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In Bhagwad Gita (4:13) lord Krishna said

Four classes have been created by me, based on the division of guna and action

The four varnas are Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Shudras.

Based on the varna compatibility for marriages as per astrology, the overall scenario is

Groom varna >= Bride varna (Allowed)

Groom varna < Bride varna (Not allowed)

From this answer, the conclusive lines for marriage compatibility based on caste are

Groom caste = bride caste (Allowed, Encouraged)

Groom caste > bride caste (Allowed, Not encouraged)

Groom caste < bride caste (Not Allowed)

So, I can draw the following conclusion for marriage compatibility, either based on varna or caste

Groom >= Bride (Allowed)

Groom < Bride (Not allowed)

So, scriptures are clearly stating that if a groom is higher than a bride in terms of either varna or caste, then the marriage between them is allowed.

But since some scriptures may contain different views other than the sources I provided, I am asking the following question.

Is there any explicit statement from any scripture forbidding a bride to marry a groom of higher caste(kula)/varna/jati etc.,

hanugm
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  • @moonstar2001 Satyabhama may not be a Kshatriya "Satyabhama was the daughter of Satrajit, the royal treasurer of Dwaraka". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satyabhama#Marriage – Yogi Apr 15 '17 at 11:56
  • Inter varna is not entirely prohibited. See, for example, the Vyasa Smriti quote in my answer here – Rickross Apr 15 '17 at 12:26
  • @Rickross Yeah, out of all 16 possibilities, 10 combinations are allowed,,, only 6 are forbidden.... – hanugm Apr 15 '17 at 12:32
  • @hanugm Scriptures only talk about inter Varna marriages. But every caste (kula or Jati) has a Varna. This should be decided accordingly. – The Destroyer Apr 15 '17 at 13:05
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    @hanugm. No. Krishna did not belong to the shepherd caste. He was born a chandravamshi kshatriya and grew up in a vysya household (nanda and yasoda were vysyas). Krishna's caste is kshatriya. His varna is also kshatriya. You do not seem to understand the meaning of either. –  Apr 15 '17 at 13:40
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    @Yogi. A kshatriya need not only be a king. He can be a soldier, a policeman , a vassal or someone who serves in the king's court in various capacities . That he is a kshatriya refers to his birth not to his occupation. We have had sudra kings too. They are still sudra and their varna does not change. –  Apr 15 '17 at 13:43
  • @moonstar2001 Krishna's varna is Kshetriya. But I believe that his caste is yadava, bcoz he/ balarama didn't become king due to the curse of Yayathi to yadavas. Isn't it? – hanugm Apr 15 '17 at 13:50
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    @hanugm Both Krishna and Satyabhama were descendants of Yadu. – Keshav Srinivasan Apr 15 '17 at 14:46
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    @hanugm Yadava dynasty is a kshatriya dynasty- King Yadu is the progenitor of this dynasty. They are not shepherds as is popularly believed. –  Apr 15 '17 at 17:08
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    The vedas do not speak to sub castes nor do they speak to inter marriage. Inter marriage is spoken of in different smritis and the 'rules' vary across the country. It is mostly a matter of local custom. – Swami Vishwananda Apr 16 '17 at 09:59
  • @SwamiVishwananda, if Vedas were the Only guide book, 99% of humans would be lost and suffering. We need smritis, dharma shastras, itihasas to lead us on the right path. You are making it sound like anything not written in Vedas is pointless and annoying. Do we have access to the entire Veda shakha? Most of it is lost. Maybe all thee rules are mentioned in the lost portion of Vedas. Discarding everything other than just the top 10 upanishads is .. probably a path for sanyasis. But even they have duty to guide normal folks and for that smritis are needed. And Smritis are mostly against it. – ram Apr 25 '17 at 05:26
  • Smritis are not always reliable.
    'The Smritis and the Puranas are productions of men of limited intelligence and are full of fallacies, errors, the feelings of class and malice. Only parts of them breathing broadness of spirit and love are acceptable, the rest are to be rejected. The Upanishads and the Gita are the true scriptures.' The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 6/Epistles - Second Series/CXXIV Sir     – Pradip Gangopadhyay Apr 25 '17 at 05:46
  • Those who are confusing between Varna, Jati and Caste, please read [https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/q/157/70]. – Vineet Menon Apr 25 '17 at 05:47
  • @moonstar2001 Varna was never ever based on birth, It is what you do. lets say My brother is in army and my father is a business man. So father is vsaya and brother is khatriya. – Ritesh.mlk Apr 26 '17 at 07:24
  • @ram you are partially right that we need other books, But other books are based on Vedas itself. Vedas are shruti's kind of poems which always have deeper meanings. which can not be understood by simple sanskrit. Ancient Rishi's were reading vedas for 4-500 years for several births. – Ritesh.mlk Apr 26 '17 at 07:27
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    @Rishi- That's not correct. I commented in detail at other places. Birth is very important for varna/caste. In kaliyuga, most people do not adhere to their caste's designated dharmas. That does not make birth invalid. It is the dharma that is mutated. –  Apr 26 '17 at 11:49
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    @PradipGangopadhyay, if Smritis are not reliable, neither are people's understanding of Vedas. One cannot merely read Sanskrit text of Vedas and understand their inner meanings. Smritis are the bhashyas / explanations of Vedic sutras. I'm saying we need both Vedas and Smritis. Btw, Gita is part of itihasa (Mahabharatha) so it is also Smriti. – ram Apr 26 '17 at 12:05
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    @Rishi, false. Varnas are based on birth + samskaras + character. Birth is a necessary but not sufficient condition to determine one's varna. To be a brahmin, one must be born to brahmin parents, have proper samskaras done, cultivate atma gunas and follow vedic rituals. Only then he is brahmana. People born in other varnas, due to punya done in previous births, could have characteristics of brahmins like patience, truth, study of scriptures, but they cannot do yagnas or be priests. Again, there may be extreme exceptions, but the rule stays the same. – ram Apr 26 '17 at 12:10
  • @ram you are right that people's understanding of the Vedas are not reliable. The only point of debate is to identify who is reliable. – Pradip Gangopadhyay Apr 27 '17 at 11:36
  • @iammilind Please consider for reopening, I completely changed the question – hanugm Oct 02 '19 at 19:31
  • @TheDestroyer Please consider for reopening, I completely changed the question – hanugm Oct 02 '19 at 19:31