CHAPTER I

VARNA. CASTE AND MARRIAGE CHAPTER I

Varna. Caste and Marriage

The Hindu social system has its roots in the Varna system developed and cherished by the Aryans. Approximately six thousand years ago, before the invasion of the Aryans,in India there were number, of clans like Dravid, Asura, Rakshasa, Wanar, Daitya, Danava, Naga, Nishada, Kirata, Kaiwarta, Oasa, Dasyu, Pulinda, Shake, Andhra, Yavana, Pani, Kamboja, Parada,Palhava and Khasa, etc. Through marriage, and in some cases by conquer- -ing, all the above mentioned non-aryans were aryanised; and thus, they were brought under the social fold of the Aryans. In the earliest possible period of the Aryans there was only one Varna. According to merit (Guna) and Karma the same Varna was divided into four; and that the Varna was not determined by birth. We have abundant evidence to prove that Varnas were not determined by birth. One of the sons of Manu named Vamdev had four sons who belonged to different Varnas. After a great penance Kashyapa had two sons named Vatsar and Asita. Vatsar begot two sons - Naidhruva and Raibhya. This Raibhya begot sons who were Shudras; and who were well versed in Vedas. It means even Shudras were born to ; and they had a right to learn Vedas. Bharata's son named Bharadwaj 4 was a Rishi. This shows that Brahmins could be born even in

1, Mahabharata, Vanaparva, Adhyaya 181. 2« Matsyapurana, A.4, Shloka 28. 3. Kurmapurana, A.19, Shlokas 1,2. 4, Vayupurana, A.99, P.156-157. — 2 —

Kshatriya family. In Bhargava dynasty sons were born who were 5 belonging to four Vamas, All these references clearly illuminate the point that in the beginning Vamas were not determined by birth but by one's merit and Karma. During the Vedic period Varna system was well establish- -ed. We find a reference in Purusha Sukta that the , Kshatriya, and Shudra are said to have sprung from the mouth, arms, thighs, and feet of Purusha respectively. This shows that the composer of the hymn regarded the division of society into four classes to be very ancient. The system of the four Vamas had taken such deep roots that it was appli- -cable even to Gods. Agni and Brhaspati were regarded as Brahmins among the Gods; Indra, Varuna, Soma, Yama as Khatriyas; Vasus, Rudras, Vishvedevas and Maruts as ; and Pushan as Shudras. Similarly Vedic passages regard Brahmins as spring, the Kshatriyas as summer and the Vaishyas as rainy season.

The Varna system developed during Vedic period was maintained almost in the same form during the period of Brahmana Aranyakas and Upanishadas. But during the period of Dharma- -shastra and Dharmasutra the Varnas broke down into different castes. Various theories have been developed regarding the origin of castes. Nesfield regards occupation as the exclusive basis of caste differentiation. We find that during the Vedic

5. Harivamsha, Shloka, 32. 6. , 10th Mandala, 90.12 — 3 —

and post-Vedic periods, i.e., upto the period of Dharmasutras, number of professions did exist. But they were merely professions. A person who undertook the particular profession was not known by it; but by the Varna to which he belonged. Risley relies mainly on theories of race and hypergamy to explain the caste system, which he clearly regards as primarily due to colour differences and to a system of hypergamy result­ ing therefrom. Ibbetson and Ghurey maintain that Brahmins were at the root of the development of caste system. They exploit- -ed their position and degraded all occupations except their own and that of the ruling class.

The origination of caste system seems to be in the intermarriages of four Varnas. There were in all eight combina- -tions: two basic and six derived. All writers of Dharmashastra state that there were four Varnas arranged in a descending scale of social status and that marriage between a male of high- -er Varna with a female of lower Varna was permissible. The union between a male of lower Varna with a female of higher Varna was reprehensible and not permitted. Though latter marriages were not permitted, they did take place even during the rule of Dharraashastras and Dharmasutras.

It means, in the beginning, among Varnas two basic combinations were prevalent: Anuloma and Pratiloma.

