Chapter I

INTRODUCTION

"A conviction that the mystery that surrounds human existence will never

be completely unveiled appears again and again ... "

(Macmillan Encyclopaedia of Religion, Vo1.9, p. 404)

A certain degree of scepticism and uncertainty regarding human life has

perhaps always been a part of human societies. It is possible that some of

these ideas found reflection in traditions regarding rites of passage, referred

to as sarrzsktiras in ancient Sanskrit literature.

The Significance of Samskiiras

We all go through the key life events (turning points in our life) and not

surprisingly, in almost all cultures, the entry of a new member of society is

celebrated with rites, as is the transition from being single to married.

Therefore, the life of an individual in any society is a series of passages

from one phase to another and for everyone of these transitions there are

rituals and ceremonies whose essential purpose is to enable the individual

to fortify him or her at the moments of transition which precede the passage

into a new period of life or from one defined position to another.

The word sarrzsktira is derived from the Sanskrit root 'sarrzskrghan'.

Though the term sarrzsktira hardly ever occurs in Vedic literature, the root

2

'kr' with 'sam' and the passive participle 'sa1!lskrta' occur often enough 1 ~

Sa1!lskiiras mean purificatory rites and ceremonies for sanctifying the body,

mind and intellect of an individual so that he (and occasionally she) may

become a full fledged member of the community.2 Literally meaning

'making a person perfect fit for a certain purpose,3 the sa1!lskiiras are meant

to consecrate an individual and enable him to overcome the risks of a new

stage of life, such as impregnation, birth, naming, initiation and investiture

with the sacred thread, the return home of the youth ('Veda student') after

the completion of his education, marriage, death.4 So, covering all the

important phases from conception until death and beyond, they make the

individual gradually approach the state of the 'twice born,' reach it and

continue in it. 5

At another level, sa1!lskiiras were meant to elucidate social relations

through their very performance. They constitute an expression of social

relations through the language of rituals, which were meant to demonstrate

the bonds between the larger society or community and the individual by

indirectly focusing on values and reinforcing forms of classification. They

attempted to accomplish their social purpose throughlby different modes of

I P.V.Kane, History of Dharmasastras, Vol.lI, Part I, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona, 1930-64, p.190.

2 R.B.Pandey, Hindu SaJTIskiiras, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, New Delhi, 1969, p.l7. 3 K . ane, Op.Clt. 4 Jan Gonda, The Ritual Satras, History of Indian Literature, Vol. II, Part I, Otto Harrassowitz,

Weisbaden,1997, p.469. 5 Ibid. p. 557.

3

communication of certain values. Rites of passage are not just about the

changes in individual status but also about the dynamics of relations

amongst members of human society, as well as between past and present

generations.

P.V. Kane in his History of Dharmasiistras opines that in most of the

digests the principal sarrzskiiras are said to be sixteen, viz, garbhiidhiina,

purrzsavana, slmantonnayana, vi~Y[ubali, jiitakarma, niimakaray[a,

niskramaY[a, annapriisana, caula, upanayana, vedavrata(four ),

samiivartana and viviiha. He does not include the death rites in his list of

sixteen sarrzskiiras.

However, J. Holm and J. Bowker in their work Rites of Passage6 present a

somewhat different list of sixteen sarrzskiiras. They are garbhiidhiina,

purrzsavana, slmantonnayana, jiitakarma, niimakaray[a, niskramay[a,

annapriisana, curliikararza, kanavedha, vidytirambha, upanayana,

vediirambha, keStinta, samtivartana, viviiha and finally antye~ti. We are not

going into the debate on what constituted the standard list of the sarrzsktiras

because of all these, the most important transition points for any individual

are birth, education, marriage and death. Hence we shall examine four of

these processes: birth, youth, marriage and funeral sarrzsktiras. Before going

6 J. Holm with 1. Bowker, ed. Rites of Passage, Pinter Publishers, London, 1994. pp. 72-73.

4

on to discuss further details, we present the list of sa1l'lskiiras which will be

discussed in the subsequent chapters.

The first three are prenatal rites. These include the garbhiidhiina, the rite of

the 'placement of the embryo', performed at the time of conception, the

purrzsavana or the rite of 'bringing forth a boy', performed for a pregnant

woman to ensure the birth of a male child and the sfmantonnayana, or the

rite of 'parting the hair' of the pregnant woman during the fourth, sixth or

eighth month of her pregnancy to ensure her well being and to protect her

from inauspicious spirits.

The birth and the childhood sarrzskiiras are as follows:

jiitakarma or the rite for the safe delivery of the child, niimakaral1a or the

name giving rite on the tenth or twelfth day after birth, niskramal1a or the

child's first outing on an auspicious day, annapriisana or the rite of first

feeding solid food to the child, caula or cll{iiikararza, the rites of tonsure

during the first or third year.

The educational saf'!lskiira consists of the upanayana, the rite of initiation

and investiture of the sacred thread, which could take place any time

between the ages of eight to twenty four years. The other major sarrzskiiras

included the viviiha or marriage, and finally the death rites or the antye~ti

and srqddha sarrzskiira.

5

Sources-Prescriptive and Narrative Traditions

The main focus of the study of sa1?1skiiras in this work will be on the

prescriptions regarding the rituals in the Orhyaslitras and Dharmasutras

which will be compared with descriptions of these rituals available in

Valmiki's Riimiiyal1a. I will attempt to compare these texts in terms of their

similarities and differences and suggest explanations for the patterns that

emerge from this investigation.

