The Manu Smriti is considered to be one of the eight ancient sacred books that are considered to govern a Hindu marriage. This book contains detailed descriptions and explanations about how a married man or woman can live up to the true principles of their religion and their respective countries. The primary concern of these books, according to those that have written on the subject, is to establish a union between two souls who are bound to work together in order to achieve divine goals. They are also designed to assist in leading a person to complete his/her yoga and other spiritual endeavors in life. In other words, they are used to provide a divine lesson to the individuals that embark on them.
Many of the more traditionalists agree with the idea that the divine lessons found within the book of Manu Smriti exist to simply guide people into holy matrimony. Indeed, they believe that these books teach a person how to live by faith and the norms of the society whichwere prevalent at that time alone. This means that a person must first be certain that he is following the correct path. Then he should be blessed by the presence of the Lord. Once that is completed, he may expect that the divine relationship between him and his partner will naturally unfold without any extra effort on the part of either soul or person.
Some people are concerned that if such divine instructions are ignored and a marriage is entered into with little or no devotion to the higher powers, then there is no guarantee that the marriage will last. This may not necessarily be true on account of the different culures and thoughts prevailing in those places and cultures . There are a number of cultures that have survived for centuries without any trace of organized religion. On the other hand, civilizations that practiced ritual marriage had a much lower or no rate of divorce. That does mean that divine guidance is relevant when it comes to marriage. It simply means that one must practice the proper disciplines required for marriage before expecting the relationship to be blessed with divine blessing.
There are eight types of marriages in the Manu Smriti. The first two categories are for arranged marriages. In these marriages, both the husband and the wife freely choose their partners and both are treated with respect. They can do whatever they like with their spouse, as long as it does not hurt the other. A few specific rules apply to arrange marriages, such as having the groom perform the ‘nuptial puja’ for his bride and avoiding taking oaths or making commitments in front of other people.
The fourth category is for love marriages. In these marriages, there is no gender imbalance, which means both the man and the woman are treated equally in the marriage ceremony. The couple’s relatives may come to bless the couple and share blessings between them before the marriage ceremony.
The fifth category is for monogamous marriages. In this type of marriage, both the man and the woman are perfectly happy with their partner’s and neither wants to get married again. They follow their own consensuses after getting married. A couple who is in this marriage ceremony may not have a lot of worldly or divine relations because their consensuses are usually set before getting married. The couple may enjoy their honeymoon, go for Prasadam, pray to the Ganges, go for meditation or any divine or secular activity.
The sixth category is for unhappy marriages. In these marriages, the couple has to struggle a lot for their love and happiness. The first marriage usually failed because the parents did not spend enough time and money to strengthen the marriage relationship. This caused lack of passion, attachment, dedication and commitment from the couple and ultimately, unhappiness and divorce.
The seventh type is for unhappy love marriages. In these marriages, either party may be unhappy with the other. There may be physical violence or mental abuse or sexual harassment at some point of time. Manu Smriti and other Indian divine marriage rituals offer a chance to fix such marriages by performing the right rituals and by following the divine teachings that help in creating a happy home.