Traditional Hindu Social Organisation

Traditional, Modern and Post-Modern Societies

• Traditional society emphasizes religion (and magic) in behavioral norms and values, implying continuity with the past.
• Rituals, sacrifices, and holy feasts are widely accepted.
• Individual's status is determined by birth, with no striving for social mobility.
• Behavior is governed by customs, traditions, norms, and values closely tied to the past.
• Social practices vary only slightly across generations.
• Social organization is based on hierarchy.
• Kinship relations dominate interactions, and the individual identifies with primary groups.
• More importance is given to the individual's position than his actual standing in society.
• People in traditional society are conservative.
• The economy is simple (tool economy), with low economic productivity above subsistence level.
• Mythical thought predominates over logical reasoning.
• Modern society marks a substantial break from traditional society, focusing on science and reason.
• Six characteristics of modern society:
  • Decline of religion, rise of a secular materialistic culture.
  • Feudal economy replaced by an economy based on money, large-scale production, consumption, private property, and capital accumulation.
  • Secular political authority dominates, and religious influence in politics is marginalized.
  • Decline of social order based on simple division of labor, with the rise of specialization and new class structures.
  • Formation of new nations and communities, each with its own identity and traditions.
  • The rise of scientific, rationalist thinking.
• Modern society characterized by:
  • Emphasis on reason and rationality.
  • Belief in progress and the role of government and the state in facilitating it.
  • Focus on economic development and complex division of labor.
  • View of human beings as having great control over nature and the environment.
  • Tendency to view the world in terms of dualisms or opposites.
• Post-modern society, or late modernity, focuses on critical awareness and the damaging effects of applied science on nature, the environment, and humanity.
• It critiques the unintended negative consequences of progress.
• From nationalism in modern society, post-modern society shifts towards globalization.
• Instead of focusing on economic development, post-modern society emphasizes culture.
• Unlike modern society, post-modern society values unities, similarities, and connections over dualisms.

Traditional Indian Society: Three Perspectives

• Indian society can be perceived as a traditional society using three sociological perspectives: functionalist, Marxist, and social action.
• Durkheim's functionalist perspective: Major social institutions (family, kinship, economy) exist to meet fundamental human needs like procreation, social support, and production.
• Marxist perspective: Class conflict is a fundamental social force, with society's functioning affected by conflicting class interests.
• Weber's social action perspective: Focuses on how individuals affect and create society, rather than society shaping the individual's experience.
• The first two perspectives (functionalist and Marxist) are structural in nature, concerned with how society influences individual and group behavior.
• Structural sociologists focus on how aspects like religious beliefs, caste, class, family, kinship, tool vs. industrial economies, and social position affect the individual's roles in society.
• Functionalism stresses consensus in social behavior, while Marxism and social action perspectives stress conflict.
• According to O'Donnell (1997), the six key questions about traditional Indian society are:
  1. How is society constructed?
  2. How does society operate?
  3. How are some groups in society more powerful than others?
  4. What causes social change?
  5. Is society based on consensus or conflict?
  6. What is the relationship of an individual to society?
• Traditional Indian society can be analyzed using these six bases to understand its structure and dynamics.

Traditional Hindu Society: Basic Tenets and Doctrines

Hindu View of Life: Karma and Dharma

• The Hindu view of life in Vedic thought states that man is composed of desires (kama).
• As one's desires are, so is one's discretion/insight (kratu), and as discretion is, so are deeds.
• As deeds are, so is destiny.
• If a man still has desires while alive, he will be reborn; if all desires are eradicated, he becomes one with Brahma(God).
• To achieve salvation (moksha), one must eradicate discretion (kratu) to destroy desires.
• Desire binds a man to this world, leading to birth and death.
• Karma (deed) serves as the link between desires and rebirth.
• By eliminating desires, one attains immortality and salvation.
• The Gita presents a different approach to desires, emphasizing sublimation rather than eradication.
• The philosophy of karma in the Gita stresses understanding the true nature of action.
• Hindu philosophy maintains the continuity of the present with the past, rooted in tradition, and projected into the future.
• Respect for tradition in Hinduism aims for homogeneity and harmony of thought.
• Different historical periods in Hinduism emphasize various concepts:
  • Satyayuga: Truth is dharma.
  • Tretayuga: Yajna (sacrifice).
  • Dwaparayuga: Jnana (knowledge).
  • Kaliyuga: Dana (alms).
• Hindu philosophy includes theological ideas like papa, punya, and dharma, which will be discussed as core tenets of Hinduism.