The texts examined are:-

1- Orhyaslitras - Asvalayana, Apastamba, Paraskara and Sankhayana

(henceforth cited as AsvGS, ApGS, PGS and SGS respectively).

11- Dharmasutras - Apastamba, Baudhayana, Gautama and Vasi.~tha

(henceforth referred as ApDS, BDS, GDS, VDS respectively).

111- The Riimiiyal1a of Valmiki.

The S1?1rti literature divides ritual into three classes: obligatory, daily rites

(nitya-karman), occasional rites (naimittika-karman) and rites for a desired

object or purpose (kiimya-karman). Rites of passage fall within the second

category of rituals 'occasioned by a special occurrence,.7 They are of

7 -Apastamba Dharmasutra (henceforth ApDS) l.l.11. The Sacred Books of the East, Vol II, ed. By F. Max Muller, The Sacred Laws of the Aryas, Part I. Translated by G. Buhler. First published by Clarendon Press, ) 879. (Reprinted by) Motilal Banarsidass. Delhi, ) 965.

6

central importance in constructing Brahmanical identity, often regarded as

synonymous with what is defined as Hindu tradition. 8

The domestic rites that are incumbent upon the first three varl1as are

described in texts called the Orhyasiitras. The fundamental distinction

between the Orhyasiitras and the Dharmasiitras is that whereas the former

prescribe sophisticated formulae to be recited at different stages of a

particular sarrzskiira, the latter on the other hand very rarely describe the

ritual; their scope is wider. Their principal purpose is to dilate upon the

rules of conduct, law and custom. The Dharmasiitras deal with correct

behaviour including the duties, rules of conduct, lawful occupations of the

classes of society and the stages of life, ritual purity and dietary laws,

punishments and penances as well as various allied subjects.

The Dharmasiitras have some themes in common with the Gyhyasiitras but

due to the different angle from which they view ritual life, they lay

emphasis upon other aspects. The Orhyasiitras are the oldest manuals on the

sarrzskiiras and in the corpus of the Kalpasiitras (which comprises of the

Srautasiitras, Gthyasiitras and the Dharmasiitras), the Dharmasiitras as a

rule follow the Orhyasiitras.

8 Jean Holm with John Bowker, op.cit., p.67.

7

Out of the twin epics-- the Mahii~hiirata and the Riimiiyarza, the latter has

influenced the religious as well as moral thought and moulded the lives of

many generations in this country for over two thousand years. The narrative

composition of the Riimiiya1'!a is not a mere record of the hero but has also

been assigned moral significance in view of the 'high' idealism behind

these heroic achievements that has been highlighted. It is not a· didactic

poem containing long sermons on morals and philosophy. Instead poetic

artistry is used to demonstrate how what were regarded as high moral

values were exemplified by the characters of the Riimiiya1'!a.

The Riimiiya1'!a is also distinguished by its focus on a single theme. At the

same time, it describes three different modes of social existence,

exemplified by the humans, viinaras and riik~asas respectively. Thus in the

epic itself we find representations of several different social practices.

While some of these appear to correspond with Vedic norms, the others are

rather different.

What is also interesting is that while the Riimiiya1'!a suggests familiarity

with the saytlskiiras, it does not describe these in the ways in which they are

presented in the Qrhyasiitras. In many respects the Riimiiya1'!a holds an

intermediate position between the Brahmaqas and early siitras on the one

hand and classical Sanskrit literature on the other. According to tradition,

the original version of the Riimiiya1'!a was composed by ValmIki. The

8

version of the Valmlki Riimiiyal1a now extant was undoubtedly composed

over several centuries between perhaps 500 B.C. and A.D. 300, during

which period it was also committed to writing.

In its present form, the Riimiiyal1a consists of about twenty four thousand

slokas or verses and is divided into seven kaQqas (or books) each

comprising between sixty six and one hundred and sixteen sargas (or

chapters) whose contents and style enable several successive stages of

composition to be determined. The seven books are the BalakaQqa,

AyodhyakaQqa, AraQyakaQqa, KiskindhakaQqa, SundarakaQqa,

YuddhakaQqa and UttarakaQqa. Of these the BalakaQqa and Uttarakaqqa

are generally regarded as later additions to the text.

The Riimiiyal1a, has been preserved in three distinct recensions :-

(i) the West India or North western recension

(ii) the Bengal or Eastern recension

(iii) the Bombay or Southern recension.

About one third of the verses in each recension do not occur in the other

two, but the Bombay or southern recension has preserved the oldest form of

the text in most cases. The variations in them are of such a nature as can be

accounted for by the oral tradition among the professional reciters of the

9

epic at the time when the recensions assumed definite shapes in different

parts of the country by being committed to writing9.

With reference to the dating of the Riimiiyal1a, one thing that has been

consistently agreed upon is that the first and the last books (Balakal1qa and

Uttarakaqqa) are later additions. Also there has been a growing awareness

that the original poem, contained in books II -VI (called sometimes as core

books) has undergone alterations and additions over the centuries. It is

argued that the bards, through their generations, added to the original poem

without affecting the form. It is the considered view that the genuine

Riimiiyal1a consisted of only five books (II to VI), and that the first and

seventh book were added later on, in an attempt to reconstruct the

beginning and the end.

The Riimiiyarza, in its surviving form, begins with a curious and interesting

preamble (upodghata) that consists of four chapters (sargas) in which the

audience is introduced to the theme of the epic, the story and the central

hero. The epic proper, as Balakal1qa, begins with the fifth sarga, telling us

about the fair and prosperous kingdom of Kosala whose king Dasaratha

ruled from Ayodhya. On the advice of his ministers and with the

contribution of legendary sage R,sy'asI)1ga, the king performed the

9 A .c. Mahajan, Polity in the Riimiiya!1a. Pratibha Prakashan, New Delhi, 1997. p.2l.

10

ASvamedha sacrifice, as a consequence of which four splendid sons were

born to him by his three principal wives.

