Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage

Abstract

Marriage is a union of man and woman commonly said to be settled in a heaven and performed on the earth. Those who believe in god worship, rejoice when it is performed. Those who believe only in the scientific origin of mankind, find it as a necessity compelled by biological reasons to further the great race of human beings. Either way it directly regulates life in its onward transmission to the next generation, and is therefore a permanent institution acknowledged in both religion and science. Marriage among the Hindus is a necessary sanskar for begetting a son, for discharging his debt to his ancestors and for performing religious and spiritual duties. Marriage, as a sacrament necessarily implied a permanent, eternal and indissoluble union and divorce was considered out of question. This indissoluble aspect of the Hindu marriage is thus expressed by Manu: