Suchergebnisse

The notions of class (varṇa) and caste (jāti) run through the Dharmaśāstra literature on all levels. They regulate marriage, economic transactions, work, punishment, penance, entitlement to rituals, identity markers like the sacred thread, and social interaction in general. Although this social structure was ideal in nature and not equally confirmed in other genres of ancient and medieval literature, it has nevertheless had an immense impact on Indian society. The chapter presents an overview of the system with its three privileged classes, the Brahmins, the Kṣatriyas, and the Vaiśyas, the fourth underprivileged class, the Śūdras, and, at the bottom of the society, the lowest so-called untouchable castes. It also discusses the understanding of human differences that lies at the center of the system and the possible economic and political motivations of the Brahmin authors of the texts.

Examines the practice of untouchability in India in light of the relation between women & land commonly expressed in Indian texts. It is argued that the spheres of lordship & untouchables were linked by the process of ritualization that created & preserved them, as well as by circumstances that extended ritual avoidance in the domestic domain to larger arenas of village/city. It is also contended that images of untouchables in Indian texts are extremely ambiguous, including perceptions of them as both threats to, & protectors of, other domains. A discussion of the mechanisms involved in these conflicting views emphasizes the unity of ritualization, agency, & power structures, noting that purity regulated human agency with regard to actions, like procreation or food production, that also relied on divine agency. Differences between occasional untouchability, such as that of menstruating women, & permanent untouchability, are examined in terms of concentric positions, calling attention to the inner position of women that allowed them to be polluters & subject to pollution by permanent untouchables in outer positions. 56 References. J. Lindroth