing birth charts, likely the title of this manuscript to evaluate a girl from a noble family of one's own VarnaSocial class or caste. Through her JanmapatraBirth chart or horoscope, one should consider her appearance, character, virtues, fortune, potential for children, and her faithfulness. Those men who, before marriage, investigate these matters through this book—or, if any flaws are discovered in the girl's horoscope, perform the pacification rituals at the time of the wedding as prescribed in this text—will never encounter sorrows related to their wives, even in their dreams. Throughout their lives in this world, they will enjoy every happiness from their wife's side and will attain the four goals of life: DharmaDuty/Righteousness, ArthaProsperity, KamaPleasure, and MokshaLiberation.

Now, the father of the maiden should abandon the greed for money. Just as the KuyogaInauspicious planetary alignments are described for the bride's side, he should likewise have the groom's horoscope thoroughly examined using male-oriented astrological texts. After observing the groom's virtues and flaws and determining his lifespan and other factors, he should marry the girl to a healthy, handsome, and noble groom who is approximately one and a half times the age of the bride. By acting contrary to this, the girl's mother, father, elder brother, or whoever holds the right of KanyadaanThe ritual act of giving away the bride becomes a participant in the sins of hell.

Nowadays, the PurohitsFamily priests and PadhasVillage teachers or ritualists have established a system where they only haphazardly check eight specific factors in the horoscopes of the bride and groom: the class, dominance, star, temperament, planetary friendship, clan, friendship of categories, and the pulse original: "Varna, Vashya, Tara, Yoni, Graha-maitri, Gana-maitri, Bhakoot, Nadi". Having looked at these eight things in a superficial manner, they proceed fearlessly...