When the sons came of age, Visvamitra took Rama and Lak&maQa away to

his iisrama to accomplish the goal of killing riik~asas. After they achieved

their mission, the sage Visvamitra made them well-versed in the knowledge

of the Veda and weapons etc. (which we will discuss in subsequent

chapters); then marriages were arranged between the sons of Dasaratha and

the daughters and nieces of Janaka. This brings to a close the first book of

the epic, the Balakaqqa.

The next book, the Ayodhyakaqqa, as the name suggests, is set largely in

the city of Ayodhya. This deals with the announcement of Rama's

succession and his subsequent exile for fourteen years owing to KaikeyI's

claim of the boon granted to her by Dasaratha, whereby she sought the

throne for her son, Bharata.

The third book, the AraqyakaQqa, recounts the dramatic events during the

years of Rama's forest exile. The book is remarkable in a number of

respects. It has a number of passages of great poetic beauty in which the

seasonal changes in the forest are described. This kaQqa also talks about

Rama's life in DaqqakaraQya among hospitable hermits and hostile

rii~asas. The capture of Sita by RavaQa brings the Arapyakap9a to a close.

11

The Ki&kindhakfulqa is set largely in the viinara kingdom. Rama and

Lak&maIla met Hanuman, the greatest of viinara heroes and an adherent of

SugrIva, the banished pretender to the throne of Ki~kindha. SugrIva

mustered his warriors and sent them out in all directions in search of SIta.

As the name indicates, the Sundarakfulqa is the most striking in terms of its

descriptions. These include Hanuman's crossing the sea to reach Lanka, his

finding SUa in the Asoka grove, his sacking of the grove, his meeting with

RavaIla, the burning of Lanka with his tail set on fire, and his return to

Rama on the successful conclusion of his mission.

The sixth book, the YuddhakaQqa, is chiefly concerned with the great battle

between the forces of Rama and RavaIla, the victory of the former and the

accession of VibhI&aQa, Ravaqa's righteous brother, to the throne of Lanka,

culminating in the return of Rama to Ayodhya.

The last book, the UttarakliQqa, is of varied nature. It consists of myths and

legends including descriptions of the final years of Rama, the story of

Lava-Kusa etc.

Turning from the content of these texts to the question of authorship, it is

one that has proved difficult to address for all the texts that we have

consulted. For instance, with regard to the authorship of the different siitras,

12

one in almost all cases finds it difficult to put it beyond doubt. JO Buhler has

shown for the Gt;hyaslitra and Dharmasutra of Apastamba, that both the

texts were composed by the same author in pursuance of a definite plan

according to which the Gt;hyasiitra was made as short as possible and a

portion of the subject matter generally treated of in the Gt;hyasutras

reserved for the Dharmaslitra. II The Apastamba G.rhyasutra as compared

with the Asvaliiyana G.rhyasutra is extremely brief and leaves out many

rules that are given in other Qrhya works. For example, in discussing the

choice of a girl considered suitable for marriage, the Apastamba

G.rhyasutra mentions only a single rule,12 while it is Apastamba

Dharmasutra that contains the provisions that state that the bride must not

be a sagotrii or sapin{iii13 of the groom. Also, the Apastamba Grhyasutra is

silent about the forms of marriage, about holidays, about the duties of

brahmaciirins and such other subjects which are generally discussed in the

other Qrhyasiitras. These subjects are dealt with in the Apastamba

Dharmasutra. Besides, there are several places where the Dharmasiitra

presupposes the existence of the Qrhya text and refers to it. For instance,

one can compare Apastamba Dhannasutra 11.1, 1.10-11. with Apastamba

G.rhyasutra III.7 (particularly 1.17.23). Some sutras are identical in the

10 Kane, op.cit., VoU, Part II, p.689. II The Sacred Books of the East, Vol II. ed. F.Max Muller, The Sacred Laws of the Aryas, Part I,

Translated by G. Buhler. Introduction. 12 Apastamba Grhyasiitra (henceforth ApGS) 1.3.19. The Grhyasiitras, Part II, The Sacred Books

of the East, ed. by F. Max Muller, Vol XXIX, trs. by H.Oldenberg, [First Published,1886], (Reprint), Motilal Banarsidass ,New Delhi, 1964.

13 ApDS 11.5.11.15-16.

13

Qrhya and Dharma texts: for example the Apastamba Dharmasutra 1.1.2.38.

and the Qrhya text IV.II.15-16.; the Apastamba Dharmasutra 11.4.8.7. and

the Grhya text V.13.19, etc. In some cases, the Qrhyasutra itself seems to

contain references to the teachings of the Dharmasutra, for instance if one

compares the Qrhya text 8.21.1 with the Dharma text 11.7.16.6-7. P.V.Kane

says that all the facts make it highly probable, if not certain, that the Qrhya

and Dharmasutras were composed by the same author and that the details of

certain topics were purposely omitted in the Qrhyasutra to avoid

repetition. 14

Buhler places the Dharmasutras or Aphorisms on the Sacred Law in a

specific sequence. He bases his argument on various examples drawn from

the texts and places the Gautama Dharmasutra before those of both

Baudhayana and Vasi~tha. He shows that both the latter authors quote

Gautama as an authority on law, and that Baudhayana has transferred a

whole chapter of the Dharmasastra attributed to Gautama to his work,

which Vasi~tha again has borrowed from him. 15 According to Buhler, the

Apastamba Dharmasutra is the youngest among all the above. He therefore

states that the Gautama Dharmasutra may be safely declared the oldest of

the existing works on the sacred law; however this assertion does not mean

14 Kane, Vol I. Part I. pp.34-35. 15 The Sacred Books of the East, Vol II. op.cit., Introduction, pp.xlix-Ixii.

14

that there were no interpolations. He also says that additions and

interpolations have not affected the character of the book very much. 16

As far as the Riimiiyarza is concerned, internal and external evidence and

tradition attribute its authorship to Valmiki, the iidikavi or first poet, but the

