Conceptualising Brahmanical Patriarchy in Early India: Gender, Caste, Class and State

Author(s): Uma Chakravarti

Source: Economic and Political Weekly , Apr. 3, 1993, Vol. 28, No. 14 (Apr. 3, 1993), pp.
579-585
Published by: Economic and Political Weekly

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/4399556

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 SPECIAL ARTICLES

Conceptualising BralimaniLcal Patriarchy in

Early India
Gender, Caste, Class and State
Uma Chakravarti

Caste hierarchy and gender hierarchy are the organising principles of the brahmanical social order an
closely interconnected. This article explores the relationship between caste and gender, focusing on wha
possibly the centralfactorfor the subordination of the upper caste woman: the need for effective sexual
trol over such women to maintain not only patrilineal succession but also caste purity, the institution unique
to Hindu society.

STUDIES of women in early Indian history The task of exploring the connections bet- caste can be ensured without closely guar-
have tended to focus on what is broadly ween patriarchy and other structures within ding women who form the pivot for the en-
termed as the 'status of women', which in a historical context was pioneered by Gerda tire structure. As Yalman's informants
turn has led to a concentration of attention Lerner (1986) and her work is both theoreti- pointed out the honour and respectability
on a limited set of questions such as mar- cally and methodologically useful for of men is protected and preserved through
their women. The appearance of puberty
riage law, property rights, and rights relatinghistorians. In outlining the historical process
to religious practices, normally viewed as in- of the creation of patriarchy in the thus marks a profoundly 'dangerous' situa-
dices of status. The limited focus has left a Mesopotamian region Lerner describes her tion and is the context for major rituals
major lacuna in our understanding of social growing awareness of the fact that crucial which indicates the important relationship
processes which have shaped men, women, to the organisation of early Mesopotamian between female purity and purity of caste.
and social institutions in early India. It is society was the total control of women's sex- It is in order to stringently guard the purity
now time to move away from questions of uality by men of the dominant class. She had of castes that very early on pre-puberty mar-
'status' whether high or low, and to look in- been puzzled by her evidence wherein riages were recommended for the upper
stead at the structural framework of gender women seemed to have greatly differing castes especially brahmanas [Yalman: 25-58].
relations, i e, to the nature and basis of the statuses, some holding high positions and Yalman also points out that caste blood is
subordination of women and its extent and enjoying economic independence but whose always bilateral, i e, its rituali quality is
specific form in early Indian society. In this sexuality was controlled by men. This led her received from both parents. Thus ideally
context we may point out that although the to recognise that there was a need to look both parents must be of the same caste.
subordination of women is a common beyond economic questions and focus on the However, this cannot always be ensured and
feature of almost all stages of history, and control over women's sexuality and the man- is the basis of grave anxiety in the texts.
s prevalent in large parts of the world, the ner in which reproduction was organised and The anxiety about polluting the ritual
xtent and form of that subordination has thus to look for the causes and effects of order and the quality of the blood through
een conditioned by the social and cultural such sexual control [Lerner 1986: 8]. A women is best demonstrated in the horror
environment in which women have been similar exploration of the process of of miscegeny as we shall show. In the theore-
placed. establishing control over women's sexuality tical explanations for the proliferation of
The general subordination of women in a highly stratified and closed structure caste the most polluting and low castes are
assumed a particularly severe form in India could be useful in analysing the connections attributed to miscegeny, i e, the mixing of
through the powerful instrument of religious between caste, class, patriarchy, and the state castes ('varnasamkara'). Most polluting are
traditions which have shaped social prac- in the brahmanical texts of early India. The those castes which are the products of
tices. A marked feature of Hindu society is structure that came into being has shaped reprehensible unions between women of a
its legal sanction for an extreme expression ghe ideology of the upper castes and con- higher caste and men of a lower caste. The
of social stratification in which women and tinues to be the underpinning of beliefs and ideologues of the caste system had a p.r-
the lower castes have been subjected to practices extant todav. ticular horror of hypogamy-pratiloma-or
humiliating conditions of existence. Caste A possible starting point for an explora- against the grain as it was described-and
hierarchy and gender hierarchy are the tion of the historical evidence on the crucial reserved for it the severest condemnation and
organising principles of the brahmanical place of' control over women's sexuality the highest punishment as will be evident.
social order and despite their close intercon- within the larger structure in which Violations continued to be punished until
nections neither scholars of the caste system brahmanical patriarchy was located thus recent times by drowning mother and child
nor feminist scholars have attempted to could be the practices and beliefs prevalent (Yalman: 52] and excommunication and
analyse the relationship between the two. I among the upper castes as studied by anthro- ritual death.
will explore here (very tentatively) the rela- pologists. An insightful essay by Nur Yalman The safeguarding of the caste structure is
tionship between caste and gender, focusing (1962) on the castes of Ceylon and Malabar' achieved through the highly restricted move-
on what is possibly the central factor for the shows that the sexuality of women, more ment of women or even through female
subordination of the upper caste women: the than that of men, is the subject of social seclusion. Women are regarded as gate-
need for effective sexual control over such concern. Yalman argues that a fundamental ways-literally points of entrance into the
women to maintain not only patrilineal suc- principle of Hindu social organisation is to caste system. The lower caste male whose
cession (a requirement of all patriarchal construct a closed structure to preserve land, sexuality is a threat to-upper caste purity has
societies) but also caste purity, the institu- women, and 'ritual quality within it. The to be institutionally prevented from having
tion unique to Hindu society. The purity of three are structurally linked and it is impossi- sexual access to women of the higher castes
women has a centrality in brahmanical ble to maintain all three without stringently so women must be carefully guarded
patriarchy, as we shall see, because the purityorganising female sexuality. Indeed neither [Ganesh 1985: 16; Das 1976: 129-45]. Wh
of caste is contingent upon it. land, nor ritual quality, i e, the purity of the structure to prevent miscegeny breaks

