This document discusses the concept and components of family in ancient Indian social life and institutions. It defines family as social groups originating through marriage and blood relations that consist of a husband, wife, and children. The family binds its members through legal, economic, religious, and social ties as well as duties and privileges. It also discusses 12 different types of sons recognized in ancient India, including biological sons, adopted sons, stepsons, and others. Primary duties of the family included legalizing sexual desires, childbirth and care, equal property rights, and work distribution.

1. SEMESTER - IV
AIHC & Arch-C-401: Ancient Indian Social Life and Institutions
Unit II : Marriage and Family
7. Concept and Component of Family
Sachin Kr. Tiwary

2. What is family ?
• Family is social groups that originate in marriage, sometime by blood
relation or adoption, they consist of husband, wife and children born
of their union (relatives (father-mother, brother, sister, grand father-
grand mother sometime also include); they bind members with legal,
economic, and religious bonds as well as duties and privileges; and
they provide a network of sexual privileges and prohibitions, and
varying degrees of love, respect, and affection.
I. Social Groups
II. In Marriage
III. Husband, Wife
IV. Children
V. Relatives
VI. Legal
VII. Economic
VIII.Religious
IX. Duties
X. Privileges
XI. Sexual Privileges
XII. Prohibitions
XIII.Varying Degrees Of Love
XIV.Respect
XV. Affection
XVI. Blood Relation
XVII. Adoption

3. Antiquity and Development
• Since the begging of human,
• It is possible that the issue evolved
with the questions of Right on male or
female and their baby,
• Family is the small unit of Society,
• Family built healthy society,
• Based on Purusharth,

4. Primary duties of Family
• Mutual Legalization of Sexual desire,
• Birth of a Baby, Care of baby and Safety of Baby,
• Equal rights in the family property,
• Work distribution among the family members,
• Rigveda, 10.85.42 and 46- about ashirwachan by Purohit
• Atharwaveda, 2.30.1.3- about joint family
Rights on Property (Animal, Land, Jewelry)
• Division in the property – Jamini Brahman, 3.156
• Call by son for property division- Aitareya Brahman, 5.14; Taittariya Samhita,
3.1.9.4

5. Component
of Family
Father
Mother
Husband
Wife
Son
Daughter

6. 12
Types of
Son
Auras
Kshetraj
Dattak
Kritrim
Goodhaj
Apaviddha
Kaanin
Sahodh
Kritak
Paunarbhava
Swayamdatt
Paarshava

7. 1. Aurasa : Biological son through wife in a normal marriage, where son carries
father’s Y-Chromosome.
2. Putrikaputra : When there is no son, girl is treated as son and her son becomes
legal heir (ex : Babruvahana, born to Arjuna and Chitrangada, but became legal
heir of his maternal-grandfather.)
3. Kshetraja : Wife’s womb but husband is not biological father. (ex: Kunti, Madri
giving birth to pandavas). This can happen even after husband’s death and still
the children born will be treated as deceased father’s heir
4. Dattaka : Adopted through legal method or vedic ritual.
5. Kritima : A child is nourished and brought up as a son, but no adoption rituals
performed. Child grows up and assumes you as parent.
6. Gudhaja : Wife’s secret son, without husband’s knowledge. This child also is
heir of father. Only difference with Kshetraja is, husband’s approval or
knowledge.
12 Types of Children in Ancient India

8. 7. Apaviddha : Rejected child of some parent, but grew up with others. This child
can claim property of person who nourished him, but cannot do pind-daan or
death rituals to ancestors of that family (example : Karna did not or could not
do pind-daan to ancestors of the adhirtha-radha)
8. Kanina : Son born to a lady before her marriage. But he becomes legal heir of
his mother’s future husband. (ex : Karna would have inherited the throne of
Hastinapur after the death of Pandu being his eldest son as per this law, but birth
of Karna was kept secret by Kunti and she revealed the truth only after the death
of Karna. )
9. Sahodha : A son is brought along with the marriage. If a woman was pregnant
at the time of her marriage, the son born to her after her marriage was deemed
to be the son of the man who married her, even though the biological father was
a different man.
10. Krita : He is a purchased son.

9. 11. Paunarbhava : The son of a virgin widow. She after her marriage became a
‘Punarbhu’ (married second time). Such marriages happened when husband
dies during or immediately after marriage and wife is still a virgin. She can re-
marry a person of her choice, but a son born from that marriage belongs to the
family of 1st deceased husband. She can claim rights only from 2nd kid and so
on..
12. Swayamdatta : ‘Self Offered son’ – When an orphaned boy went to some
person and offered himself to be his son and the latter accepted his offer, the
boy in such a case was called Swayamdatta.
• Out of above 12, only 3 : Aurasa, Putrikaputra, Paunarbhava were entitled for full property
of father and also his family’s property (inherited from ancestors).
• 2 more : Kanina and Sahodha were also given rights to ancestral property, only if their
biological father married their mother at a later stage.
• Other 7 : Kshetraja, Dattaka, Kritima, Gudhaja, Apaviddha, Krita, Swayamdatta were
entitled to claim only what was earned by their (social) father or his part of ancestral
property, but not the entire family property. However, they can carry the surname, gotra
etc