question of the authorship is more complicated than this suggests. For one

thing, it has long been known that the poem in its present form cannot be

the work of a single author, or even the product of a single period.

Such divergent views about authorship have been accompanied by equally

significant disputes about the dating of texts. P.V.Kane in his History of

Dharmasiistras (Vol. I) dated the Asvaliiyana G.rhyasiitra to between 800-

400 B.c. and the Apastamba Dharmasiitra, Gautama Dharmasiitra,

Baudhiiyana Dharmasiitra, Vas~~tha Dharmasiitra, and Piiraskara

G.rhyasiitra between 600-300 B.c. The present work is based on this

chronological framework. It is often said that the GI;'hyasiitras were

composed a little later than the Srautasiitias and a little earlier than the

Dharmasiitras and therefore the period of the composition of the GI;'hya and

Dharma works no doubt largely overlapped. I7 Some authors wisely confine

themselves to statements such as "the general period of the sutras extends

from the sixth and seventh century B.C. to about the second century B.c.,,18

16 Ibid. 17 Gonda, op.cit., pp.478-479. 18 Ramgopal, India of the Vedic Kalpasutras, Motilal Banasidass Publishers, New Delhi. p.89.

15

Stylistic criteria are also useful in establishing the relative chronological

position of the texts. Another criterion used especially in the context of the

Dharmasiitras, is the proportion of prose to verse. Generally the

Dharmasiitras which contain a greater proportion of prose are considered to

be earlier than those which contain verse, as the later Dharmasiitras are

composed almost entirely in verse. Kane thus argues for the priority of the •

Gautama Dharmasiitra on the ground that it is written entirely in prose,

while the fact that the last three chapters of the Baudhiiyana Dharmasiitra

are written entirely in verse may be an indication of its lateness. Similarly

Chapters XXV-XXVIII of the Vas~~tha Dhannasiitra are probably late as

they do not contain a single sutral9. Likewise it has been suggested that the

ASvaliiyana G,rhyasiitra must be earlier than the Siinkhayiina G,rhyasiitra,

which was followed by the Piiraskara G,rhyasiitra.

Scholars such as Ramgopal have compared the texts and point out that the

Piiraskara G,rhyasiitra contains more prescriptions than the Siinkhayiina

G,rhyasiitra. Ramgopal has tried to classify the siitra literature into three

groups. According to this classification, the Asvaliiyana G,rhyasiitra,

Baudhiiyana Dharmasiitra, and Gautama Dhannasiitra form the earliest

stratum of siitra literature, the Siinkhayiina G,rhyasiitra, Piiraskara

G,rhyasiitra, Apastamba G,rhyasiitra and Apastamba Dhannasiitra

19 K.Roy. The Emergence of the Monarchy in the North India (gill -4 111 centuries) as reflected in the Brahmanical Tradition, JNU. 1991.

16

constitute the second stratum and the Vas(~tha Dharmasutra forms the third

and last stratum. We will examine whether this stratification helps us in

analyzing the sa1l1skiiras.

Ramgopal also feels that it is understandable that the emphasis on caste

distinctions became more pronounced in later works20• Similarly a

comparison of the Siinkhayiina G.rhyasutra and P iiraskara G.rhyasutra

would demonstrate that the short sutras of the Siinkhayiina G.rhyasutra

have been welded into larger ones in the Ptiraskara Grhyasutra. For

instance, the sutras 8, 21-23, 26, 31, 33, 37 and 38 of the Siinkhaytina

G.rhyasutra21 have been incorporated in the Piiraskara Grhyasatra 22 in a

single satra by mean of a long compound of six words. Therefore the

balance of probability is that the Siinkhayiina G.rhyasutra is slightly earlier

than the Ptiraskara Grhyasutra.

It has been asserted that though the text of the Gautama Dharmasatra has

not come down to us in its pristine purity, it is the oldest written on smiirta

Dharma23 . The Vas(~tha Dharmasatra refers to the views of the Gautama

Dharmasutra. Moreover, Chapter XXII of the Vas(~tha Dharmasutra IS

20 Ramgopal, op. cit., pp.71-73. 21 Siinkhayiina Grhyasiltra (henceforth SGS) 4.7. The Grhyasutras, Part I. The Sacred Books of

the East, ed. by F. Max Muller, Vol XXIX, trs. by H.Oldenberg, [First Published,1886], (Reprint), Motilal Banarsidass , New Delhi, 1964.

22 Piiraskara Grhyasatra (henceforth PGS) 2.11.6. The Grhyasutras, Part I. The Sacred Books of the East, ed. by F. Max Muller, Vol XXIX, trs. by H.Oldenberg, [First Published,1886], (Reprint), Motilal Banarsidass , New Delhi, 1964.