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down the brahmanical texts consider that the Evidence from the cave paintings in cen- pa in any definitive manner on any aspect
whole elaborate edifice of social order that tral India thus suggests that in the hunting- including on questions of gender. However
they built up has collapsed. The Kaliyuga gathering stage there was no rigid sexual the existence of numerous mother goddess
of the future is just such a time when women division of labour as has sometimes been icons and the bronze statue of the dancing
of the high castes and men of the low castes postulated, i e, men hunt and women gather. girl could be interpreted as the continued im-
will r*gress from their duties. The Bhagavad In the case of central India in the mesolithic portance of women's special relationship
Gita, the normative text par excellence of the period, it is likely that women participated with reproduction, and may also be seen as
Hindus, outlines the collapse of the social in the hunt apart from the all important task an acceptance of their sexuality. The
and moral order when there are leakages in of gathefing which in any case accounted for evidence is not enough to indicate whether
the closed structure of marriages. Families the major source of food in tropical climates. the sexuality was already under some kind
are broken, rites are forgotten, women are The role of women in the economy was thus of control, whether by men or by certain
defiled and from this corruption comes the equal if not more than that of men. Based categories of women. Better interpretation
mixing of castes [Gita 1: 41-44]. Thus whilc on modern anthropological data on tribal and analysis of evidence from Mesopotamia
advocating conformity all the detailing of societies it has been postulated that the most is possible as the numerous clay inscriptions
norms for women in the brahmanical texts egalitarian societies are to be found among have been deciphered. Lerner's stimulating
are a powerful admission of the power of hunting-gathering tribes which are charac- study of the creation of patriarchy would
non-conformist women, or all women who terised by interdependency [Lerner 1986: 29]. suggest that some form of community or
have the power to non-conform, to break the The relative status of men and women can clan control over women and their sexuali-
entire structure of Hindu orthodoxy. For, at the most be characterised as 'separate but ty were aspects of social organisation in the
when women are corrupted all is lost. In the equal'. archaic state and may have existed in the
brahmanical texts it is evident that the up- What is of major significance to this essay Harappan culture too.
per caste woman is the object of moral is that the important role of women in the In contrast to the Harappan culture the
panic. Through the recalcitrance of women hunting-gathering economy, which was Rig Vedic period is characterised by the lack
the established property and status order can highly valued, was enhanced by the impor- of information on material culture in general
be subverted. To prevent such a contingen- tance attached to the reproductive role of but particularly on anything that may have
cy women's sexual subordination was institu- women. Pregnant women, women in their had a bearing on women. The Rig Veda itself
tionalised in the brahmanical law codes and nurturing roles as mothers, and women por-however does throw some light on the
enforced by the power of the state. At the trayed in the act of childbirth are sometimes ideology of the early Aryans. Rig Vedic
same time women's co-operatiodl in the depicted in the paintings and the last has Society witnessed a continuing struggle bet-
system was secured by various means: been identified as the figure of a mother ween the Aryans and the 'indigenous' tribes
ideology, economic dependency on the male goddess. Similar evidence from other pre- who were viewed with particular hostility by
head of the family, class privileges and historic cultures in the Mesopotamian region the Aryans for their dark skins, and their
veneration bestowed upon conforming and has been used to suggest the prevalence of racial 'inferiority' As the Aryans succeeded
dependent women of the upper classes, and a pervasive veneration of the mother god- in establishing their control over certain
finally the use of force when required. dess. It has also been argued that the first areas most of the men either fled or were
form of religious expression for men and killed; the conquerors then enslaved the
I women is the psychological bond between women of the subjugated peoples. Thus the
mother and child, and that the 'life giving first large group to be enslaved in early
The process of caste, class and gender mother' appeared to have power over 'life Indian history were women as there are more
stratification, the three elements in the
and death'; thus men and women, observing frequent references to 'dasis' than to 'dasas'
establishment of the social order in India [Chakravarti 1985: 561; the evidence of thle
this dramatic and mysterious power of the
shaping the formation of brahmanical female turned to the veneration of the Rig Veda is in consonance with Lerner's
patriarchy,' took a considerable period of mother goddess [Lerner 1986: 39]. argument that all early conquering tribes
time to evolve into its complex structure. killed the defeated men and enslaved the
Going by existing archaeological studies, Female reproductive power in such a
women, at least in the first stage of conquest
which do not lend themselves easily to ques- hunting-gathering society is regarded as
[Lerner 1986: 78ff]. For our purpose the Rig
tions of stratification, none of the elements valuable because the very survival of the
Vedic evidence is extremely significant as it
of stratification outlined above can be clear- community is dependent upon it. Prehistoric reflects an essential stratification within
ly traced in the evidence available to us. paintings at Kathotia, Bhimbetka and Khar- women, between wornen of the conquering
wai treat female sexuality as one aspect of
There are, however, some indications that in tribes and women of the subjugated people.
prehistoric cultures women's role in produc- female existence. Thus women as Their roles and their place in society were
tion and in reproduction was regarded as reproducers are as evident as women's pro- very different. The Rig Veda for example
valuable. In a recent study of cave paintings ductive activities in the hunting-gathering describes the Aryan women as ruling over
at Bhimbetka (circa 5000BC) it has been economy [Roy 1987: 71. Society in this phase bipeds and quadrupeds, i e, slaves and cat-
has been characterised by one scholar as
argued that women were engaged in gather- tle [Rig Veda: IX 85.431. While the dasis' or
ing fruit and other wild produce and in hun- 'matristic' one in which women were not the enslaved women's labour and sexuality
ting small game using baskets and small subjected to the authority of men, or of were to be used, this was under the overall
nets. They combined their roles as mothers other women [Neumayer 1983: 211. There
control of the men of the conquering clans.
with their activities as gatherers during this would be little need in such a society for the References to dasas as object of 'dana' (gifts)
hunting-gathering stage of society. The pain- sexual'control of women by men. make it evident that the recipients are always
tings include those of a woman with a basket Evidence from the Harappan civilisation men; often the rajanya, as the captors, gift
slung across her shoulders with two children has not been analysed from the gender point them to priests. The possession of women
in it and she also carries an animal on her of view but there is some indication of the slaves was clearly a major element in the
head; women carrying baskets and nets otten emergence of social stratification, with a primitive accumulation of wealth.
depicted as pregnant; a woman dragging a class of people who laboured and others Many of the myths of the Rig Veda reflect
deer by its antlers; and women engaged in who wielded power and occupied the citadels an explicit relationship of women with sex-
catching fish [Roy 1987: 3-4]. In group hun- in tbe structures that have been excavated. uality. Frequently this is an aspect which is
ting scenes too the paintings include women. An understanding of how this society was specially associated with demoniac women
From the elaborate head-dress that they wear organised internally in terms of its economy or with apsaras. While demoniac women are
it is possible to argue that their presence in and polity is still inconclusive as the ar- a threat to men and to their rituals, the ap-
the hunt might indicate both a symbolic and chaeological data is not yet complemented saras are free from male control and even
an actual participation in ensuring the suc- by written evidence. It is thus not possible set stringent conditions for any long-term
cess of the hunt. to use the evidence available to us on Harap- cohabitation with men. For other Aryan