(1) Anuloma unions - When male of a higher Varna married a female of lower Varna, the offspring was known as belonging to Anuloma union bearing status different from the parents.The offspring of a union between Brahmin and Kshatriya female was — 4 ~ known as Murdhavasikta. Anbashtha was the name of the p offspring of Brahmin and Vaishya female. The offspring of a union between Brahmin and Shudra female was known as Nishada Q or Parasava, Mahishya was the offspring of a union between Kshatriya male and Vaishya female. The offspring of a unioi between a Kshatriya and a Shudra female was known as Ugra. Karana was the last Anuloma offspring of a union between Vaish' 12 male and Shudra female. (2) Pratiloma unions - This is the second type of basic marriage combination where a male from the lower Varna married a female of higher Varna, There were in all six castes arisin< out of Pratiloma combinations. The offspring of a union between Shudra and Vaishya female was known as Ayogava, 13 Ksha- was a name ascribed to an offspring of a union between Shudra 14 and a Kshatriya female. When Shudra married a Brahmin femal( 15 their offspring was known as Chandala, The offspring of a union between Vaishya and a Kshatriya female was known as Magadha, Vaideha was the offspring of a union between Vaish' 17 and a Brahmin female. The offspring of a union between 18 Kshatriya and a Brahmin female was known as Suta,

7. Yaj I 91; Gaut IV 17. 8. Manu 10-8; Yaj I, 91; Baud.Dh.S.I.9-3; Ushanas - 31. 9. Manu 10-8; Yaj I, 91; Baud Dh.S.I.9-3; Vas. 18-8. 10. Yaj 1.92; Gaut. IV-17. 11. Manu 10-9; Yaj I. 92; Kaut III-7; Baud Dh.S.I.9.5. 12. Ibid 10. 13. Manu 10-92; Yaj 1-94; Gaut.IV-15; Kaut. III-7. 14. Ibid 14. 15. Manu 10-12; Yaj. 1-93. 16. Manu 10-11; Yaj 1-94; Gaut.IV-15; Kaut,II1-7. 17. Manu 10-12; Yaj 1-93+ Vishnu Dh.S.16-6. 18. Ibid 17 and Baudh. Dh.S. 1-99. — 5 —

Anuloma and Pratiloma marriages resulted in twelve basic castes. Here trend of varied unionship did not cease; but it continued with multifarious unions. These various unions may be called as derived combinations or unions from the two basic ones: Anuloma and Pratiloma. We may enumerate them as follows:

(3) Marriage between an offspring of a Anuloma union and an individual belonging to any one of the four basic Varnas:

For example, Abhira is the name attributed to the 19 child of the union of a Brahmin with an Ambashtha girl. 20 Pukkasa was the offspring of a Nishada with a Shudra girl, Avrut is the offspring of a union between Brahmin with Ugra 21 female. Kukkutaka was the offspring of Shudra with Nishada 22 girl. Here Ambashtha, Nishada and Ugra are Anuloma offsprings.

(4) Marriage between an offspring of a Pratiloma union and an individual belonging to any one of the four principal Varnas:

For example, the offspring of a union between Brahmin 23 and Ayogava female is called Dhigvana. The offspring of Pulkasa with Brahmin female is called Rajaka. The offspring

19. Manu 10-15. 20. Manu 10-18; Baudh. Dh.S.1.9-14. 21. Ibid 19. 22. Ibid Manu 20. 23. Manu Ibid 19. 24. Vaikhanas 10-15. — 6 —

25 of a Suta with a Brahmin female is known as Venuka. The offspring between Vaideha and Shudra female was called Aghasika. Ayogava, Pulkasa, Suta and Vaideha all are the offsprings of Pratiloma union.

(5) Marriages amongst Anulomas: The Offspring of a union between Mahishya and a Karan 27 female was called Rathakara, (6) Marriages amongst Pratilomas: The offspring of a Chandala with a Vaideha female wa 28 called Pandusopaka, Likewise the offspring of a Vaideha 29 with Ayogava female was known as Maitreya.