23 Ramgopal, op cit., p.82.

17

based on Chapter XIX of the Gautama Dharmasutra. Therefore the

Vas~~tha Dharmasutra may be placed later than the Gautama Dharmasutra.

The position of the Baudhiiyana Dharmasutra vis-a-vis the Gautama

Dharmasutra is more definitely established. The Baudhiiyana

Dharmasutra24 cites the Gautama Dharmasutra as an authority on dharma.

Secondly the Baudhiiyana Dharmasutra25 reproduces chapter XIX of the

Gautama Dharmasutra. Further, the Gautama Dharmasutra and the

Baudhiiyana Dharmasutra contain many provisions in common. So though

the Baudhiiyana Dharmasutra is later than the Gautama Dharmasutra, the

two texts were possibly not far removed in time26. Thus the consensus of

opinion seems to be that it is not possible in the present state of research to

assign precise dates to individual sutrakiiras.

The problems of the dating and authorship of the Riimiiyal1a are numerous

and complex. It is greatly compounded in the case of this immensely

popular epic transmitted both orally and through the medium of a huge

numbers of manuscripts- a narrative whose origins are obscure and whose

author is known to us chiefly as a character in the poem itself. The poem in

its present form cannot be the work of a single author, or even the product

24 Vas(~tha Dharmasiltra (henceforth VDS) 1.1.2.7. The Sacred Books of the East, Vol XIV ed. by M. Muller, The Sacred Laws of the Aryas Part II ,Translated by G. Buhler. First published by Oxford University Press, ] 882. (Reprinted by) Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1965.

25 Baudhiiyana Dharmasiltra (henceforth BDS) 3.10. The Sacred Books of the East, Vol XIV. ed. by M. Muller, The Sacred Laws of the ATyas, Part II ,Translated by G. Buhler. First published by Oxford University Press, 1882. (Reprinted by) Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1965.

26 K. Roy, op.cit., p. 350.

18

of a single period of time. Moreover, it has been generally accepted by

scholars, since the time of Jacobi, that much of the first book and most of

the last book of the epic, the BaIa and Uttara Kappas are later additions to

the work's original core27 to fill the gaps or lacunae in the story of the

earlier stages.

Scholars have generally discussed the date of the epic in two parts: (i) the

date when the 'genuine' Riimiiyarza comprising the books II to VI was

composed and (ii) the date by which the first and the last books of the

present Riimiiyarza were added. The dates assigned by various scholars to

the composition of the 'genuine' Riimiiyarza have been compiled by

A.C.Mahajan in his work Polity in the Riimiiyarza. He finds that Jacobi

considered that the core must have been composed before the fifth century

B.c., probably between the eight and sixth centuries. Keith's view was that

the poem probably belonged to the sixth century Be and Macdonell

suggested that its kernel was composed before 500 B.c., while the most

recent parts were not added till the second century B.c. or later.28 More

recent estimates have inclined to be somewhat lower. Bulcke suggests a

27 Balakansia of VaImiki Riimiiyaf/a, translated by R.P.Goldman, Princeton Library of Asian Translation, Princeton University Press, New Jersey, 1984. Introduction. p.15.

28 A.C. Mahajan, Polity in the Riimiiyaf/a, Pratibha Prakashan, New Delhi, 1997. p.2.

19

date towards the end of the fourth century B.C., Gonda suggests the fourth

century B.c. for its origin and the second century A.D. as its closing date.29

Sheldon Pollock, reconstructing the ongm and development of the

ValmIki's epic, argues that the history of the Riimiiyarza in its written form

effectively commences in the eleventh century. The probable date of our

earliest exemplar, a palm-leaf manuscript from Nepal representing the

northwest tradition, is A.D.1020. No earlier manuscript fragment has been

discovered. Between A.D. I 020 and the introduction of printing in India in

the early nineteenth century, the Riimiiyarza was copied by hand repeatedly

in all parts of the country, and at present more than two thousand

manuscripts of the poem, in whole or in part, are known to exist. Therefore,

the enormous numbers of manuscripts make the historical problem even

more complex. Further, arguing about recensions, Pollock says that

although the phenomenon of recensional divergence has long engaged the

attention of scholars, adequate scrutiny has become possible only with the

appearance of the critical edition. The critical edition30 puts us in

possession of the most uniform, intelligible and archaic recension of the

VaImIki Riimiiyarza corrected and purified on the basis of the other

29 J.L. Brockington, Righteous Rama: Evolution of the epic, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1984. p.12.

30 The Critical edition published at the Oriental Institute, Baroda, between 1960 and 1975.

20

recensions and versions that are descended from the common oral

original. 31

This whole exercise of examining the conclusions of his predecessors on

dating has been done by J. L. Brockington who suggested that the time span

for the Riimiiyal1a would be between the seventh century B.C. and the

twelfth century A.D. He suggested five stages of development in his book

Righteous Riima: The Evolution of an Epic (1985).32 His principal goal was

to identify the various stages .in the development of the Riimiiyal1a. We

proceed on similar lines for our work.

Date Composition

I c.5 th century B.C. _ 4th Oral transmission of books II - VI

century B.c. (genuine/core books)

II c.3rd century B.C. - 151 Beginning of compilation of Books II -

century A.D. VI

III c.l 51 century B.c. - 3rd Compilation of Balakfulqa and

century A.D. Uttarakal1qa

IV CAlh century A.D. - 12th Additions and Interpolations

century A.D.

V After c.) 2m century A.D. Additions and Interpolations

11-I- fb611 31 BaJaka!l~a of Valmlkl Riimiiyarta, op.cit., Introduction. p. 92. 32 Ibid. .