580 Economic and Political Weekly April 3, 1993

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women, the patriarchal family had establish- (i e, uy rc. '.-int, women powerless, by woman, a Sudra, a dog, and a crow are the
ed a certain degree of control over women. appropriating ai: the sources of their embodiments of untruth, sin, and darkness
Their position in the pastoral economy, with strength) it appears that kingship or the[XIV.1.1.31).
state The view that women's innate
the household playing an important part in was already associated with the control of nature was lascivious and evil was so per-
production, ensured the recognition of their women and was an instrument through vasive that it features even in Buddhist
presence in society especially in the perfor-which their subjugation was achieved. literature.2 A Jataka story states that
mance of rituals. But the custom of Niyoga women are a sex composed of wickedness
which was the privilege of affinal male II and guile; womankind holds truth for
kinsmen indicates that control over female falsehood and falsehood for truth. They are
The shift to an agricultural economy and
sexuality- was firmly established. Niyoga u*able as the sand, and as cruel as the
the second urbanisation (800BC- 600BC) snake (Jalaka 1:551. Says -another Jataka
combines the utilisation of the reproductive
was marked by the emergence of caste and
potential of women but under rules laid story, "Wrathful are women, slanderous in-
class divisions. The brahmana was a foirve grates, the sowers of dissensions and strife."
down by men to- further cultural norms
to reckon with and patrilineal succession wisTheir passions are insatiab!e as they act ac-
which privilege them. And it is noteworthy
fairly well established within the larger con-cording io their inborn nature (Jataka 1:309].
that while there is no special value attached
text of a defined family structure distinct Even the Ramrayana associates most
to chastity, the example of the maiden who
from the earlier structure. Some of these women with being essentially weak and sin-,
abandoned her child (indicating definite
elements are captured in-the Buddhist origin ful. According to Kausalya women do not
notions of legitimate reproduction) reiterates
myth where the institution of caste, private care for a good family, good deeds, or
that patriarchal control over women was in-
property, the family, and the archaic state
stitutionalised [Rig Veda IV.19.9; IV.30.16J. wisdom, and their hearts are ever inconstant
are represented as emerging simultaneously
The post-Vedic literature reflects a two- [11. 39.236-2401. The sage Agastya states that
from an earlier stage of primitive existence it has been a woman's nature ever since crea-
fold development of ideology. While Aryan
women were being marginalised in terms of [Digha Nikaya Ill 80ff]. Thesq changes, i e, tion began to cling to a man only when he
the emergence of a fairly stratified society prospers, and desert him in difficulty; their
their original roles in the sacrifice their roles
and the collapse of tribal economy and poli- fickle natures are modelled on the flashes
in the productive system were also chang-
ty in the post-Vedic period, especially with of lightning [111.3.61. Anasuya complains
ing. The increasing dependence on
the establishment of private control over that normally women do not know right
agriculture as the major source of food
laRd [Chakravarti 1987: 23ff), held and from wrong, and even though they are
shifted the scene of food production outside
transmitted within a patrilineal system, ac- dependent on their husbands for protection
the households to the fields; the labour of
companied by the beginning also of patri- they wander about with their hearts subject
the subjugated peoples including dasis was
lineal succession to kingship, and the preser-
extracted to work the land and this enabled only to their own desires [11.117.261. All these
vation of caste purity meant that the sexual examples are used by Tryambaka, the author
the Aryan woman's labour to be rest'ricted
behaviour of certain categories of women of the S:ridharmapaddhati to stress the in-
to the household. Thereafter the participa-
needed to be closely guarded. Wives in par- nate wickedness of women in a general sense,
tion of a certain class of women in 'produc-
ticular required to be under male control and but there are more specific forms of the
tion' that was valued ceased. Such women
this view finds explicit mention in a later innate impurity and sinfulness of women
from then onward were associated only with
