The cross or the poundWhich? A talk on the modernization of civilization in India with application to the Hindu and Hinduism . ation is poor,although not poverty stricken, save when the cropsfail or a plague ravages. It is to be found at thebest in the villages, and there, weddings, as allother elaborated affairs of which the Oriental isfond, become events varying in importance as meansat command enable. Whatever the standing theimpulse to make a display is the same, and extrav-agance in this direction has kept many a father inthe money-lenders grip throughout a succeedinglifetime. Marriage is
The cross or the poundWhich? A talk on the modernization of civilization in India with application to the Hindu and Hinduism . ation is poor,although not poverty stricken, save when the cropsfail or a plague ravages. It is to be found at thebest in the villages, and there, weddings, as allother elaborated affairs of which the Oriental isfond, become events varying in importance as meansat command enable. Whatever the standing theimpulse to make a display is the same, and extrav-agance in this direction has kept many a father inthe money-lenders grip throughout a succeedinglifetime. Marriage is a religious duty, and onlythe greatly deformed or hopelessly diseased remainsingle. Monogamy is the rule, a plurality of wives beingrarely known, although among the Brahmins thereis a special and limited caste who have the privil-ege, but it is becoming less availed of each year. Di-vorces, as hitherto remarked, are wholly prohibited,and for no cause whatever can such be may be for grevious offenses. Theyare not frequent, neither the man or the womanbeing permitted to remarry ; while at the same time. 213 THE TIE THAT BINDS. the man continues to contribute toward the womanssupport. If, after seven years married life, nochildren have come to bless a union, a second wifemay be espoused while the first one is steps are taken to utilize this privilege, whichis not easy to have sanctioned, the first wife is gen-erally as anxious as the husband to secure it. The young wife, brought to the husbands home,takes a subordinate place, and it is not exceptionalto find three or four generations under a single combined earnings go into a common fund,and usually the older of the males is the ^ Karta,or head of the family. Next to him in authorityis the Grihini, or chief wife, who may be theconsort of the Karta or his mother. Her prideis the home, which is, in truth, her castle, and theceaseless activity she maintains in it, is the trainingwhich assures
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