(7) Marriages among males born of Anulama union and female born of Pratiloma union: The offspring called Margava is from the union betweei 30 Nishada and Ayogava female. The offspring between Nishad 31 and Vaideha female was called Ahindaka. (8) Marriages among males born of a Pratiloma union and females born of Anuloma union: The union between Kshatr and Ugra female gave birth ti 32 an offspring called Shwapaka. Vena was the offspring of 33 union between Vaideha and Arabashtha female. The offsprin of a Vaideha with a Nishada female was called Meda; and th^ offspring of a Chandala with a Nishada female was called

Antyavasayina,3 5 In this combination Kshatr, Vaideha and

25. Ushnas, 4. 26. Vide Kane's History of Dharraashastra, Vol.2, Chapt.2. 27. Yaj 1.95. 28. Manu, 10-37. 29. Manu, 10-33. 30. Manu, 10-34. 31. Ibid 28. 32. Manu, 10-19. 33. Ibid 31. 34. Manu, 10-36. 35. Manu, 10-39. Chandala are the male offsprings of Pratiloma union. Thus various doubly, sometimes even triply, mixed marriages took place; and in each case, it resulted in separate caste having specified status. Today we see that, because of such marriages, each of the principal Varnas had been gradually divided into various castes and sub-castes. Difference of country, occupation, sect, and such other factors helped these multiple divisions. Now man is known, like other things, by his caste because caste is determined by birth. There are certain salient features of the present Indian caste system. Without going into details, mention may be made only of those concerning the marriage. Like Varna system, the present caste system has still maintained the social hierarchy, the Brahmins being at the top of the social ladder. Rules of ©fidogamy and exogamy are very important. Endogamous castes are those where marriages are to be contract- -ed within the caste members. So far as marriage is concerned each subcaste may be regarded as a unit because even today, excepting Brahmins, subcastes of the other major castes do not contract marriages among each other. Exogamous castes are those where the marriage is to be contracted with the individual not belonging to one's own caste. Besides this there is Sagotra and Sapinda exogamy. Sapinda relationship,in fact, dictates the prohibited degrees of relationship, Sagotra exogamy means two individuals of the same Gotra, though they belong to the same caste, cannot contract the marriage with eacl other.

It will not be impertinent if we refer to caste systems — 8 — as existed in other countries in ancient times. Actually these foreign caste systems were analogous to our Varna system as the number of divisions of society did not exceed four or five. In ancient Egypt the society was divided into three classes, viz., first, the priests; second, the warriors; and third, the agriculturists, the merchants and mariners. The Of. lowest caste was that of shepherd** According to Taylor, the Egyptians might have derived their system of civilization from the and there are doubtless many striking analogies between the institutions of both nations. Initially, as during the Varna system in India, there were no restrictions on marriages among these castes. But by the time of Ptolemies these castes adopted the hereditary characteristics, i.e., a son of a priest could become only a priest, of a warrior only a warrior; and resultantly, there were restrictions on 37 marriages. Like Varna system, the earlier Iranian civilization, i.e., before 700 B.C., was divided into priests, warriors, husbandmen and artisans. By Sassanian period, these classes had adopted hereditary characteristics; and, there were no bars for the marriages between individuals belonging to different castes. In the later period restrictions were imposed on intermarriages.

36. Vide S.M.Tagore - 'Caste system of the Hindus'. 37. G.S.Ghurey - 'Caste, Class and Occupation'. Chapt,6, Page — 9 —

In Chinese society, which was divided into gentlemen, agriculturists, artisans and merchants, there were certain dicta regarding contracting the marriages. Marriages between officials and actresses or singing girls were prohibited. If any noble of hereditary rank entered into such a union, the penalty was degradation to a lower caste. Untouchability was in practice in Japanese and Arabian society. Untouchability in these countries might have been a result of an impact of Hindu culture. Japanese society was divided into hereditary soldiers, farmers, artisans, traders, parihas and outcast of the community. Till 1930, when society was classified into nobility, gentry, and common people, marriage between outcastes and other classes could not take place. Now law does not interfere in such marriages. In South Arabia one of the two classes of parij^as had to live on the outskirts of the towns and itsAembers, though admitted into mosques, were not allowed to visit Arab houses. The other class was not allowed to enter even in the mosque.