text, the Apasiamba Dharma Sulr (circa 6th which come closer to the-problem of sexuali-
reproduction. Whether these developments
century BC), which rules that a husband ty. According to Tryambaka's version of
took place with the compliance of Aryan
should ensure that no other man goes near Manu's 'Stripumdharma' (written for
women or not (the dasis of course would
have had no active part to play in the crea- his wife lest his seed get into her 111.6.13.7).women in the 18th century) women are in-
tion of such a system), a degree of tension It is at this point that a sharp distinction nately promiscuous, fickle minded, lacking
between men and women may be discernedrequired to be made between motherhood in love, and unfaithful to their husbands even
even in the Rig Vedic literature where the and female sexuality with the latter being when closely guarded. One reason for their
relationship between the gods and goddesses channelised only into legitimate motherhood innate impurity is represented as stemming
is often depicted as hostile. There are within a tightly controlled structure of from the fact that women became recipients
references also to suggest that women must reproduction which ensured caste purity (by of the guilt of brahmicide, alongwith the
be rendered powerless by ensuring that they mating only with prescribed partners) and earth and trees, which was shifted upon
do not gain in strength and are obedient to patrilineal succession (by restricting mating them by Indra when he killed Vishwarupa
men and follow them [Roy 1987: 23-30]. only with one man). From then on female and they thus became impure [Leslie: 251].
The need for monitoring women's sexuali- sexuality had to be 'managed' and therefore Menstruation, according to this myth, was
ty is also evident. It appears that women's a crucial question for us to pursue is "in associated with women's participation in
sexuality is viewed as a threat, particularly whose hands does the management of brahmin murder. It is a mark of a woman's
in relation to the sacrifice. Thus Dirghajivi, female sexuality come to reside; further do impurity and at the same time her in-
innate
a demoness whose sexual appetite is women participate in this process of mana- nate sexuality [O'Flaherty 1976: 153ff].
represented as ghoulish, is described as gement?"
be- The congenital fickleness of women's
ing tamed by a handsome man Sumitra This whowas the general context in which nature is specially pertinent to the problem
thus neutralises the danger that she presents women's 'essential nature' came to be iden- of dealing with the innately overflowing and
to the sacrifice [Roy 31; O'Flaherty 1984: tified with their sexuality although it was not uncontrollable sexuality of women. Thus in
101-031. The earliest references to the directly
need or explicitly associated as such. At the ancient texts it is repeatedly stated that
to specially guard wives is also evident adur- general level the innate nature of women they can never be trusted; further the
ing this period. The Satapaiha Brahmana was represented as sinful. According to one Mahabharata states that they are difficult to
,expresses the fear that the wife might go to text, women have been sinful right from thecontrol. The cunning tricks of the demons
other men [SBI 3.1.21J. Most significantly beginning when the creator first made theare known to be unique to women
there is a very embryonic notion of ultimate five gross elements, the three worlds, and he[XIII.39.51. In another text they are lin
cont'rol over women's sexual behaviour be-gave shape to men and women [Leslie 1989:to kings and creeping vines in that they will
ing asserted by the king. The Salapatha 2481. Women are the edge of a razor, poison, embrace whatever is beside them. They are
Brahmana 1.15.20] states that the divine 'ra-
snakes, and fire all rolled into one [Leslie adulterous by nature and are permanently
ja' Varuna seizes the woman who has 1989). At the time of creation the originalon the look-out for an opportunity to seduce
adulterous intercourse with men other than Manu allocated to women the habit of lying, men: according to a Jataka story "As greedy
her husband. Read along with another state- sitting around and an indiscriminate love of cows seek pasture a new, women unsated
ment in the same text [XI.4.3.1ffl which ornaments, anger, meanness, treachery, and yearn for mate on mate" [Jataka 1:1551.
alludes to kingdom being obtained by bad conduct [Manu, IX 17). As early as the The notion ;that the essential nature of
depriving the goddess Sri of all her qualities Sa/apaiha Brahmona we are told that a women is vestcd in their sexuality is dealt

