Suchergebnisse

A complete, annotated translation of Ishvarchandra Vidyasagar's influential social-reform tract from 1871. Crafted by one of the nineteenth century's most prominent voices for social change, 'Against High-Caste Polygamy' demonstrates Vidyasagar's ability to call upon the classical discourse and argumentation of the Sanskrit legal tradition while engaging the norms of modern historical and social criticism. In this work, Vidyasagar utilizes both a kind of 'imaginative sociology' geared at capturing the suffering of Kulin women and a kind of proto-statistical analysis aimed at opening the eyes of readers to the extent and ramifications of polygamous practices that left Hindu women ostracized, neglected, and abused.

"Against High-Caste Polygamy offers a complete, annotated translation of Ishvarchandra Vidyasagar's first book arguing against the practice of high-caste Kulin marriage in Bengal. The translation is based on the text of the first edition of Bahuvivaha rahita haoya uchita ki na etadvishayaka vichara, published from the Sanskrit Press in 1871 (Samvat 1928); henceforth simply Bahuvivaha. I have relied on the version of the text as found in the second volume of Gopal Haldar's Vidyasagar-rachanasamgraha, as well as on a digitized version of the 1871 first edition available online"--