A Note on Sanskritization and Westernization

The term Sanskritization was first used by M.N. Srinivas in his book ‘Religion and Society
among the Coorgs of south India’. Sanskritization is the process through which the caste or
tribes placed in the lower rungs of the caste system seek upward mobility by imitating the
rituals and practices of the upper or dominant caste. Though the term Sanskritization is
awkward in many senses, it was still preferred over Brahminization. Brahmanization is the
process through which other castes particularly emulate the rituals and practices of the
brahmins in order to gain higher stance in the society. Using this term to explain upward
mobility in caste, it would have become necessary to mention the particular Brahmin and the
time period of its recorded history. Therefore, Brahminization in this sense encompasses in
the wider concept of Sanskritization.
Srinivas points out that Brahmins were not the only agents of Sanskritization in the
subcontinent. According to the religious texts it was forbidden for the non-twice-born to
perform any ritual and rites that were practiced by the Brahmins. In spite of this theoretical
prohibition, the reality was somewhat different. The Lingayat’s in the south India was a
powerful force for Sanskritization in Karnataka. The Lingayat movement attracted people
from all castes, especially the lower castes, and it was an anti-brahmin in tone and spirit.
Though, Sanskritization helps certain to castes to claim upper position in caste hierarchy,
sometimes it can lead to downward mobility of a caste and ejection of that caste from the
caste system. The Smiths of South India, who also call themselves the Vishwakarma
Brahmins have faced the wrath of all other castes even after they have sanskitized their
rituals. They are placed at the lowest of the left-handed castes and have faced a lot of
disabilities for centuries now.
An understanding of the structural framework of Indian society, that is caste, is necessary for
understanding the process of Sanskritization. The upper castes were the most sanskritized
ones in the hierarchy (which were often brahmins) as compared to the other castes. Thus, the
process of Sanskritization took place in the middle and lower stratums of the hierarchy. There
were theoretical bans and an effective barrier of hostile attitude from the dominant castes of
the area, that prohibited the middle and lower castes from sanskritizing themselves, still it
was not effective in dissolving the process. The interesting fact that is pointed out by Srinivas
is, how even the tribes were sanskritizing themselves to attain an upper social position in the
hierarchy. Though, in long run, castes were able to sanskritize though adopting the
Brahminical rituals and practices, in short run they imitated the regional dominant castes. The
Brahminical rituals, reached the lower caste in a chain reaction. That is where each caste
imitated the just above caste and sanskritized itself, while being imitated by the just below
caste. We find three main power axes in caste system; political, economic, and ritual. What is
visible is that, possession of one these powers, leads to the acquisition of the other two as
well. Occasionally, there have been instances of caste who enjoyed political-economic power,
but did no belong to the higher rank of the hierarchy.
The idea of hierarchy is predominant in the caste system. The hierarchy was formed in every
aspect of life-style, not only did caste formed the hierarchy; the customs, commensality,
occupation all formed separate hierarchies. According to Srinivas two legal-factions, have
helped the process of Sanskritization. The first legal faction was ban on the chanting of
mantras from Vedic texts by the non-twice-born members of the caste. Though, the rituals
and rites of the brahmins were practiced by the other castes, for example the rite of the gift of
the virgin (kanyadan) during marriage is practiced by other castes as well. Though the
mantras that are to be chanted by the brahmins at the ceremony are not from the Vedic texts,
rather they are shlokas from the post-Vedic period. This substitution of the Vedic mantras
becomes the second legal faction.
Srinivas highlights how Sanskritization leads to harshness towards women. Upper castes have
more rigid forms of values and institutions that the lower castes. Especially in case of
brahmins the sex and marriage codes of conduct are harsher than the other castes. Up until
recently the brahmins married their daughters before the age of puberty. The marriages
among brahmins are indissoluble. The widow of a brahmin is considered inauspicious. The
remarriage was taboo and no sexual desire is to manifested by her. In comparison to the
upper caste, the sex and marriage code of lower caste was more liberal. The remarriage of
divorced and widowed women was acceptable and post-puberty marriages of the daughters
took place. But as the castes went through the process of Sanskritization they took up certain
values and institutions of brahmins, in which the sex and marriage code was important.
Sanskritization has significant effects on conjugal relations. The wife is supposed to treat her
husband as a deity. The practice of eating after her husband and in the same leaf as of him
was considered righteous. In order to predecease her husband and not wanting to become a
widow, she performed a number of vratas or religious vows. The ones who completely
devoted themselves to their husbands were considered to be an ideal wife and at some
occasions were worshiped. Though polygyny was allowed, monogamy was referred to as
ideal. Marriage is considered as the religious duty of the individual. The bachelors are
religiously inferior compared to the married men, and were not allowed to perform certain
religious rites and duties. A wife is entitled to half of the merit earned by the husband through
religious practices.
In sphere of kinship, as noticed by Srinivas, Sanskritization gives value to the custom of
vamsha, the patrilineal lineage of the brahmins. Sanskritization raises the values of having
sons giving them religious importance. As the sons are considered to be the ones, who are
responsible for freeing the manes of the male ancestors from hell called ‘put’. Whereas on the
other hand the value of daughters is ceased down. As mentioned earlier it was necessary for
the families to marry off their daughters before the age of puberty, though it was not an easy
task.