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with most explicitly by Manu, the most pro- the dest-ructive and demoniac lust of women adyantage of her husband's absence to carry
minent ideologue of the brahmanical which is considered to be their 'true' nature. on with all manner of men. Unfortunately
system. After ruling that women must be A femak ascetlc to whom Astavakra is sent for her two parrots, who are like the sons
closely guarded day and night, regardless of in preparation for marriage repeatedly at- of the brahmana, have been left behind to
their age, Manu tells us why it is that womentempts to seduce him in spite of her advanc- keep watch and report on her so her miscon-
must be guarded. Building up from the need ed age. She tells Astavakra that for women duct is communicated to the brahmana on
there is no greater delight nor more destruc- his return. Between themselves the parrots
to guard against even the most trifling 'evil'
actions of women Manu argues that by care- tive urge than sex, that even very old women observe that one might "carry a woman
fully guarding the wife (the most important are consumed by sexual passion and that about in one's arms and yet she would not
category of women as far as the brahmani women's sexual desire can never be overcome be safe". The elder of the two parrots then
ido1Ques were concerned) a man preserves in all the three worlds (Mahabhara:a points out that only "wifely love can curb
the pority of his offspring, his family,X111.20.59-60; 64-67; 22-29; Leslie 1989: a woman's lust" and it was wifely love that
himselt, and his meahs of acquiring merit 2681. The Asatamanta Jataka reiterates the was lacking in the case of the brahmana's
[IX.71. Developing his argument Manu tells same message that even an old woman is a wife [Jaiaka 1. 309.
us that after conception by his wife, the sexual hazard [Jataka 1. no 611. The representation of an inordinate.sex-
husband becomes an embryo and is born This projection of the fear of women's un- uality in the case of women of the ruling
again of her; according to Manu that is the controlled sexuality was the backdrop to the clans, landholding groups, and the priestly
wifehood of a wife [IX.7-91. In order to keepobsession with creating an effective systemclasses suggests that these categories are par-
his offspring 'pure' Manu enjoins the hus- of control and the need to guard them con- ticularly concerned with 'impulse' control.
band to carefully guard his wife lest his stantly; the moment the controls are relax- While legitimacy in terms of succession ex-
future is denied to him. It is women's natureed, or cannot be effectively mounted, plains the references to women of the king's
which requires them to be so thoroughly women's inordinate sexual appetite will lead family and the landholding groups the need
restrained. According to Manu their essen- them to adulterous liaisons. to maintain caste purity explains the obses-
tial nature will drive women into seeking A striking aspect of the obsessive need for siori with brahmana wives.
satisfaction anywhere, anytimne, and with control over women in the narrative lite-
An interesting facet of women's 'innate'
anyone. He states that rature of the Buddhists is that it has a close nature ('strisvabhava') unlike the innate
Women do not care for beauty, nor is their link with women of the upper strata, parti- natures of other subordinate groups like the
attention fixed on age; thinking it is euiough cularly with the wives of kings and brah- sudras was the representation of conflict bet-
that he is a man, they give themselves to the manas and occasionally with 'gahapatis' ween the inherent nature of women and their
handsome and to the ugly. who were among the dominant sections of dharma. While the 'innate' nature of the
Through their passion for men, through society and were closely associated with lower castes thAt of rendering service to the
their mutable temper, through their natural land. twice-born, was in harmony with the dhar-
heartlessness, they become disloyal towards In the Bandanamokkha Jataka the king's ma prescribed for them by the brahmanical
their husbands, however carefully they may wife lays strict conditions of fidelity upon law-givers, strisvabhava, women's essential
be guarded [Manu IX.15]. her husband but herself displays uncon- nature as sexual beings, was in conflict with
The most revealing statement that Manu trollable lust when the king is away at thetheir stridharma of fidelity to the husband:
makes in the context of women's essential frontier Fighting to put down disorder. Her their strisvabhava was constantly enticing
nature points out: extraordinary appetite leads her to seek them away from their stridhanna. Signi-
Knowing their disposition, which the lord of satisfaction with a series of messengers, 64 ficantly some myths explicitly suggest that
creatures laid on them at creation (i e, their in all, who come to enquire about how she a 'demoniac' strisvabhava was the maternal
reproductive power, their sexuality, their is faring in the king's absence Finally she heritage of women whereas the stridharma,
essential nature) every man should most attempts to seduce the royal chaplain who the duty of women was their paternal
strenuously exert himself to guard them refutes her advances. When the king returns heritage, given to them by the brahmana
iManu IX.16J. she accuses the chaplain of having attemp- priests [Leslie 1989: 266J. These references
The crucial place occupied by the wife in the ted to seduce her and of beating her when suggest that, the original attitude of
whole system of perpetuating the social she resists his advances. The king orders that prehistoric societies to the reproductive
order and in enabling men to gain immor- the chaplain be beheaded, whereupon the power of women, where their sexuality was
tality through their sons is explicitly ar- chaplain tells the king the truth and at the accepted as an inherent part of their being
ticulated by Manu: same time advises the king to fotgive the and had posed no problem had given way
The production of children, the nurture of various errants, the messengers as well as the to a system tequirhqg stringent controls.
those born, and the daily life of men, of these queen. Seeking pardon for the messengers Women's sexuality thus had now become a
matters the wife is visibly the cause. the chaplain says "Men are not to blame for problem; their essential natures, their mater-
Offspring, the due performance of religious they were constrained by the queen" In the nal power, thus had to be organised and
rites, faithful service and heavenly bliss for case of the queen the chaplain pleads "She ordered by paternal power in the emerging
the ancestors and for oneself depend on the is not to blame for the passions of women class-based societies to serve the new social
wife alone [Manu X.26-271. are insatiate and she does but act according and political arrangements organis&;l by men
It was this recognition that men were depen- to her inborn nature" [Jafaka I. 2641. of the dominant classes.
dent upon women to perpetuate the social The innate wickedness of women is the women's general subordination was essen-
and moral orddr of their making which led subject of another story where the good hus- tial in this stage because it was only then that
them to confront the problem of women's band (who is a prince who has fallen on the mechanism of control upon women's
sexuality. Reproductive power was the one troubled times) performs the most unimagi- sexuality could actually be effective. The
power tnat women still held in the new nable sacrifices to save his wife from star-
mechanism of control operated through
structure of relations in which they were vation but who, at the first opportunity, three devices and at three different levels; the
subordinated and one way of dealing with abandons him for a common thief and at- first was through ideology, through the
it was to simultaneously exaggerate and treat tempts to murder the husband by pushing stridharma, or pativratharma, internalised
as terribly dangerous women's 'innate' him down a precipice. The prince however by women who attempted to live up to the
nature. Their uncontrolled sexuality was escapes and becomes the king; he then ex- ideal notion of womanhood constructed by
perceived as posing a threat and the narrativeposes the evil nature of his wife saying the ideologues of the society. In the case of
and normative literature of ancient India is "'women deserve to die, they have no truth";
Hindu society the design of the patriarchal
thus full of references to the wickedness of thereafter the king rules death for both the
caste-class structure was mapped out by the
women and of their 'insatiable' lust. sinners [Jalaka 11. 193]. brahmanas; pativrata the specific dhanrmna of
The story of Astavakra, narrated by Similarly in the Radha Jataka, the the Hindu wife then becanie the ideology by
Bhisma to Yudhistra, graphically illustrates unguarded wife of a brahmana takes which women accepted and even aspired to

