KINSHIP, CASTE AND CLASS

Chapter 3


Answer in 100-150 words 

1. Explain why patriliny may have been particularly important among elite families. 2. Discuss whether kings in early states were invariably Kshatriyas . 

Answer:-  Patriline is a system of descent from father to son and grandson. The patrillini policy would have been essential for the aristocratic families for the following reasons:

Dynastic Continuity: According to the Dharmashastras, it was an established belief that sons carried on the dynasty. That was the main reason why families wished for sons and not daughters. A verse in the Rig Veda also proves this view. On this afternoon, during the marriage of his daughter, a father wants that by the grace of Lord Shiva he should have the best son.

Inheritance: In the royal family, the acquisition of the throne was included in the inheritance. After the death of a king, his eldest son was supposed to inherit the throne. After the death of the parents, the property was to be divided equally among all the sons. In fact, parents avoided family disputes after their death. Most royal families followed the patrillini from 600 B.C. But sometimes this system had exceptions also.


2. Discuss whether kings in states were invariably kshatriyas.
Answer:-

According to the scriptures, only Kshatriyas can be kings. Their job was to engage in warfare, protect people, and administer justice. But the kings of the early kingdoms were not necessarily Kshatriyas. As noted below, several important ruling dynasties probably had different origins:

        • Regarding the Mauryas, Buddhist texts suggested that they were Kshatriyas but Brahmantric texts described them as of "lower" origin.

        • The Shungas and the Kanvas were Brahmins.

        • Shakas from Central Asia Brahmins considered Shakas from Central Asia to be molechas, barbarians or outsiders.

        • Gotami-puta Siri-satkani, the greatest known ruler of the Satavahana dynasty, claimed to be a unique Brahma and destroyer of the glory of the Kshatriyas.


Hence, it appears that political power was effectively open to anyone who could combine : support and resources, and rarely depends on birth as a Kshatriya.



3. Compare and contrast the dharma or norms mentioned in the stories of Drona, Hidimba and Matanga. 

Answer:- 

Drona: Drona was a Brahmin. According to the scriptures, it was the duty of Brahma to teach. It was considered a sacred work of the Brahmins. Drona was following the same pattern. He was teaching. He taught archery to the princes of the Kuru dynasty. In those days, people of lower castes did not have the right to education. With this view in mind, Drona refused to teach Ekalavya. But in time, Ekalavya learned archery and became very skilled. But Drona claimed Ekalavya’s right thumb as his apprenticeship fee. This was contrary to religious norms. In fact, Drona did this just to make sure he couldn't be a better archer than Aijun in terms of archery.
Hidimba: Hidimba was a female demon, that is, Rakshasini. In fact, all demons were cannibals. One day her brother asked her to catch the Pandavas so that he could eat them. But Hidimba did not follow it. She fell in love with Bhim and married him. 
A demon boy was a bomb for him, named Ghatotkacha. Thus, Hidimba could not keep; The law of the demon.
Matanga: Matanga was a Bodhisattva who was bom in a Chandala family. But he married Ditha Mangalika who was the daughter of a businessman. He had a son named Mandavya Kumara. Over time he learned the three Vedas. He offered food to sixteen hundred Brahmas every day. 'But when his father appeared before him with an earthen begging bowl in his hand, he refused to offer him food. The reason was that he considered his father a racist and his food was only for Brahmins. Matanga advised her son not to be proud of his birth. After saying this, he disappeared into the air. When Ditha Mahgalika learned of the incident, she went after Matanga and asked for his forgiveness. She acted like a true wife. She did her duty religiously. A donor is considered generous. But Mandaviya failed to follow the rules of religion and generosity.

4. In what ways was the Buddhist theory of a social contract different from the Brahmanical view of society derived from the Purusha sukta? 

Answer:- 

The Brahmanical view of society, derived from the Purusha Sukta, describes four social .classes arising from the body of a man: Brahma was his mouth. The Kshatriya was made by his arms. His thighs became Vaishyas and his feet gave birth to Shudras. Therefore, the four social classes or Bhamas – Brahma, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra were the result of a divine system. Brahmins often cited this verse to justify their claim for the ideal livelihood of the four Bhamas. They tried to convince people that their status was determined by birth.

