"Marriage might be entered into by forcible abduction of the bride, by purchase of her, or by mutual consent. Marriage by consent, however, was considered slightly disreputable; women thought it more honorable to be bought and paid for, and a great compliment to be stolen. Polygamy was permitted, and was encouraged among the great; it was an act of merit to support several wives, and to transmit ability. The story of Draupadi, who married five brothers at once, indicates the occasional occurrence, in Epic days, of that strange polyandry the marriage of one woman to several men, usually brothers which survived in Ceylon till 1859, and still lingers in the mountain villages of Tibet. But polygamy was usually the privilege of the male, who ruled the Aryan household with patriarchal omnipotence. He held the right of ownership over his wives and his children, and might in certain cases sell them or cast them out."