582 Economic and Political Weekly April 3, 1993

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chastity and wifely fidelity as the highest her lord, dwells with him after death in mised that he and the younger wives would
expression of their selfhood. heaven" and is called sadhvi, a chaste render her the honour she deserved. Sam-
This was the'lowest level of operation and woman, a faithful wife, by the virtuous bula and the king lived happily after that
one that required to control as chastity came (Manu IX.291. These internalised norms [Amore
are and Shinn 1981: 34-36].
to be viewed as the means of salvation and the subject of much of the literature on The Sambula story is an interesting
was therefore self-imposed. Pativrata, the women. variant of the Sita legend in the Rainayana.
ideological 'purdah' of the Hindu women A little known story where the focus on There are parallels as well as points of depar-
was thjus the mask by which the hierarchical chastity is not explicit but latent, or even hid- ture. Both women accompany their hus-
and inegalitarian structure of the social den, indicates the value of such norms for bands through their travails and both are the
order was reproduced with the complicity of women as it enables the control upon women object of an ogre's attention. Both have to
women. to be invisibilised. The story pertains to an prove themselves, as their chastity is suspect
It may be argued that the success of any extraordinarily beautiful princess named but here the parallel ends. The underlying
system lies in the subtle working of its Sambula who was the wife of the heir ap- assumptions however are essentially the
ideology and in that sense the pativrata con- parent. Unfortunately the prince contracted same as both stories deal with the theme of
cept wfs the masterstroke of Hindu-Aryan leprosy and decided to renounce the throne suspicion about the wife if she is away from
genius. It was, in our view, one of the most and live as a hermit ascetic. Everyone let him the husband for any length of time. Both are
successful ideologies constructed by any depart including his father, and all the wives guarded and protected by their chastity and
patriarchal system, one in which women of the prince, since his open sores were virtue, and by their own internalised norms
themselves controlled their own sexuality. becoming foul and rotten. However Sambula of true womanhood as lying in devotion to
The actual mechanisms and institutions of insisted on accompanying him wherever he the husband alone.
control over women's sexuality, and the might go to look after him. So they went By and large most women conformed to
subordination of women, was thus comple- together to the forest where the man built these internalised norms, or at least aspired
tely invisibilised and with it patriarchy was a leaf hut in a pleasant spot. to t4em in theory if not in actual practice.
firmly establishedas an ideology since it was Dedicating herself to the services of her But in situations where the ideological level
'naturalised'. husband Sambula rose early in the morn- of the control over women was unsuccessful
That the stridharma, or the pativrata- ing to gather fruit and vegetables for his law and customs, as prescribed by the
dharma was a rhetorical device to ensure the food and bathe his wretched skin with cool brahmanical social code, were evoked to keep
social control of women, especially chastity, water. One day while she was gathering food woTnen firmly under the control of the
is now well accepted. As outlined by Manu deep in the forest she noticed a pleasant pool patriarchal kinship network. The right to
and elaborated and repeated by Tryambaka in a cave and bathed herself. As she step- control a womnan's total existence, especial-
in the stridharmapaddhati the stridharma ped out her radiance lit up the forest and ly regulating her impulses vested firmly in
was clearly an ideological niechanism for an ogre noticed her. He immediately wanted the male members of her family, first in her
socially controlling the biological aspect of her for himself but Sambula refused his ad- natal household and then in her conjugal
women. Women, as biological creatures, are vances. The ogre then threatened to eat her. household. This is a position stated most ef-
representatives of a wild or untamed nature. Sambula struggled against him and since her fectively by Manu but reiterated by all the
But through the stridharma the biological spiritual power was so great(due to the ac- major brahmanical codes. Manu's dictum,
woman can be converted into woman as a cumulated merit of her good virtuous ac- "day and night women must be kept in
social entity, in whom the biological has tions) the god Sakka noticed her distress anddependence (and guarded) by the males of
been tamed". In contrast in the Kali age came down to earth to help her. their families" is an explicit statement of the
especially there is an inversion of the system When she returned after her misadven- need for stringent control upon women to
in which women lapse into unrestrained tures to her leprous husband she was greetedsafeguard them and save them from their 'in-
behaviour disregarding the stridharma and with suspicion; the husband would not nate' addiction to sensual enjoyment. He
throwing off all morals. The wicked and believe her story and reminded her of the rules further that if they are not guarded they
essential nature of women then must be wiles of women. The desperate Sambula bring sorrow to two families, the one into
subordinated and conquered by the virtue cried "Oh my husband, what can I do to which a woman is born and the one into
of the ideal wife. Once the tension between convince you of my devotion to you and you which she is given [Manu IX.2-51.
'nature' and 'culture' is resolved women can alone!' Then a solution occurred to her and Special responsibility is guarding women
emerge triumphant as paragons of virtue. It she decided to perform the ancient ritual is laid upon the husband who is represented
is evident from Tryambaka's text that called the 'act of truth' in which a person as most vulnerable to the loss of his progeny
ultimate social control is achieved when the of great virtue proclaims the basis of virtue through the infidelity of women. Consider-
subordinated (here women) not only accept and if the claim be true; the power of virtueing it the highest duty of the husband (and
their condition but consider it a mark of will prove sufficient to work any miracle here he dictates explicitly for all castes)
distinction. requested. So then she proclaimed aloud, Manu enjoins that even 'weak' men must
Much attention has been focused in recent "May I be protected by this truth: that I have strive to guard their wives [Manu IX.61.
years on the ideological control upon women never held anyone dearer than you. By this Baudhayana also enjoins that the wives of
through the idealisation of chastity and wife- spoken truth, may your disease be cured" men of all castes must be guarded more
ly fidelity as the highest duty of women, To complete the ritual she poured water over carefully than wealth (Baudhayana
reinforced through custom and ritual, and the diseased skin of her husband and im- 11.2.3.34-35]. Occupying a central place in
through constructions of notions of mediately his sores were washed away. the enforcement of controls upon the wife's
womanhood which epitomise wifely fideli- Cured thus the husband returned to his behaviour alongwith the husband is the
ty as in the case of Sita, Savitri, Anasuya, kingdom and in due course was installed father-in-law whose. authority keeps the
Arundhati and a host of other similar king while the old king retired to the forest.
daughter-in-law in check. According to
figures in Indian mythology., We shall Uncaring of Sambula's great sacrifice the Medatithi's commentary on Manu's analysis
therefore not labour the point. However, newly installed king ignored her and spent of the six causes of the ruin of women are
Manu's dictum even here outlines the impor- more and more time with the younger girls included associating with wicked people and
tance of the ideological mechanism; in his in his entourage. Sambula bore the insult in sleeping at unusual hours; these are
view no man can completely guard a woman silence but her miseries caused her to grow reprehensible acts as they erase the fear of
by force [Manu IX.l0] and therefore it is thin and frail. One day the king came to the the father-in-law [Das 1962: 1701.
women who of tliir own accord keep guard palace and noticing her sad state discovered The authority -of the male kinsmen is
over themselves that are well guarded [Manu her plight. He reprimanded his son saying backed by the potential right to use coercion
X1.13]. Further Manu points out that a "A good wife is hard to find, but you have and physical chastisement of women who
woman who "*controlling her thoughts,
a virtuous wife so treat her according to violate the norms established for them. The
speech, and acts violates not her duty toward dharma' The husband apologised and pro- fear of physical punishment may appear to