In Ancient Rome a free man could not marry a freed woman without the special permission of the Senate. By the 5th century A.D.rules became still strict. If the daughter of the individual of a baker caste married a man not belonging to it, her husband had to adopt her father's calling. In Anglo-Saxon England, society was divided into nobility, common freemen and the slaves. Marriages among them were strictly prohibited. But by the 15th century some liberal attitude was taken. In France free women could not marry with — 10 — a slave and a workman outside his group. In Germany also the same rules were prevalent. After the industrialization these rules were much modified. Thus, as Ghurey maintains, distinction by birth was usually recognized by many primitive peoples and almost all the major civilizations of ancient times. Status accorded by birth and occupations always hindred the intermarriages even during the medieval ages. Having considered the nature of caste systems prevalent in countries other than India, we are now in a position to view the distinguishing features among them. The caste system today prevalent in India is a well extended ramification of the ancient Varna system. The first illuminating characteristic is that the Indian caste system has a broad legalo-religious foundation. Smritis and Dharma Sutras have specified the caste rules and also dictated its implementation. Theory of pollu- -tion and the theory of Karma are among those which can be said to be the ideational supports of caste system. According to first, the members of some castes, which are lower in the social scale, can not touch the persons, food and water of the higher caste Hindus. It is said that these lower caste Hindus are themselves polluted being born in those castes; and hence, they should not pollute other caste members. Untouchability,and even unapproachability in some parts of the country, was the final outcome for them who believed the authenticity of the theory. Efforts of social reformers and rules of the law have, after independence,fliinimized the untouchability to some extent, — 11 — especially in urban areas. The doctrine of Karma asserts that each birth is the direct result of a man's actions in a previous existence. According to Karma performed in a previous birth an individual is born in a particular caste. The current life is but one in many, an insignificant portion of the total span of existence. As a man sows, so shall he reap; and hence, man's caste depends on his actions in previous life. Thus Karma in previous life determines the birth in another. » Caste is a part of Hinduism. Hindu without caste is contradiction in terms. Barth observes that caste is the \ express badge of Hinduism. The man who is a member of a caste is a Hindu; he who is not, is not a Hindu. 38 The present work is concerned mainly with the research in intercaste marriages; and therefore, it will be worthwhile to pay heed to the previous work done in this area. Much of the research work owes its origin to foreign countries where the mixed marriages have given birth to number of social problems. In India the investigation in this area is rather scanty. Some are of the view that samkar results in degenera- -tion. On the contrary, some hold that it does not find its way in degeneration; but it helps good procreation. 39 In Brazil there is a samkar between Gynezes and Portugeese population; I

38. The religions of India (1882), preface, P. XVII. 39. Cassel, 'Genetics and Eugenics', Page 331; H.G.Wells, 'Work, health and happiness'. — 12 — and it is found that the progeny of such marriages is highly 40 intellectual and on the top in most of the fields of life. McDougall studied and compared the progeny of pure Europeans and the progeny of the union between Europeans and Negroes.In his investigation he found that mixed progeny is rather inferior. Jennings states that as society has disapproved the samkar, bad treatment is given to such progeny; and 42 consequently, they are regarded as inferior. Havelock Ellis studied lOCXD individuals who were the progeny of mixed marriages between Irish X English; English X Welsh; and Scotch and English, He found that the Irish and the Welsh are much better ad^ypted for crossing with the English than the more 43 closely related Scotch. Gates states that the intermarriage 44 of diverse strains is important and desirable. Panunzio conducted a study in Los Angels. He investigated the intermarriages amongst minorities like M^xican%, Japanese, Filipinos, Chinese, American Indians and Negroes. Investigation was carried out over a period of a decade 1924 - 33, He found that the Mexicans, Filipinos and American Indians showed high rate of intermarriage in comparison with Japanese, Chinese and Negroes. He formulated the hypothesis that sex distribution is the primary factor in producing or preventing intermarriage. People who have unbalanced sex ratio