21

·Contextualizing textual traditions

Regarding the geographical location of the texts, the problem is

complicated by the fact that some of the texts contain virtually no reference

to specific places or geographical features, the G{hyasiitras and some of the

Dharmasiitras being outstanding examples of these.33

In some cases, sutrakiiras such as Apastamba have been assigned to the

south.34 This is based on the evidence of the prevalence of later traditions of

Vedic learning. It is likely that given the data and the close connection of

some of these texts to the brahmanical ritual tradition, they may have

originated in north India, even though they were later preserved and

transmitted in other regions as well. We will develop our analysis within

the broad chronological and geographical framework of the early historic

period in north India.

The story of the Riimiiyay!a essentially revolves around the mid Gangetic

valley with a focus on cities like Ayodhya and VaisalI and regions like

Mithila, Kosala etc. Moreover the story focuses almost on the same regions

which were the heartland of Buddhism and lainism. So, it is apparent that

both the siitras and the epic relate to the same region.

33 K. Roy op.cit., p. 491. 34 The Sacred Books of the East, Vol II., Introduction, p.xxxvi.

22

This was a region where a wide range of developments was taking place.

These changes included growth in population size, long distance trade and

monetary economy etc. But these are not necessarily directly reflected in

the texts we are examining.

Nevertheless, it is necessary to outline the material and social changes

within the chronological and spatial framework that may be assigned to the

texts. The transition from an absence of states to state systems in the mid­

first millennium B.C. has generally been treated as a significant change.

J.?gvedic society has been described as a tribal society and that of the later

Vedic period as one of state-based kingdoms, the transition having occurred

during 'the period from the late second to the early first millennium B.c. by

the close of the Vedic period. This implies that the siitras, the treatises on

the domestic rituals (Qrhyasiitras) and the codes of socio-ethico-Iegal

norms are linked to the socio-cultural fabric of contemporary society. They

can be regarded as an expression of the privileges claimed by the

brahmaI1as vis-a-vis the other three varr'lQS in their attempt to order society

hierarchically.

Romila Thapar has discussed various theories relating to state formation

and the emergence of states during the early historical period. Whatever be

the causes viz., population growth and/or social circumscription, conquest

23

and the increasing power of the k~atriyas etc., one thing is evident and that

is increasing cultural heterogeneity as well as social stratification.

In the process of stratification and the building up of a hierarchy, marriage

alliances are of some importance. An endogamous alliance strengthens a

small group with potential and actual power. Exogamous marriages are

more suitable for the assimilation of new groups. When different forms of

stratification began to emerge, an attempt was made through the varrza

framework to draw them together into a holistic theory of social

functioning.

The growth of social differentiation is also emphasized by R.S. Sharma. He

asserts that social differentiation arises out of social conflicts and unequal

distribution of resources and produce and therefore the caste system cannot

be understood without a study of social process which is intimately

connected with changes in material life. 35

The early historical period in north India witnessed material changes of far-

reaching consequences. All the innovations of this period are interrelated.

In the field of technology iron had come into use by this time. Iron is

thought to have introduced revolutionary changes in the economic life of

people; in agriculture, trade, transport and in the promotion of civic life.

35 R. S. Sharma, Perspectives in Social and Economic History of Early India, Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, New Delhi, 1983. pp. 25-28.

24

Particularly, iron implements have been considered to be indispensable for

the cutting down of the primeval forest of the Ganga plains and for the

expansion of agriculture, and the iron ploughshare was probably significant

for the tilling of the heavy soil of the plains.

For the first time we come across a definite system of coinage which was

related to the needs of organized commerce. Trade was established with

distant lands and it was a further impetus to the growth of towns. That

again presupposed, as well as produced, arterial roads. Punch marked coins

are prolific in silver. Baked brick, virtually unknown after fall of the

Harappan cities reappeared and led to the construction of monumental

buildings, including fortifications.

There was now a system of writing, agam for the first time after the

Harappans. The distinctive ceramics of the period was the Northern Black

Polished Ware (NBPW), which appeared in c.500 B.C. From its homeland

in the central Ganga plains, where it is found in profusion, it was exported

to cities like Taxila and Ujjain as a result of commerce.36

It was in the midst of this milieu that cities -a major innovation of the early

historical period, sprang up in the Ganga valley. The factors responsible for

the process of the transformation of the incipient headquarters of the

36 Ibid.

25

janapadas into cities have been discussed above. R.S. Sharma opines that

with the beginning of the wide use of iron tools for crafts and cultivation,

conditions Were created for the transformation of the tribal, pastoral, almost

egalitarian Vedic society into the full fledged agricultural and class divided

social order in the sixth century B.c. The varrza system was devised for

. appropriating the social surplus produced by the peasants, artisans, hired

labourers and agricultural slaves. According to it members of the three

higher var11as or social orders were distinguished ritually from those of the

fourth var11a.37

The dramatic change in the settlement patterns and material culture are

mirrored in other literature of the sixth - fourth century B.C. We will

discuss these changes from secondary works and this will provide us with a

context for examining whether the understanding of sarrzskiiras changed

over a period of time.

The Question of Audience

The siitras were meant by and large for brahmaI)as whereas the RiimiiYQl?a

appealed to a much larger audience. Although it ostensibly dealt with the

"history" of a k~atriya lineage, the composition was meant to be accessible

to others as well.

37 Ibid, p. 30

26

Apart from this, both categories of texts deal with social differentiation in

their own manner. The sUtras attempted to consolidate identity, especially

brahmanical identity, thro.ugh ritual and other means. The scope of the

Riimiiyal1a is broader. The text was used for legitimizing political power by

a number of lineages that claimed to be connected with the silryavamsis38 •

It was also used to spread knowledge about the ideal social order.

