Paishacha Marriage

One of the eight ways to perform a marriage recognized in the dharma literature, the treatises on religious duty.
Paishachas are a class of demons, so a
marriage named after them is already
suspect. The Paishacha marriage takes
place when a man has intercourse with a
woman who is drunk, unconscious, or
asleep. Not surprisingly, this is one of
the four reprehensible (aprashasta)
forms of marriage, and because of the
woman’s lack of conscious awareness,
this form was forbidden, even though it
was deemed a valid marriage. Here the
writers’ concern seems to have been to
give the “bride” legal status as a wife,
rather to legitimate the actions of the
“groom.” Although theoretically valid,
this form of marriage has always been
forbidden, and thus it has never been
one of the common forms of marriage.
See also marriage, eight classical forms.