40. Vide Lagos quoted by A,D,Quarry Faizes in Human species. 41. Vide P.G.Sahasrabuddhe, 'Vidnyan Pranit Samaj Rachana** 42. Biological basis of Human Nature, Page 287. 43. A study of British Genius. 44. Vide P.G.Sahasrabuddhe, 'Vidnyan Pranit Samaj Rachana'; Genetics and Eugenics, P.230. — 13 — and who are in proximity to other people generally intermarry. 45 People having balanced sex ratio will marry their own people. Slotkin opines that unorganized personalities tend to contract 46 °^ intermarriages. In the study of Filipinjef - American marriages C.L.Hunt and R.W.Coller have found that disorganization in the family background of the male partner tends to promote inter- 47 -marriage. In America both Protestants and Catholics oppose inter- -faith marriages. Landis and Landis analysed the data from 4,108 mixed and non-mixed marriages among the parents of 48 college students in Michigan. In this study special attention was paid to conflict situations resulting from religious differences; types of solutions atten^ted for the conflicts;the adjustment reached by the parents on the religions of children; and the eventual denominational choice of the children. Using separation and divorce as index failure, the study showed that mixed marriages in which both husband and wife hold to their separate religions faiths have a much higher rate of failure than other marriages. Where both parents were Catholic the divorce rate was lowest, only 4.4 per cent of the marriages ending in divorce; if both were Protestant, 6.0 per cent ended in divorce. If neither was religious, 17.9 per cent ended in divorce. The highest divorce rate was found in marriages in

45. Panunzio, 'Intermarriage in Los Angeles, 1924-33*. 46. Slotkin, J.S.; 'Jewish-Gentile Intermarriages in Chicago', 47. 'Intermarriage and Cultural change'. 48. 'Building of successful marriages'. Chapter on mixed marriages. — 14 — which the husband was Catholic and the wife Protestant, Of this group 20.6 per cent were divorced. While summarizing the findings on mixed Catholic - Protestant marriages, Landis concluded that their investigation of marriages in which couples tried mixed Catholic-Protestant unions indicated that such a type of mixed marriages present serious difficulties. Howard Bell analysed the marital status of 13,528 families of mixed and non-mixed marriages in Maryland, and found a divorce rate of 6.4 among Catholics, 4.6 among Jews, 6.8 among Protestants, 15.2 in mixed marriages, and 16.7 if there was no religion in the home.4 9 This investigation also proves that contracting mixed marriage or disbelieving religion are the principal factors for disagreement among the spouses. Prof.Baber found that one half of the conflicts which occur in Protestant-Catholic marriages were over religion, and that often these conflicts centered around the training of the 50 children. It is interesting to note that in marriages of Catholic men - Protestant women combination the divorce rate was 20.6 while it was only 6,7 per cent when the couples were Protestant men - Catholic women. This difference in divorce rate can be attributed to the rigid religious attitudes either of Protestants or the Catholics. The Jewish-Gentile marriages are mixed not only in religion but also in additional aspects of culture, Jews