Historiographical Issues

A number of existing works on rituals, sacrifices, literary traditions,

including the epics helped us in our analysis. More specifically, the

Riimiiyal1a has been investigated from a variety of perspectives. Besides

general works, some of the specific works on sG1?1skiiras were of vital

importance for the area of research.

One of the most distinguished scholars in our area of study is Arnold Van

Gennep whose excellent work ' The Rites Of Passage' is the English

translation of his original French work Les rites de Passage.39 He has

classified these rites into three categories: rites of separation, transition rites

and rites of incorporation. Rites of separation are prominent in funerals and

38 Varnan Shivram Apte, English- Sanskit Dictionary,Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, Delhi, 1960. (First Indian edition, Pune, 1884). p.611. Sl1ryavamsis are the solar race of the kings who ruled at Ayodhya.

39 Arnold Van Gennep, The Rites of Passage (First edition, 1908), Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1960.

27

transition rites play an important part in pregnancy, betrothal and initiation

etc. Distinguishing the three phases and their subcategories, Gennep

emphasized that all these ceremonies have their individual purposes. The

author's views on transition is clear from his statement that man's life

comes to be made up of a succession of stages with similar ends and

beginnings: birth, social puberty, marriage, fatherhood, advancement to a

higher class, occupational specialization and death; for everyone of· these

events there are ceremonies whose essential purpose is to enable the

individual to pass from one defined position to another which is equally

well defined.

RajbaliPandey in Hindu SaJtlskiiras 40 has discussed in detail the very

concept of the saf!1skiiras. He traces the origin and development of

saf!1skiiras in its social context on the basis of siitra literature. He attempts

to demonstrate in his work the great significance and refinement attached to

the perfonnance of the saf!1skiiras in an individual's life.

In their classic work Sacrifice: Its nature and junction, Henri Hubert and

Marcel Mauss41 claim that sacrificium (sacrifice) is the basic rite in ancient

religion. The authors suggest that sacrifice, by its very nature, implies

dependence as there is no sacrifice without intermediaries. This

40 R.B.Pandey. op.cit. 41 Herbert and Mauss, Sacrifice: Its Nature and FUllction, University of Chicago Press, Chicago,

1964.

28

intermediary is the ritual victiI~ (who is the full representative of and the

substitute for both the giver and the recipient of the sacrifice) and through

this victim the communication between the sacred and profane realms is

affected. In the context of the sarrzskiiras, I will explore both this and other

means of mediating between the sacred and profane and their significance.

Frits Staal is amongst those who discuss the significance of ritual in

general. He suggests in his work Rituals and Mantras: Rules without

Meaning42 that we have intuitions about what rituals are but we cannot

precisely define them. Differentiating between 'ritual' and 'sacrifice', he

defines the latter as a ritual in which an animal is ritually killed. Therefore

all ritual is not sacrifice.

Other works focus on rituals explicitly viz., Brian K. Smith's Reflection on

Resemblance, Ritual and Religion where43 the author analyses the evidence

for class differentiation within the performance of rituals.

The trend of shifting from religious studies to a focus on social implications

can be seen from N.N Bhattacharyya's work, Ancient Indian Rituals and

their Social Contexts.44 He discussed various rituals belonging to different

42 Frits Staal, Rituals and Mantras: Rules without Meaning, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, Delhi, ]996.

43 Brian K.Smith, Reflections on Resemblance, Ritual and Religion, Oxford University Press, New York, 1989.

44 N.N.Bhattacharyya, Ancient Indian Rituals And their Social Contents, Manohar Book Series, Delhi, 1996.

29

periods, categories and regions and concluded that all Indian rituals are

based on certain well defined principles which are again interrelated. For

analyzing the ingredients of the various rituals, he studied the tribal

institutions and practices such as puberty rites etc.

One of the earlier works, Social and Religious Life in the Gr:hyasutras45 by

V.M. Apte attempts to present a connected account of the evolution of

social practices in ancient India from 2500 B.C.-200 B.C. which he

considers covers the period from the composition of the J?gveda to that of

Gthyasutras. His chronology is not generally accepted, but the work is

useful for the detailed classification of the evidence.

P.V.Kane's History of Dharmasiistras 46 is an encyclopaedia for the study

on the various subjects in the Dharmasiistra texts. He has explained

extensively the purpose, number and classification of saf!lskiiras, the

procedure, and the persons involved etc. Kane stresses the fact that the

purposes of saf!lskiiras are manifold. Some like upanayana are thought to

serve spiritual and cultural purposes, bringing the unredeemed person into

the company of the elect, opening the door to Vedic study and conferring

special privileges and duties. They also have psychological value,

impressing on the mind of the person that he has assumed a new role and

45 V.M.Apte, Social and Religious Life in the Grhyasutras, Ramlal Pitambar Das, Ahmedabad, 1939.

46 P.V. Kane, History of the Dharmasiistras, Volume I-V. Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona, 1930-64.