Economic and Political Weekly April 3, 1993 583

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be only a deterrent in the normative functions are associated with kinship in earlyhouse of the husband and going to a neigh-
clear punishing those who commit crimes bour is an offence; even kinsmen of the
literature but that it was actually used is India:
from the narrative literature. In the against the family, i e, adulterers, and thosewomen are included among the homes of
Culapaduma Jalaka the adulterous wife is who commit crimes against property, i e, people women are forbidden to visit unless
described as a harlot by the husband who robbers. Even before the state emerged wethey are being ill-treated. Only in case the
first expounds that women deserve to die, have evidence of the notion that control over house of the kinsman has been the scene of
then recommends and executes the cutting women's sexuality is the concern of the com-death, illness, calamity, or a childbirth is a
off of the adulterous woman's nose and ears munity of men that constitutes the clan inwoman permitted to go there but even in
[Jataka 1.193]. Similarly in the Gahapaii whom political authority is vested. An inci- such situations the visit must be made with
Jataka, the errant wife of a gahapati when dent recorded in the Vinaya Pitaka describes the consent of the husband (3.4.13-15).
caught by the husband is thrashed by him. how a woman, who had committed adultery, The Arthasastra clearly suggests that
He seizes her by the hair, knocks her down flees from her husband who has been husbands were aided by the coercive power
and threatens her "If you do this kind of authorised by the clan to kill her seeks of the state in ensuring a firm grip on the
thing again, I'll make you remember it' He shelter in the Buddhist Sangha to escape this 'impulse' control of women, and that
also demanded damages from the adulterer punishment I Vinaya IV: 225-26). through its punitive measures on the free
saying "Damages please for injury done to After the emergence of the state the movements of women opportunity for viola-
the chattels under another man's watch and brahmanical normative literature and the tions of the sexual code were effectively
ward". The narrative concludes with the semi-secular Arthasastra laid down minimised. There is thus very little discus-
statement that following the physical punishments for violations of the sexual sion on adultery itself in the Arthasastra.
chastisement the wife did not dare transgress
code which the kitig was expected to enforce. However, sections outlining the duties of a
even in thought [Jataka 11. no 1991. These texts reflect the more general anxiety king, or those that concern laws in the
Another story in the Jalaka combines about the husband's need for progeny to brahmanical legal literature dwell at length
humiliation with physical punishment to complete the religious requirements of men, upon adultery, as well as upon the violation
cure a woman of her evil ways. Describing and the need to ensure 'legitimate' succes- of the principles governing permitted unions
a woman's errant behaviour the Kosiya sion to pass on property but there is also a between men and women. Violations in both
Jataka tells us that the bad wife of a good concern about the maintenance of the cases are considered bad but what is con-
brahmana spent her nights in gadding about, hierarchical social order, based on caste, sidered most mrprehensible is the case of a
and feigning illness during the day. She did which must be reproduced without diluting high status woman involved with a lower
not do a stroke of work while the husband the purity principle. The burden of caste man. Gautama lays down that a
slaved all day to get her the luxuries that reproducing it lay upon women and adultery
she demanded. The moment the brahmana's thus took on an added significance. Manu
back was turned the women flew into the states this explicitly while discussing HOUSING IN
arms of her paramours. The brahmana was adultery. According to him, "By adultery is THE THIRD WORLD
advised to assert his control over her, star- caused the mixture of castes among men;
ting with giving her pickled cow dung to Analyses and Solutions
hence follows sin, which cuts up even the
eat and then taking rope or a stick, and roots and causes the destruction of Edited by
threatening the wife with either swallowingeverything" [Manu Vil: 3531.
the dung or by working for her food. If she Leslie Kllmartin & Harjlnder Slngh
The king, who nere acts as an executor of
refused she was to be given a taste of the
class power, is however only the ultimate Rs. 400
rope or stick and simultaneo4sly the hus-
agency by which women's sexuality is con-
band was to drag her by the hair while he The papers in this collection pro-
trolled. To s4ccessfully establish this control
pummelled her with his fists. The woman
was thus brought to heel and became as there are a variety of ways in which vide overviews of the topic and
women's
good as formerly she had been wicked
'impulses' are to be -urbed and thesecontain
are contributions which refer
outlined in the Arthasasira. The Arthasasira
[Jataka 1.284]. to contexts in which the provisions
regulates the punishment enforced by male
In all the above-mentioned narratives
kinsmen in inculcating modest of housing may be usefully set. It
behaviour,
whether physical punishment is actually used
which is considered their prerogativealsobutproposes solutionstothe prob-
or not there is an explicit injunction to the
must conform to the norms laid down by the
effect that it is advisable to use violence to lem of housing provisions.
punish women, particularly wives, to make state Thus the text states that in inculcating
them conform to the requirements of wife-
modest behaviour certain abuses are to be
ly fidelity.
avoided. But while verbal restraint is to be
HOUSING THE POOR IN
exercised, the use of force itself is permit-
The power to use violence vests in the hus-
ted. According to Kautilya one can strike theTHIRD WORLD CITIES
band and it is recommended as the means
to ensure control over the wife's sexuality,
back of a woman three times with either a Choice Behaviour
split bamboo cane, or a rope, or else by the
in particular, and in monitoring her and PubiIc Policy
behaviour more generally. But what if
hand. Similar treatment is prescribed for the
wife who 'enjoys' herself outside the home by Kamlesh Mlsra
husbands do not succeed, even through the
[Arthasastra 3.3.7-10].
use of violence to bring women to heel? For
such situations a third mechanism of con- Wives who, though prohibited, indulge in Rs. 200
trol was envisaged in the ancient Indian the sport of drink, or go by day to a show
The book is an important and timely
patriarchal structure, with the king being by women, or even go on a pleasure trip with
vested with the authority to punish errant other women are to pay fines rangingcontribution
from to the resolution of
wives. The king functioned as the third level three to six 'panas. The 'offence' is con- housing problems in third world
of control over women through whom the sidered much more serious when committed
cities.
coercive power of the patriarchal state was at night; the fine is then to be doubled. Most
articulated and used to chastise those wives serious are those offences that relate to any
Publishers: Phones: 5504042, 5554042
who flouted the ideological norms for form of interaction with men other than the
CONCEPT PUBUSHING COMPANY
women and also subverted the control of husband. If women converse With men in a
A/115-16, COMMERCAL BLOCV MoWIGCaaE
male kinsmen. 'suspicious' place they can be whipped in the
NEw DEULe-10059
The patriarchal state of early India view- centre of a village by a 'chandala' instead
Stiow Rook: PHO0NE: 3272187
ed adultery as one of the major 'crimes' in of being mnerely let off with a whipping
society. In the Buddhist literature only twoprivately (Arihasastra 3. 3.27). Leaving the 4788/23, AN~S.' Ro.w, DARYGAN, NEW D

