Kinship, Caste and Class

A. The Critical Edition Project (1919–1966):

Initiated in 1919 under the leadership of renowned Indian Sanskrit scholar V.S. Sukthankar at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute in Pune:

• Scholars collected hundreds of manuscript copies of the epic written in diverse regional scripts (Kashmiri, Sharada, Devanagari, Bengali, Grantha, Malayalam, Telugu).
• They compared verses line by line, selecting only those verses that appeared consistently across all regional versions, running into 13,000 printed pages across 19 massive volumes over 47 years of meticulous scholarship.
• Conclusions: (1) A remarkable underlying unity existed across the subcontinent; (2) Over half of the total text reflected regional variations, footnotes, and additions, proving that social norms were constantly negotiated, contested, and modified.

B. Kinship: Patriliny vs Matriliny:

• Patriliny: Tracing descent from father to son, grandson, and so on. Sons held hereditary claims to family property and royal thrones. The central feud of the Mahabharata between the Pandavas and Kauravas was a bitter battle over patrilineal succession.
• The Satavahana Exception: Rulers of the Deccan were identified through metronymics (names derived from mothers—e.g., Gautamiputra Satakarni, son of Gautami; Vasithiputra Pulumayi). However, despite honoring maternal names, actual succession to the royal throne was strictly patrilineal!

A. Types and Rules of Marriage:

• Endogamy: Marriage within a specified kin group, caste, or locality.
• Exogamy: Marrying outside the kin group or Gotra (commanded by the *Dharmashastras* as the virtuous standard).
• Polygyny: The practice of a man having multiple wives (widely practiced by kings and elite nobles).
• Polyandry: The practice of a woman having multiple husbands (exemplified by Draupadi's marriage to the five Pandava brothers).

B. The Brahmanical Gotra System:

Formulated c. 1000 BCE by Brahmins, classifying people according to Vedic sages (e.g., Kashyapa, Bharadvaja, Gautama):

• Rule 1: Women were expected to give up their father's gotra and adopt their husband's gotra upon marriage.
• Rule 2: Members of the same gotra could not marry each other (strict gotra exogamy).
• Satavahana Violation: Many Satavahana queens retained their paternal gotras (Gautama and Vashistha) after marriage, and practiced gotra endogamy by marrying within their kin group!

C. The Debate on Draupadi's Polyandry:

When Yudhishthira declared that Draupadi would be the common wife of all five Pandavas, King Drupada of Panchala protested that it was contrary to the Vedas. Yudhishthira defended it citing family custom and Sage Vyasa's divine sanction. Historians suggest polyandry may have been an ancient Himalayan pastoral custom or a desperate measure during wartime women shortages.

A. The Fourfold Varna Order:

The Dharmashastras and the Manusmriti (c. 2nd Century BCE - 2nd Century CE) laid down four divinely ordained hereditary Varnas rooted in the Vedic Purusha Sukta hymn:

1. Brahmins: Study and teach the Vedas, perform sacrifices, receive gifts.
2. Kshatriyas: Engage in warfare, protect people, administer justice, study the Vedas.
3. Vaishyas: Engage in agriculture, cattle rearing, trade, and commerce.
4. Shudras: Assigned a single duty: serving the three higher "twice-born" (Dvija) varnas.

B. Historical Reality: Non-Kshatriya Kings

While Brahmanical texts insisted that only Kshatriyas could be kings, historical reality proved otherwise:

• The Mauryas: Brahmanical sources describe them as of "low origin", while Buddhist texts describe them as Kshatriyas.
• The Shungas and Kanvas: Immediate successors of the Mauryas were devout Brahmins!
• The Shakas: Nomadic Central Asian invaders branded as "barbarians" (*mlechchhas*) by orthodox texts, yet King Rudradaman I rebuilt the Sudarshana Lake in Saurashtra and composed inscriptions in classical Sanskrit.
• Gautamiputra Satakarni: A Satavahana king who proudly claimed to be the "unique Brahmin" (*Eka Bamhana*) and the "destroyer of the pride of the Kshatriyas".

C. Jati and Occupational Guilds (The Mandasor Inscription):

Unlike the rigid four Varnas, Jati numbers were flexible and unlimited. When occupational groups did not fit into the 4-varna scheme (e.g., goldsmiths, weavers), they were classified as Jatis.

• Mandasor Stone Inscription (5th Century CE, Madhya Pradesh): Records the fascinating history of a Guild of Silk Weavers who migrated from southern Gujarat (Lata) to central India (Mandasor). The inscription reveals incredible social mobility: these silk weavers were not just artisans; some became master sculptors, astronomers, and poets, and collectively funded a magnificent sun temple!

A. Beyond the Pale: The Chandalas:

Brahmanical texts placed certain communities at the absolute bottom of the social hierarchy, branding them "untouchable":

• Chandalas: Tasked with handling dead human corpses and dead animals, considered polluting.
• Draconian Rules in the Manusmriti: Required to live strictly outside village walls, use discarded broken pots, wear the clothes of the dead, eat out of broken dishes, wear iron ornaments, and serve as executioners.
• Chinese Pilgrims' Testimony: Faxian (5th Century CE) wrote that when an untouchable entered a city street, he had to strike a piece of wood so people could hear him and avoid touching him. Xuanzang (7th Century CE) noted that executioners and scavengers were forced to live outside city gates.

B. Gendered Access to Property:

• According to the Manusmriti, paternal estate was to be divided equally among sons after the father's death, with a special larger share for the eldest. Daughters held zero claim to family ancestral land.
• Stridhana (Woman's Wealth): Gifts received by a woman at the time of her marriage (jewelry, clothes) remained her personal property, which her children could inherit without her husband having any legal claim over it.

C. The Buddhist Alternative Social Contract:

Early Buddhist texts (such as the Sutta Pitaka) rejected the divine origin of the Varna hierarchy. The Agganna Sutta presents an alternative social theory:

• Initially, humans lived in peace in nature. As human greed arose, people decided to elect a leader to maintain law and order, called the Mahasammata ("The Great Elect"). In return for dispensing justice, the people gave him a percentage share of their rice harvest.
• This reveals that kingship was based on a mutual human social contract, not divine creation, and that social differences were human-made and could be transformed!