On the other hand, the Chutta Pitaka Buddhists suggested that originally man’s physical form was not fully developed, or that the plant world was not fully developed. All creatures lived in a delightful state of peace, taking from nature only what they needed for each meal. 

However, in due course of time, human beings became greedy, vindictive and deceitful. This led to deterioration of their condition. They felt some authority to control them and he would get something in return from the people. Thus, the institution of kingship came into existence and people could change it in future in accordance with their needs. It was, therefore, a social contract and not a divine order.

5. The following is an excerpt from the Mahabharata, in which Yudhisthira, the eldest Pandava, speaks to Sanjaya, a messenger: 

    Sanjaya, convey my respectful greetings to all the Brahmanas and the chief priest of the house of Dhritarashtra. I bow respectfully to teacher Drona … I hold the feet of our preceptor Kripa … (and) the chief of the Kurus, the great Bhishma. I bow respectfully to the old king (Dhritarashtra). I greet and ask after the health of his son Duryodhana and his younger brother ... Also greet all the young Kuru warriors who are our brothers, sons and grandsons … Greet above all him, who is to us like father and mother, the wise Vidura (born of a slave woman) ... I bow to the elderly ladies who are known as our mothers. To those who are our wives you say this, “I hope they are well-protected”… Our daughters-inlaw born of good families and mothers of children greet on my behalf. Embrace for me those who are our daughters … The beautiful, fragrant, well-dressed courtesans of ours you should also greet. Greet the slave women and their children, greet the aged, the maimed (and) the helpless … 

    Try and identify the criteria used to make this list – in terms of age, gender, kinship ties. Are there any other criteria? For each category, explain why they are placed in a particular position in the list.

Answer:- There were not only age, gender and kinship relationships, but also other factors that were considered for compiling the list.

Brahma, Purohit and Mari were given the highest honours. They were all widely respected.

Honor was also given to fraternal relatives who were treated like parents. People who were younger were placed third. In the next order, the young Kuru warriors were honoured. Women also received appropriate places. Wives, mothers, daughters-in-law and daughters came in this order. Orphans and the disabled were also cared for. Yudhisthira also greets them. 


Write a short essay (about 500 words) on the following: 

6. This is what a famous historian of Indian literature, Maurice Winternitz, wrote about the Mahabharata: “just because the Mahabharata represents more of an entire literature … and contains so much and so many kinds of things, … (it) gives(s) us an insight into the most profound depths of the soul of the Indian folk.” Discuss. 

Answer:- 

Plenty of literary sources are available for the reconstruction of ancient Indian history.
The Mahabharata is one of them. It is an important literary and historical source. Its importance has been recognized even by foreign writers. Its importance is also recognized by Mr. Wintemitz because he believes that the Mahabharata represents an entire literature. This great epic is full of examples of different aspects of Indian life. The reading of the Mahabharata gives a deep depth to the soul of the Indian people. It is written in simple Sanskrit and therefore widely understood.
In general, historians classify the contents of the Mahabharata under two categories. They are descriptive and instructive. The exposition section contains stories and the exhortation sections contain prescriptions about social norms. But in some cases, there were underlying conditions.
Many historians believe that the Mahabharata was a dramatic, moving story and that the didactic portions were later interpolations
We find different views on the authorship of the Mahabharata. It was believed that the original stories were composed by Sutach. The Chutas were charioteer charioteer bards. They accompanied the Kshatriya warriors to the battlefield and composed poems celebrating other accomplishments of their victories. These works were disseminated rectally. From the fifth century BC, Brahmins took over the story and started writing stories. This great epic contains clear descriptions of battles, forests, palaces and settlements.
It describes kinship, political life at the time, and social priorities. The main features of family life such as patrilineage, different types of marriages and rules related to marriage, the status of women in society, social differences in Indian society can be traced back to the time of the Mahabharata. This great epic also describes social dynamics.

7. Discuss whether the Mahabharata could have been the work of a single author. 

Answer:- 

There are many opinions about the author of the Mahabharata. The following opinions have been put forward regarding the authorship of the Mahabharata.