When people get sanskritized, they are not only adopting new customs but are also exposed
to the new ideas, values, and beliefs of the institution. Karma, dharma, moksha are some
examples which find their roots back in the Sanskrit literature. Such Sanskritic beliefs and
ideas reach the common man through the institution of ‘harikatha’. It is assumed that
listening to such ‘harikathas’ will help attain spiritual liberation to the individuals.
Westernization has helped Sanskritization in its own way. Sanskritization was accelerated
during the course of British rule. Through the help of the advanced technology these
Sanskritic ideas reached the masses and the increase in literacy helped even the lowest of the
castes to familiarize themselves with these ideas. The new western political system
introduced by the British helped the process to spread to the roots of the society.
‘Prohibition’, a Sanskritic value has been added in the constitution. Many regional parties
have campaigned about the blood sacrifices made by the people to their deity, which again is
a Sanskrit belief. Even though the adaptation of certain beliefs have helped groups in
Sanskritization, still there seems to be conflict between the western world view and the
traditional beliefs.
During the reign of British, they came across certain practices that were considered barbarous
by them. Such practices included suttee, human sacrifice, slavery, thuggery, etc. They did
everything in their power to stop these practices as civilization of the subcontinent was on
their shoulders according to them. This in turn threw the traditional leaders in the defence
mood, as their tradition and authority of their culture was in danger. There formed a gap
between the two. There were several movements such as, Arya Samaj and Brahmo Samaj,
which aimed at returning to the old Hindu traditions. Somehow, the discovery of Sanskrit by
the western scholars helped to bridge the gap between the two ideologies. As the superiority
of Sanskrit was recognised by the western scholars, the Indian leaders greatly welcomed such
praises.
The caste and class of the Indian leaders also influenced the connection between the western
rulers and Indian leaders. The Indian leaders were caught in a dilemma. Certain customs and
beliefs that they looked down upon, were found in the habits of the western rulers, such as
eating poke and beef, drinking alcohol, etc. enjoyed a greater level of economic and political
power as well as had the knowledge of the new technology. As a result of which the Indian
leaders now starting taking upon habits which were closer to the ones that they previously
looked down upon. Another result of this was that the evils of the upper caste were now the
evils of the whole society. The adoption of the western world view, differed from region to
region and from one group of people to another. For example, where one group westernized
in their dress, diet, etc., the other got westernized by adopting the ideas and ideologies.
As discussed, earlier westernization spread through different means. For instance, the
brahmins in the state of Mysore were the ones to bring in the process of westernization. As
they stood at the top of the hierarchy and enjoyed political and economic power, they did not
miss the chance to take advantage westernization. They attained the new western knowledge,
which gave them a favourable position in the social world, but his also came in the contrast
with their traditional practices of superiority. The more orthodox brahmins saw the
Englishmen as the living embodiment of the religious impurity. The brahmins in fear of
getting impure did not eat the food touched by the others.
Due to the westernization of the brahmins, they were somewhere placed between the British
and the native population. A new secular caste-system was imposed on the pre-existing
traditional system. Though brahmins still had the theoretical superiority, in reality they were
placed on the second position after the Kshatriyas who had political and economic power at
their disposal. The position of the brahmins in this new caste system was crucial. Brahmins
helped the process of westernization spread across the masses, as the masses already were in
a process of imitating the practices of brahmins. However, there were certain ideas that were
difficult for brahmins to accept.
Srinivas mentions about the distinction that formed among the brahmins of Mysore due to
westernization. There formed two groups, vaidikas or priests and laukikas or the laity, this
type of division was visible all across the subcontinent. The priests were ritual superior than
the laity, though on the other hand the laity were superior in economic and political spheres.
Due to these reasons the laity had an upper hand in the social sphere than the priests. The
priests were hostile towards the liberal laities who picked up other occupations and had more
power at their disposal. British rule widened the gap between the two groups, the idea to
secularize India did was not welcomed by the orthodox brahmins who were thrown in a
defence mode as their traditional superiority was diminishing. The authorities of priests were
threatened as they also took up certain practices of western world which questioned their
purity. Another aspect of modern India that threatened their authority was the increasing
interests of the education Indian scholars in Sanskrit and Indian traditional culture. Even
though the priests had an internal conflict regarding the westernization that was taking place
in the Indian society, they too after a course of time accepted this secularized version of caste
system and reluctantly took up new occupations, to attain new economic, political, social
power
Sanskritization as a process of social change has been occurring in the Indian society with
varying degrees from the centuries. It is a reference group theory where people belonging to
non-untouchable backward castes adopt the culture of upper and dominant caste to raise their
status in caste hierarchy. In this way it has helped different caste groups to move upward in
caste hierarchy. This leads to homogenisation of the Hindu society whereas large number of
castes practice similar rituals and became part of a common culture. But Sanskritization is
associated with the positional change in caste system and supports the traditional caste
structure. The process does not lead to any structural change in Indian society. Thus, though
the process of Sanskritization leads to some form of change in Indian society, it has inbuilt
limitation in acting as a framework for radical change.