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I came across these posts:

After reading these and a couple of more posts on hinduism.stackexchange.com and Quora.com, a weird doubt comes to my mind.

  1. does Vedas, Shastras, Purana's or any other Grantha has any rules on whom to marry or whom not to marry? I seriously never came across any readings where it is written that you can marry your maternal uncle's daughter or paternal aunt's daughter (apart from the arjuna-subhadra story - please correct me if I'm wrong).
  2. If it is right or not a adharma to marry maternal uncle's (Mama) daughter, than why is it wrong to marry maternal aunt's (Masi) daughter? Is there any reference to this in Vedas or Shastras? There is a quarrel on this everywhere! But never a proper justification or logic...

I know this sounds very odd, even to me to be frank, but yeah! I need to know.

Note: I, myself, I'm against such marriages. So please, peace. Just tell me if Vedas and Shastras have this.

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    Yes dharmashastras like Manusmriti, Yajnavalkya Smriti, Baudhayana give rules as to whom one can Marry. And among them cousins are nowhere included. In fact on the fathers side 7 generations and mothers side five generations one can’t Marry.
    – Adiyarkku
    Commented Mar 5, 2021 at 15:22
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    @archit - Yes I agree - on the fathers side 7 generations and mothers side 3 generations one can’t Marry. I know it's also prohibited for Hindus even by Indian law. It's known as Sapinda relation. But that's not my question. Just like the Indian law has few specific points related to this, I expect a specific phrase, shloka our any story from our shastras which points about this.
    – Ashish Srivastava
    Commented Mar 5, 2021 at 17:09
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    You want the quote of Manusmriti, Yajnavalkya saying that you can’t marry in a Sapinda relation?
    – Adiyarkku
    Commented Mar 5, 2021 at 17:13
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    Yes! That would be really nice if I can get some quote/shloka from any of our shastras on it.
    – Ashish Srivastava
    Commented Mar 6, 2021 at 4:24
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    Well there would definitely be another question on this but I can’t find it so is a link to Manu with comparison to others right af the bottom: wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/…
    – Adiyarkku
    Commented Mar 6, 2021 at 6:01

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Yes, Smriti Shastras categorically says whom you can marry and whom you should not. For example,

Manu Smriti 11.171

On having had intercourse with one’s sister born of his father’s sister, or of his mother’s sister, or of his mother’s full brother,—one should perform the Cāndrāyaṇa.

Manu Smriti 11.172

A wise man should never take these three as his wife; being blood-relations, they are not fit to be married; because by marrying them, one sinks low.

Manu Smriti 3.5

She who is not a “sapiṇḍa” of one’s mother, not of the same “Gotra” as his Father, and who is not born of (unlawful) intercourse—has been recommended for marriage.

Manu Smriti 11.170

If one has had sexual intercourse with his uterine sister, or with the wife of his friend, or of his son, or with an unmarried maiden, or with a lowest-born woman,—he should perform the penance prescribed for the ‘violation of the Preceptor’s Bed.’

The answer to your second question is both are adharma. You can not marry the daughter of your maternal uncle or aunt as it is clear from verse 11.171-172.

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    So that means what was followed by Arjuna-Shubadra was adharma? More importantly whatever is followed by the Yadava based clans in the Braja or those in the Dravida-Desha - i.e., inter/cross breeding amongst the maternal cousins - in strict scripture sense all of that is a heinous violation of the scriptures and a big adharma?
    – Vivikta
    Commented Jun 17, 2021 at 12:30
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    @Vivikta Baudhayana says in Dravida desha, one can do that. But beyond that geographic range, one should not follow that custom.
    – Amritendu Mukhopadhyay
    Commented Jun 17, 2021 at 13:39
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    @Vivikta your question is valid and important, and the answer is not easy. Even when Yudhishthira supported the marriage of Draupadi to the 5 brothers he simply gave the logic that "I feel it is Dharma, that's why it is Dharma" though it was not the norm. Something similar situation here also I guess. I am no expert. It is just my opinion.
    – Amritendu Mukhopadhyay
    Commented Jun 17, 2021 at 13:42
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    "Baudhayana says in Dravida desha, one can do that" - But why ?, People there have a different Biology or Spirituality ??. In any way, any marriage involving paternal or maternal ties will lead to an equal chance of "defective-gene-transfer", Scientifically both kind of marriages (involving Paternal or Maternal couples - incest inbreeding) are a BAD IDEA. WIll definitely increase the Chances of genetic disorders.
    – Vivikta
    Commented Jun 17, 2021 at 15:00
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    @Vivikta Well, why Baudhayana said that is difficult to answer for me. However, this article might help you. link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11407-021-09287-7
    – Amritendu Mukhopadhyay
    Commented Jun 17, 2021 at 16:11

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