49. Howard M.Bell, 'Youth tell their story,' P.21. Washington, D,C,: American Council on Education, 1938, 50. Ray E. Baber, "Marriage and the family", P.170. New York, Mc Graw Hill Book Company, Inc., 1939. — 15 — recognize two types of Jewish - Gentile marriages, intermarriage and mixed marriage. Intermarriage is a marriage between a converted Gentile and a Jew. Baber found in a study of 130 Jewish - Gentile marriages in New York City that Jewish men marry Gentiles about twice as frequently as do Jewish women. Another study of 59 intermarriages revealed that the Jewish partner was male in 40 of the 59 cases. The greater tendency for the Jewish man to marry outside faith is due to the fact that the young men have greater freedom to mingle with Gentiles and are not so carefully supervised as are the Jewish girls, Slotkin found in his study of 183 Jewish-Gentile marriages that 57 per cent of the inter-married people were either partially or entirely accepted by both the families, 20 per cent of the Jews were not accepted by their own families, and 23 per cent were not accepted by the families of the spouse, 16 per cent of the Gentiles were not accepted by their own families, and 27 per 51 cent were not accepted by the family of the spouse. The higher percentage of non-acc6ptance by the Jewish families indicate stronger pressure toward endogamy on the part of the Jewish group. The contrast in beliefs between the religiously orient- -ed and non-religiously oriented may be as great as the contrasts 52 between Jews and Gentiles or Catholics or Protestants. Landis and Landis, conducted a study of mixed and non-mixed religious

51. J.S.Slotkin, "Adjustment in Jewish-Gentile inter-marriages" Social Forces, Vol.21. 52. Howard Becker and Reuben Hill, "Family marriig* and Parenthood". P.P.19-40., Boston : D.C.Heath and Company, 1948. — 16 ~ marriages with a total of 125 couples in which the wife was a Church member and the husband was of no religious faith reveal- -ed that 16.0 per cent had ended in divorce. If the wife had been Protestant the divorce rate was almost as high (19,0 per cent) as when the Protestant wife had married Catholic, The high divorce rate in this combination of spouses may result in part from a clash of sacred and secular values. Available information seems to indicate that the young people should compare and contrast their religious values and philosophies as well as contrasts in faiths. The notable research work in this field in India is "Intercaste and Inter-community marriages in India" by C,T,Kanan. He maintains that opposition to intercaste marriage has a more potent relation to such factors as teacher-student relationship, poverty, serious disease, desertion, and remarriage, etc. than the factor of caste. He further adds that even members of the older generation are not opposed to the marriage of their children outside their caste. The fact remains, as Kanan states, that opposition to intercaste marriage has substantially decreased now.

There are number of points of differences in which this research work can be distinguished from that of Kanan's. Firstly, his wonk is purely sociological, while the present work is socio- -psychological. This investigation has tried to probe in psychic structure of the respondents. Their conflicts, complexes, defences and mental health have'been duly studied. Secondly,

53. "Intercaste and Inter-community marriages in India"; Epilogue; P.P.201,11. ~ 17 ~ the previous work includes inter-subcastes, inter-castes,inter- -community and inter-religious marriages. The author has not tried to evaluate the degree of adjustment to social distance. Sample of the present work solely deals with intercaste marriage; and the degree of adjustment to the social distance among castes had been measured. Thirdly, in this research work all the questionnaires were filled in while interviewing the respondents. It is surprising to note that in previous study interview schedules were not filled in while interviewing the couples. To quote Kanan - "Only few points were noted down then 54 and there and the schedules were filled in later on". With due respect we may state that such a procedure may introduce memory distortions, etc. Fourthly, to increase the authenticity of the investigation, in this work, one relative of each spouse was interviewed and the report of the local acquaintance was also prepared. In previous work this procedure was not followed strictly. Fifthly, and above all most important difference is that in this research work experimental approach was taken. To check the validity of repercussions arising out of intercaste marriages control group was also studied and investigated. Such a procedure was not followed in the former work.

54, Intercaste and inter-community Marriages in India - by Kanan C.T,, Preface, VIII. ~ 18 —

Maureen L.P. Patterson is of the view that the promotion of intercaste marriage is not a realistic method to abolish the caste system in Maharashtra. She also states that intercaste marriages serve more to add to existing caste-consciousness, and to rally and stiffen resistance to attacks on the caste system in Maharashtra, than to weaken the traditional structure. 56

XX

55. Article - "Intercaste Marriage in Maharashtra". Maureen L.P.Patterson; The Economic Weekly Annual,1920.