Shloka 16
पुंसां क्रिया-विभागः, संस्काराः, नामकरणम्, विवाहविधानम्
वर्षैर् एकगुणां भार्याम् उद्वहेत् त्रिगुणः स्वयम् नातिकेशाम् अकेशां वा नातिकृष्णां न पिङ्गलाम्
varṣair ekaguṇāṃ bhāryām udvahet triguṇaḥ svayam nātikeśām akeśāṃ vā nātikṛṣṇāṃ na piṅgalām
A man who has reached thrice her years should take a wife younger by a single measure of years. Yet he should choose neither one excessively hairy nor one lacking hair; neither one overly dark nor one tawny or pale—thus does dharma counsel moderation and fitness in the household order.
Sage Parāśara (in instruction to Maitreya within the dharma discourse)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Gārhasthya norms: appropriate marriage matching and moderation in choosing a spouse
Teaching: Ethical
Quality: authoritative
Concept: Marriage should be entered with proportional age considerations and with moderation in selection, avoiding extremes, so that gārhasthya supports dharma and social order.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Make long-term commitments with discernment and balance—avoid extreme criteria and prioritize character, health, and shared dharmic aims.
Vishishtadvaita: Householder life is affirmed as a dharmic support of the world (loka-saṅgraha) when regulated by śāstra—an embodied, relational mode of serving the Lord’s order.
FAQs
This verse frames marriage as a regulated, dharma-governed institution: personal choices are subordinated to balance and social stability, which the Purana treats as part of the world-order ultimately upheld by Vishnu.
He gives practical norms—age proportion and avoidance of extreme physical traits—presenting suitability as moderation, harmony, and the avoidance of extremes that could disturb household and social equilibrium.
Even when the topic is social conduct, the Vishnu Purana treats dharma as an expression of cosmic order; living by such rules aligns human life with the sustaining principle identified with Vishnu.