584 Economic and Political Weekly April 3, 1993

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 woman who has connection with a lower portant substantiation of the overarching R P Kangle, Motilal Banarasidass, Delhi.
caste man becomes an outcaste; if she com- support of the state for patriarchal control Baudhayana Dharma Sutra (tr) (1986), George
mits adultery with a man of the lower caste over women. Patriarchy could thus be esta- Buhler, Sacred Laws of the Aryas, Vol 11,
the king shall cause her to be devoured by blished firmly as an actuality and not merely Motilal Banarasidass, Delhi.
dogs in a public place [XXIII: 141. as an ideology. The archaic state was clear- Bhagavad Gita (1968), S K Belvalkar (ed),
ly both a class state and a patriarchal state; Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute,
It i.s noteworthy that according to
in the case of India there has been a close Poona.
Gautartia whereas the lower caste adulterer
connection between caste, class, and the state Chakravarti, Uma (1985), 'Of Dasas and
should be killed the woman is to be publicly
which together functioned as the structural Karmakaras: Servile Labour in Ancient
humili4ted and suffer a more ghastly death.
Vasistha on the other hand reverses the onus framework of institutions within which India' in Utsa Patnaik and Manjari
gender relations were organised.
of the guilt somewhat and while the woman Dingwaney (eds), Chains of Servitude:
escapes the death penalty which the low To sum up, a preliminary analysis of Bondage and Slavery in India, Sangam
caste man must face (he is to be thrown in- Brahmanical patriarchy in early India reveals Books, pp 35-75, New Delhi.
*o the fire) the king is enjoined to punish that the structure of social relations which-(1987), The Social Dimensions of Early Bud-
and humiliate her by shaving off her head, shaped gender was reproduced by achieving dhism, Oxford University Press, New Delhi.
placing her- naked on a donkey, and parading the compliance of women. The compliance Das, R M (1962), Women in Manu and His
her along the highway. According to Vasistha itself was produced through a combination
Seven Commentatorsm Varanasi.
following this punishment she is rid of her of consent and coercion as we have tried to
impurity [XXI: 1-2]. Das, Veena (1976), 'Indian Women: Work,
outline above. While the elaborate rules of
Power and Status' in B R Nanda (ed),
The case of a maiden violating the caste normative literature and descriptions in the
Indian Women from Purdah to Mfodernity
rules for sanctioned unions between men narrative literature indicates the failure of
and women is considered less reprehensible. brahmanic ideology to produce the real con- pp 129-45.
In Manu's view the king may overlook the sent of women to brahmanical patriarchyDigha Nikaya (1976), E Carpentier (ed), Pali
offence of a 'maiden' who makes advances (thereby requiring a recourse to coercion) the Text Society, London.
to a man of a high caste (this was obviously values of the caste system were apparentlyGanesh, Kamala (1985), 'Women's Seclusion
a permitted lapse) but in the case of a accepted by both men and women of the ap- and the Structure of Caste', paper presented
maiden who courts a man of a lower caste per castes. Women's perpetuation of the at the Asian Regional Conference on
the king should force her to remain confin- caste system was achieved partly through Women and the Household, New Delhi.
ed in the house [Vill: 365]. The maiden's their investment in a structure that reward- Gautama Dharma Sutra (tr) (1975), George
crime is of less gravity than the wife's, since ed them even as it subordinated them at the Buhler, Sacred Laws of the Aryas, Vol 1,
there is no pativraladharma that she has same time. That they too subscribed to the Motilal Banarasidass, Delhi.
violated, but Manu reserves the highest ideology of the caste system-is evident from The Jataka (1957), R B Cowell (ed),
punishment for the wife who though aware an account in the Jalakas of two high caste R Chalmers, etc (tr), Pali Text Society,
of the 'greatness of her relatives' (i e, of their women who ran to wash their eyes when they London.
high status) violates the duty that she owes sighted two low caste untouchables [Jataka Lerner, Gerda (1986), The Creation of Patriar-
to her lord, i e, her siridharma or her IV: No 391]. All the anxiety displayed by the
chy, Oxford University Press, New Delhi.
pativratadharma. In such a situation Manu early texts to monitor the upper caste
Leslie, Julia (1989), The Perfect Wife: The
like Gautama rules that the king should woman's sexuality maintain her purity and
Orthodox Hindu Wjfe according to the
cause her to be devoured by dogs in a place thus of the caste would become somewhat
Stridharma Paddhati of llyambakayajavan,
frequented by many [ViII: 377]. In punishing unnecessary once women became complicit
in the larger structure in which their own Oxford University Press, New Delhi.
such 'deviant' women the king was up-
holding the existing structure of relations subordination was embedded. Mahabharata (1993-39), V S Sukhtankar et al
pertaining to land and the caste order. The (eds), Bhandarkar Oriental Research In-
purity of women ensured the purity of caste stitute, Poona.
Notes
and thus of the social order itself. Manu Dharma Sastra (1984), George Buhler
(tr), Laws of Manu, Motilal Banarasidass,
Much of the evidence cited in support of I The attempt made in this paper to trace the
Delhi.
the role of the state in monitoring the im- workings of brahmanical patriarchy should
Neumayer, A (1983), Prehistorc Rock Paintings
pulses of women is in form the normative not be seen as a single chronological develop-
literature and therefore one cannot be cer- in Central India.
ment. The evidence relates to different
tain about its working and its effectiveness. O'Flaherty, Wendy D (1976), The Origins of
regions and different groups of people
However, if we go by the basic principle of Evil in Hindu Mythology, University of
located in specific material cultures. I am
Mimamsa philosophy that something can be California Press, Berkeley.
therefore not arguing for a monolithic
prohibited only if its occurrence is possible -(1985), Tales of Sex and Violence, Motilal
development of patriarchy given the range
then the role of the state becomes clear. of social formations. Banarasidass, Delhi.
Ramayana of Valmiki (1958), S Kuppuswami
Further a reterence in the narrative lite-
2 Notions of the excessive sexuality of women Sastrigal et al (eds), Madras.
rature suggests that kings did regard them-
were not unique to brahmanical literature Rig Veda (1971), R T H Griffth, Varanasi,
selves as responsible for punishing wives
who violated sexual norms. A Jataka story and were widely prevalent in the Buddhist Chaukhamba Sanskrit Series Ofrice.
recounts that when a wife's misbehaviour is texts too, indicating the permeable boun-. Roy, Kum Kum (1987), 'Women in Early India',
brought to the notice of the king he sends daries of the two textual traditions. unpublished type script.
a message back to her stating that the wife Satapatha Brahmana (1964). A Weber, (ed)
must realise "that there are kings in the Chaukhambha Publishers, Varanasi.
land". He tells the messenger to say "she References Vasishtha Dharma Sutra (1975), George Bu
must dwell with her husband and if she does Sacred Laws of the Aryas, Vol II, Moisaa
not let her have a care; the king will cause Amore, R C and Larry Shinn D (1981), Lustful Banarasidass, Delhi.
her to be seized and she shall die" [Jataka, Maidens and Ascetic Kings, Oxford Univer- Vinaya Pitaka (1879-93), H Oldenberg (ed),
I: 214]. Even if the Jataka story is indicative sity Press, New York. London.
only of the widespread social sanction for Apastamba Dharma Sutra (tr) (1975), George Yalman, Nur, 'On the Purity of Women in the
the king's authority rather than as firm Buhler, Sacred Laws of the Aryas, Vol 1, Castes of Ceylon and Malabar: Journal of
evidence of the king's actual enforcement of Motilal Banarasidass, Delhi. the Royal Anthropological Institute of
authority over women's conduct, it is an im- Arthasastra (1986), edited and translated by Great Britain and Ireland, 93, pp 25-28.

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