• Indian society, based on the caste system, is often regarded as a “closed society”, but it is not entirely changeless.
• Mobility within the caste system exists, with lower castes often trying to claim higher status by imitating the life-styles of upper castes, particularly Brahmins and Kshatriyas.
• M.N. Srinivas used the term ‘Sanskritisation’ to describe the process by which lower castes try to imitate upper-caste life-styles to improve their status.
• Upper castes, including Brahmins, have started to adopt life-styles influenced by the Westerners.
• The term ‘Westernisation’ was also introduced by M.N. Srinivas to describe the process of upper castes orienting their life-styles towards the West.
• Both the upper class, middle class, and people from upper caste and intermediary caste are adopting Western behaviours, attitudes, beliefs, and life-styles.
• The entire Indian mass is also involved in this process of Westernisation.
• Daniel Lerner calls this broader transformation ‘modernisation’, which refers to the process where less developed societies acquire the characteristics of more developed societies.
• These three processes—Sanskritisation, Westernisation, and Modernisation—represent attempts by the Indian masses to achieve some mobility both within and outside the framework of the caste system.

SANSKRITISATION

Meaning of Sanskritisation

• The term “Sanskritisation” was introduced by Prof. M.N. Srinivas in Indian Sociology.
• Sanskritisation refers to the process by which people from lower castes collectively adopt the practices and beliefs of upper castes to acquire higher status.
• It signifies a form of cultural mobility within the traditional social system of India.
• In his study of the Coorg in Karnataka, M.N. Srinivas found that lower castes attempted to raise their position in the caste hierarchy by adopting customs and practices of the Brahmins.
• These lower castes gave up practices considered “impure” by higher castes, such as meat-eating, drinking liquor, and animal sacrifice to deities.
• They imitated Brahmins in terms of dress, food, and rituals.
• Through this process, within a generation, these lower castes could claim a higher position in the caste hierarchy.
• Initially, M.N. Srinivas used the term “Brahminisation” to describe this process but later replaced it with “Sanskritisation”.

Definitions of Sanskritisation

• M.N. Srinivas broadened his definition of “Sanskritisation” over time.
• Initially, he described it as the process of lower castes moving up in the caste hierarchy by adopting practices like vegetarianism and teetotalism, which could happen in a generation or two (1962).
• Later, he redefined Sanskritisation as “a process by which a low caste, tribe, or other group changes its customs, rituals, ideology, and way of life in the direction of a high and frequently, twice-born caste” (in Social Change in Modern India, 1971).
• The second definition is broader and includes ideologies, such as ideas like “Karma”, “dharma”, “papa” (sin), “punya” (virtue), and “moksha”.