Bahuvivaha literally means many marriages. The term refers to the practice of polygamy. As in many other countries of the world, in ancient India too, one could marry more than one spouse at a time. There are many instances of polyandry and numerous instances of polygamy in ancient times. Hinduism, however, never approved of such practices as a general rule, as is made clear in Taittiriya Samhita (6.6.4.3). For a Hindu householder, dharma (observance of duty), praja (procreation) and rati (erotic pleasure) had been prescribed as purposes of a marriage, in that order of priority.
Though monogamy was the ideal, polygamy was permitted on
certain grounds. A man could take more wives on the grounds of sickness, insanity,
infidelity of the first wife, her inability to beget a child, sterility or
cruelty towards husband.
Manu (IX.96) says that a woman desires progeny and a man
desires continuation of family; therefore in religious matters they are equal,
but a son is also important for religious rites and, therefore, a second wife
is permissible.
In practice, however, the kshatriyas had many wives. The
first one was called dharmapatni – meaning one who is taken for performing duties
of a grihasta (house-holder), while the rest are called ‘kamyapatni;, i.e.
those for pleasure. In the Middle Ages, it was a matter of prestige to have
many wives. The Kulina vivahas in Bengal were extreme case of bahuvivaha in
which a man married as many as fifty or more women.
Modern laws prohibit polygamy of any type. In 1860, laws to
this effect were passed and the Hindu code, adopted after independence, makes
bigamy an offence but provides for divorce on certain specified grounds.