30

must strive to observe its rules. Other sGrrzskiiras like niimakaral1a,

annapriisana, ni§kramal1a were Iilore or less of a popular nature. They

afforded opportunities for the expression of love and affection and for

festivities. Yet other sarrzskiiras such as garbhiidiina, pumsavana,

slimantonnayana, had mystical and symbolic elements. Viviiha (marriage)

was a sacrament which brought about a union of two personalities for the

purpose of the continuance of the social order and for the uplift of the two

by self restraint, self sacrifice and mutual cooperation.47 About the number

of sarrzskiiras, the Gautama Dharmasiitra uses the word sarrzskiira in the

most extended sense. The author speaks of forty sarrzskiiras 48 though most

G,.-hyasUtras and Dharmasiitras do not enumerate so many. Kane argues that

in most of the digests the principal sarrzskiiras are said to be sixteen as

stated earlier. But there is some difference of opinion as to these sixteen

also. Kane remarks49 that in modem times most of the sa1l'lskiiras (except

garbhiidhiina, upanayana and viviiha) have fallen into oblivion and are

hardly ever performed even by brahmaI1as in the manner and time

prescribed by the Snn:ris. Inspite of the comprehensive classification,

certain possibilities remain unexplored. For instance, according to Kane,

sa1l'lskiiras like garbhiidhiina, pumsavana, and sfmantonnayana, had

47 Kane, ibid. pp.l92-193. 48 Gautama Dharmasiitra (henceforth GDS) VIII.14-24. The Sacred Books of the East, Vol II. ed.

by F. Max Muller, The Sacred Laws of the Aryas, Part I, Translated by G. Buhler. First published by Clarendon Press, 1879. (Reprinted by) Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1965.

49 Kane, op.cit., pp. 194-196.

31

mystical and symbolic elements. I feel that notions of procreation and

fertility were also there in these rituals as well as viviiha. So an attempt will

be made to explore these elements. Further attempts will also be made to

examine how notions of fertility and procreation have been dealt with in the

epic. Therefore, restricting myself to the above mentioned sources, an effort

would be made to access the representation of sal'flskiiras in the Riimiiyal1a

juxtaposing them with the prescriptions in the siitras.

Last but not the least is the latest work by Jaya Tyagi on the G:r;hyasiitras5o.

Her work Engendering the Early Household: Brahmanical Precepts in the

Early G:r;hyasiitras, Middle of the First millennium B.c.£. focuses on the

detail of the rites and rituals of the G:r;hyasiitras. She has identified how the

Brahmanical thought on the grha, the household, evolved and how roles

were crafted for men and women in the domestic realm. The compilation of

the G:r;hyasiitras was not an isolated event and was part of a greater

movement for consolidating Brahmanical ideological thought with

practices'and for legitimising these with Vedic lore.

As acknowledged in the beginning, our source comprises not only the

siitras but also Valmlki's epic. The fact is that the Riimiiyal1a has always

been influential in religious thought and has repeatedly been chosen for

50 Jaya Tyagi, Engendering the Early Household: Brahmanical Precepts in the Early GJ;hyasutras, Middle of the First millennium B.C.E. Orient Longman, New Delhi, 2008.

32

study because these texts contain possibilities for interpretation. There is an

enormous amount of literature on the Riimiiyal1a.

The Society of the Riimtiyarza by Ananda Guruge. reconstructed the

sociological data available from archaeology and literature. He discusses

the data. historicity and many aspects of ancient Indian society.51 H.D.

Sankalia in his work deal with the archaeological evidence that has been

used to discuss questions relating to the historicity of the Riimiiyay!a.

Sankalia52 . attempts to indicate the archaeological range which can

correspond to the growth history of an original Ramakatha.

Paula Richman in her works. Many Riimiiyanas: The Diversity of a

narrative Tradition53 and Questioning Riimiiyanas54 focuses on the range of

variants, narratives and versions of the Riimiiyana. She highlights the norms

and explanations on the various tellings and perspectives in the Riimiiyarza

tradition.

Mandakranta Bose. edited The Riimiiyarza Revisited.55 addresses the

narrative structures and the social content of the Rtimiiyarza particularly the

gender implications. The different essays examine the relationship between

51 Ananda Guruge, The Society of the Ramiiyana, abhinava Publications, New Delhi, 1991. 52 H.D. Sankalia, The Riimayana in Historical Perspective, Macmillan India Limited, New Delhi,

1982. 53 Paula Richman, Many Riimiiyanas: The Diversity of a narrative Tradition, Oxford University

Press, New Delhi, 1992. 54 Paula Richman, Questioning Riimiiyanas, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2000. 55 Mandakranta Bose, ed. The Riimaya!la revisited. Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2004.

33

ideology and narrative design, especially on formulations of gender and

power. Along with this regional tellings are also discussed.

Therefore, most of the works on the Riimiiyarza talks about the Riimiiyarza

tradition, diversity and capaciousness of the Riimiiyarza tradition. However,

most scholars who have examined the Riimiiyal1a have tended to view it in

isolation. I hope to bring in a different perspective by comparing

discussions on the sarrzskiiras, an important part of social life, in two

categories of texts. A brief exploration of the possibility for a comparative

study among the three different societies represented in the Riimiiyarza,

those of the naras, viinaras and rii/c.sasa provides further material in our

area of study.

It is with these issues in mind that I propose to focus, in the next chapter on

the strategies for ensuring the birth of sons through prenatal and natal rites

as prescribed in the siitras and described in the Riimiiyal1a.

The third chapter deals with the upanayana and the transitional rites

performed for the youth to attain education.

The fourth chapter examines the viviiha sarrzskiira in the sutras and the

Riimiiyarza. There is also an attempt to compare the three different societies

appearing in the Valmiki' s Riimiiyarza, that of humans, viinaras and

rii.ksasas.

34

And finally in the last chapter, we explore the ways of dealing with the core

question of life, through an analysis of the representation of the sriiddha

sal!1skiira. Throughout, we will keep in mind the social implications of the

textual tradition.

35