•It is believed that the original story was written by a charioteer-bard known as Chuta. They usually accompanied the Kshatriya warriors to the battlefield and composed poems celebrating their victories and other accomplishments.

•It is also believed that in the beginning the text of the Mahabharata was preached orally. scholars and priests passed it down from one generation to another. From the fifth century B.C., the Brahmins took possession of the story and began to write it down.
This was the time when the Kurus and the Panchals gradually became kingdoms.
The story of the Mahabharata also revolved around them. Parts of the story reflect that old social values were replaced by new ones.

• C. 200 BCE and 200 CE is another phase in the composition of the Mahabharata.
During this period worship of Vishnu was gaining ground Krishna came to be identified as Vishnu. Large didactic sections resembling the Manusmriti were added during the period between C 200 and 400 CE. These interpolations made the Mahabharata an epic consisting of 100,000 verses. This enormous composition is traditionally attributed to a sage named Vyas.

8. How important were gender differences in early societies? Give reasons for your answer. 

Answer:- 

Sex differences were very important in early societies as they affected the social lives of men and women in the following ways:

There was no share for women in the parental property: According to the Manusmriti, after the death of the parents, the parental property was to be divided equally among the sons. Women could not claim a share of these resources. Women were allowed to keep as tridhana the gifts they received on the occasion of their marriage.

No hoardings by women: The Manusmriti cautioned women against hoarding family property, or even their own valuables, without the permission of their husbands.

Patrillini had ideals under which sons could claim their father’s wealth including the throne in the case of kings when the latter had died.

Women’s clan: Women were expected to renounce their father’s clan and accept their husbands for marriage.

Polygyny: Under polygyny, a man can have several wives. The Satavahana rulers were polygamous.

Wives to be treated as the property of their husbands: Wives were treated as the property of their husbands as Yudhisthira, having lost everything including himself, stained their common wife Draupadi in the game of dice and lost her too. However, Draupadi asked if Yudhisthira could stop her after losing herself. The matter remained unresolved and Dhritarashtra finally restored the Pandavas and Draupadi to their personal freedom.


9. Discuss the evidence that suggests that Brahmanical prescriptions about kinship and marriage were not universally followed. 

Answer:- Brahmanical prescriptions about kinship and marriage: 

Prescription about kinship:

According to Sanskrit texts, the word "kula" was used to designate families and castes for a larger network of relatives. The term 'vapor' was used for descent. Often members of the same family share the food and other resources they live in, work, and perform rituals together. Families were treated as part of a larger network of people who were defined as kin which was the technical term used to define them. Although family ties were considered "natural" and they can be defined in different ways based on blood.

For example, some societies consider cousins to be blood relations, while others do not find it easy enough to recover information about aristocratic families from historians, it is very difficult to reconstruct the family relationships of ordinary people. Historians try to analyze their attitudes towards family and kinship.

Prescription about marriage:
Sons were considered important for the continuity of the tri-lineage daughters could not exceed on the wealth of their households. They were married into families outside their relatives. This practice was called exogamy which means marrying outside one's relatives or clan. Women from high-ranking families married the right person at the right time. Kanayadana, or the gift of a daughter in marriage, was regarded as an important religious duty of the father. As new ways of communication emerged, people came into contact with each other and they began to share their perspectives. So the Brahmin told them the signs of their social behaviour. These codes concerning social conduct were later incorporated into the Dharmashastras. These texts recognized eight types of marriage. Four of these types of marriages were considered good and the other four were considered reprehensible. The Satavahana rulers did not follow the outward movements of the Brahmins.

Map work 


10. Compare the map in this chapter with Map 1 in Chapter 2. List the mahajanapadas and cities located near the Kuru-Panchala lands. 

Answer:- 


Project (any one) 

11. Find out about retellings of the Mahabharata in other languages. Discuss how they handle any two of the episodes of the text described in this chapter, explaining any similarities or differences that you notice. 

Answer:-


12. Imagine that you are an author and rewrite the story of Ekalavya from a perspective of your choice. 

Answer:-



Type By- Bikash Bora


Post ID: DABP006809