Svayaṃvara
Svayaṃvara · svayam-vara, “self-choice”
Grammar: masculine noun; svayam (oneself) and vara (choice, a chosen husband), from the root vṛ (to choose): “choosing for oneself”.
Meaning: the choosing of a husband by the bride herself, from among the suitors gathered for it; also the gathering itself.
In the scriptures: the Bhāgavata Purāṇa uses the word for the marriages of Śrī Kṛshṇa and in the account of Saubhari.
Uddhava tells Vidura that Rukmī invited Śiśupāla and other kings to Rukmiṇī‘s svayaṃvara (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapter 3). Śuka tells Parīkshit that, as Garuḍa, son of Kaśyapa, carried off the amṛta, Śrī Kṛshṇa, overcoming Śiśupāla’s party before all the people, married Rukmiṇī at the svayaṃvara; Parīkshit then says he has heard it was by the rākshasa form of marriage (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 52). Later Śrī Kṛshṇa tells Rukmiṇī: “Hearing good of me, you rejected the kings who had come to the svayaṃvara and sent a brāhmaṇa to me with a secret message” (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 60).
Mitravindā, sister of Vinda and Anuvinda, lords of Avantī, loved Śrī Kṛshṇa at her svayaṃvara, and her brothers, followers of Duryodhana, stood in the way; while all the kings looked on, Śrī Kṛshṇa carried her off by force. Lakshmaṇā, daughter of Bṛhatsena of Madra, Śrī Kṛshṇa alone carried off from her svayaṃvara, as Garuḍa carried off the amṛta, and married her (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 58).
When Saubhari Maharshi asked King Māndhātā for one of his daughters, the king answered: “At a svayaṃvara, take whichever maiden pleases you.” Saubhari understood that the king thought young women would not choose an old man, and changed his form (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 9, Chapter 6).
In the Brahma Purāṇa: Brahmā tells the munis of the svayaṃvara of Devī Pārvatī. When Bhagavān Śiva came to her in the form of a deformed, dwarfish brāhmaṇa and asked for her hand, she sent him to her father, and Girirāja Himavān, knowing him to be Śiva, said that whomever his daughter chose at the svayaṃvara would be her husband. After the Devī had given the fruit of her tapas to free a boy from a crocodile, Śaṅkara declared that all she had done was offered to him and would be imperishable, and with that vara she waited for the svayaṃvara (Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 35). Himavān knew that his daughter’s mind was set on Hara, yet, to keep the custom of his line, he had the svayaṃvara proclaimed in all the worlds, hoping that she would choose Parameśvara in the presence of all the devas, dānavas, siddhas and gandharvas; he adorned his city with toraṇas of gems, and the young men of all the worlds came. The Devī set out on a divine vimāna holding a garland of the flowers of every season. To test her, Śambhu became an infant with five locks of hair and lay in her lap; Indra, who raised his vajra, was made motionless, until Brahmā in dhyāna knew the infant to be Śiva and the devas took refuge in him. Then Īśvara took a wonderful three-eyed form, and while all watched, the Devī adorned the feet of the Devadeva with the svayaṃvara garland. Brahmā closes: the account of the svayaṃvara and wedding of Maheśvara brings welfare to the whole world (Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 36).
Vyāsa tells the munis that Pradyumna, son of Śrī Kṛshṇa, took the daughter of Rukmī at her svayaṃvara, and she too chose him there; their son was Aniruddha (Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 201). Sāmba, son of Jāmbavatī, carried off the daughter of Duryodhana by force at her svayaṃvara; Karṇa, Duryodhana, Bhīshma, Droṇa and the others fought him, defeated him and bound him, until Balarāma went to their city to free him (Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 208).
Related terms: Vivāha · Kanyā · Vara · Rākshasa-vivāha
Sources
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapter 3; Skandha 9, Chapter 6; Skandha 10, Chapters 52, 58, 60
- Brahma Purāṇa, Chapters 35–36, 201, 208