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Shaping of the Traditional Pattern of Stratification in India: An Analysis of Processes Through the Ages

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2024

Shrirama Indradeva*
Affiliation:
Ravishankar University

Extract

Stratification, that is, the structuring of society on the basis of differential social status of various groups, is a common feature of human societies. But the traditional pattern of social stratification in India has certain characteristics which are rather unique, and these have attracted and intrigued many scholars all over the world. The structural and cultural characteristics of the traditional pattern of stratification in India have deep roots in the past. They have stemmed from certain peculiar ethnic constellations that came into being some three thousand years ago, and they have been given many twists and turns by numerous socio-cultural currents and cross currents through all these millennia.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © 1985 Fédération Internationale des Sociétés de Philosophie / International Federation of Philosophical Societies (FISP)

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References

* Technical reasons of composition no longer permit the use of the diacritical marks required for the transliteration of Indian words. At the end of the article the reader will find an elementary lexicon which gives the correct orthography of the majority of terms used. (Editor's note).

1 Rgveda, X.228.

2 Rgveda, X.XC.12.

3 Rgveda, III.XXII. 21.

4 Rgveda, II.XX. 7.

5 Rgveda, IV. XVI. 13.

6 Rgveda, II. XII. II.

7 Rgveda, I. CIII. 3.

8 Rgveda, II. 19.6.

9 Rgveda, X. 22.8.

10 Rgveda, IV. XVI. 13.

11 Rgveda, VII. V. 3.

12 Rgveda, VIII. V. 6.

13 Rgveda, II. XIII. 9.

14 Rgveda, V. XXXIV. 6.

15 Rgveda, IV. XLVII. 21.

16 Rgveda, II. XX. 7.

17 Rgveda, II. XX. 7.

18 Rgveda, X. 198.

19 Rgveda, II. XXIV. 6.

20 Rgveda, VI. 13.3.

21 Rgveda, VII. IX. 2.

22 Rgveda, I. XCIII. 4.

23 Rgveda, VII. VI. 3.

24 Rgveda, VI. XXXIII. 2.

25 Rgveda, I. LXXIII. 4.

26 Rgveda, I. CXXIV. 10.

27 Rgveda, V. XXIV. 7.

28 Rgveda, X. LX. 6.

29 Rgveda, IX. CXI. 2.

30 Rgveda, IX. XXII. 7.

31 Rgveda, VI. 51. 14.

32 Rgveda, XLV. 31-33.

33 Rgveda, VI. 53.3.

34 Rgveda, XLV. 31-33.

35 Rgveda, VIII. XLVI. 32.

36 Rgveda, IX. CXIII. 3.

37 Rgveda, III. XLIII. 5.

38 Rgveda, VII. CIII. 7-8.

39 Rgveda, X. LXXI. 4.

40 Rgveda, XLXXI. 8-9.

41 Rgveda, X. LXXI. 5.

42 Rgveda, X. CLXXIII. 6.

43 Rgveda, IV. LVII. 78.

44 Rgveda, X. XC. 12.

45 Taittiriya Samhita, VII. 4.19.3.

46 Taittiriya Samhita, VII. 1.1.6.

47 Tanclyamaha-Brahmana, VI. 1.11.

48 Aitareya Brahmana, V. 11.

49 Satapatha Brahmana, V. XIII. 6.2.10.

50 Satapatha Brahmana, V. XIV. 1.2.31.

51 Tandya Brahmana, V. 5.14.

52 Taittiriya Samhita, 1.7.3.1.

53 Taittiriya Aranyaka, II. 1.

54 Apastamba Dharma Sutra, II. 2.4. 22-24.

55 Satapatha Brahmana, IV. 1.4 1-6.

56 Chandogya Upanisad, I. 12.1-5.

57 Chandogya Upanisad, V. 3.7.

58 Brhadaranyaka Upanisad, I. 4.41.11.

59 Chandogya Upanisad, V. 11.7.

60 Brhadaranyaka Upanisad, VI. 4.14-17.

61 Gautama Dharma Sutra, XVII. I.

62 Apastamba Dharma Sutra, I. 6.18.9-10.

63 Apastamba Dharma Sutra, I.6, Gautama Dharma Sutra XVII. 5.

64 Appastamba Dharma Sutra, II. 5.11. 5-6; I. 4.14.25.

65 Apastamba Dharma Sutra, I. 3.9.9.

66 Apastamba Dharma Sutra, I.I.I. 7-8; Gautama Dharma Sutra, X. 56; Va sistha Dharma Sutra, II. 20.

67 Apastamba Dharma Sutra, II. 10.27.15.

68 Gautama Dharma Sutra, XII. 7.

69 Apastamba Dharma Sutra, II. 10.27.14; Gautama Dharma Sutra, XII. 1.

70 Apastamba Dharma Sutra, I. 5.16.22; Baudhayana Dharma Sutra, II. 2.1.

71 Apastamba Dharma Sutra, I. 5.16.22; Baudhayana Dharma Sutra, II.2.1.

72 Apastamba Dharma Sutra, I.9.25.13.

73 Sutta Nipata, 135.

74 Jataka, I. 108.

75 Digha Nikaya, 3.180.ff.

76 Manu Smrti, VII. 14; VIII. 346.

77 Manu Smrti, I. 98.

78 Manu Smrti, X. 3.

79 Manu Smrti, X. 57.

80 Manu Smrti, I. 92-94.

81 Manu Smrti, X. 123-125.

82 Manu Smrti, X. 99-100; Brhaspati Smrti, Sanskara Kanda I. 530.

83 Manu Smrti, X. 129.

84 Manu Smrti, VIII. 417-418.