Review
Reviewed Work(s): The Social Dimensions of Early Buddhism by Uma Chakravarti
Review by: Susan Visvanathan
Source: Sociological Bulletin , March-September, 1988, Vol. 37, No. 1/2 (March-
September, 1988), pp. 154-158
Published by: Sage Publications, Inc.
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154 SOCIOLOGICAL BULLETIN
of an indigenous form of C
Second Vatican Council in the
dependent nation" and that "
ideological framework for an
gence of Catholic ashrams"
Catholic Ashram movement
ashrams preceded the Council
inculturation was afoot wel
Mass in Sanskrit was printed
Indian experience in inlcultur
of the Council.
These points not withstandi
study of the ashram moveme
study of the issues involved in
G. Gispert-Sau
Vidyajyoti
Delhi
Urna Chakravarti. 77te Social Dimensions of Early Buddhism. Delhi:
Oxford University Press, pp.238, Rs. 140.
In a competent and lucidly written work Uma Chakravarti
analyses the social framework within which Buddha's teachings and
work had an impact. I may state at the very beginning that the Bud
dha appears only in a sporadic way in the text whereas his disciples
and followers are sketched out in greater detail. If this is a
methodological device Chakravarti has not communicated its pur
pose to the reader. It is interesting that on the book cover too the
Buddha's face is unrevealed. This is a book, then, on the social im
pact of Buddha's teachings, particularly with reference to the social
polity, the Sangha of the Bhikkus and the King.
One handicap for a general reader in reading the book is that
one is not at all clear about the sources. In three cryptic pages
Chakravarti discusses these (pp. 2-5) but the reader is left almost as
clueless as before. Chakravarti attributes this to the present
'inadequate state of knowledge' on internal stratification of the texts,
but I feel she should have presented more details, such as for in
stance New Testament exegetes do. Since the book is entirely
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BOOK REVIEWS 155
involved with the r
briefly what 'const
occupation, but the
Chakravarti analys
environment at the
the preponderance
khattiya clans domi
or dasa-kammakar
considerable advanc
as the plough, the
agriculture particul
density of populatio
of travel and trade
Chakravarti show
processes of econom
caste or jati orga
hereditarily organis
the Buddha realised
relationships, and t
the fraternity.
In the brief sectio
description is evoc
themselves, and t
dominated societie
entry into the Sang
Buddha, is offended
tionally present; t
the Buddha who ex
them the female
women joining the
while for many oth
of sorrow are in ke
accept the notion th
deeply than men-th
the liberty to do s
figure of Ananda is
ports the cause of w
in his almost br
nificantly, Chakrava
the matriarch, who
who has a key place
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156 SOCIOLOGICAL BULLETIN
In the section on the pari
Chakravarti delineates the cla
cer and the brahmanas at the time of the Buddha. Buddha saw the
brahmanas as materialistic and covetous (43). Chakravarti's major
contribution-the analyses of the relationship between kingship and
the social categories of khattiya, brahmana and gahapati is extremely
interesting and contributes to the literature on caste, particularly for
a period in history not usually accessible to the anthroppologists.
However, her review of the literature on kingship and renunciation
takes us as far as Hocart, Bougie and Dumont and refuses or ignores
the Indian anthropological encounter.
She has an interesting analyses of the domains of power, religion
and economy which she relates to the three social strata, viz., the
khattiya, the brahmana, and the gahapati. The latter orients his exis
tence around work, craft and its fruition as his ideal, while the khat
tiya seeks power and territory, the brahmana has sacrifice and the
celestial world as his goals. The gahapati in this stratification system
is the controller of property, the centre of the economy as the tax
payer and agriculturist. This is not an ascriptive state necessarily but
a term defined by occupation (119). Since the notion relates here to
function, the concept of the brahmana-gahapati is also found in the
text: a brahmana who owned land, was engaged in controlling
agricultural operations and paid taxes to the king (73). The setthi
gahapati is a compound term found frequently in the later texts. The
setthi was a treasurer or a usurer, and the setthi-gahapati was one
who combined in himself the role of agriculturist and holder of capi
tal which was invested in business (77). The gahapatis had high
status and were often grouped in reference with the khattiyas and
brahmanas. Buddha himself, discussing visual pleasure spoke of an
ideal woman, "A maiden of the khattiya, brahmana or gahapati
family, between fifteen or sixteen years of age, not too tall, not too
short, not too plump, not too thin, not too dark, not too pale, is she
then in her full flower of charms and beauty" (81). Gahapatis had a
very important relationship with the Sangha, since they were sub
stantial donors and the most important category among the lay dis
ciples of the Sangha (84). Yet they were conspicuously absent from
the ranks of the bhikkus, perhaps because there was an absence in
their domestic and social world of what Chakravarti calls 'tension'
essential for renunciation. She argues that since they were the pivot
of the economy, renunciation would have had severe disintegrative
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BOOK REVIEWS 157
consequences, for the
produce and reprod
gha from the outside
What is most intere
as represented in th
khatiya, vessa and su
converses with a b
gahapati is used in c
present. Even where
sion of society, the B
to the brahmanas. F
worked separately i
High jatis are khatt
nesada, rathakara,
hunter, cartwright
gahapati belong to '
low kida. High kamm
while low work is that which is disdained and scorned such as
scavenging. High sippa (craft) were those of accounting and writing
while those of the potter, basket-maker, barber, weaver, leather
worker, were low (103). Varna in the Buddhist text remained a
theoretical category, while jad and kida appeared frequently, kida
being the more important of the two. This is attributed to the fact
that work and function were the bases of social identity, while status
identity of groups came from the kida. Chakravarti writes that the
suggested plasticity of the structure reflects the embryonic nature of
the caste system prevalent when the early Pali canon was inscribed
(113). Following Bruce Ryan, in a discussion of caste in Sri Lanka as
expressive of the crystallisation of a primitive Indian system, Chak
ravarti shows that the khattiyas and brahmanas are absent, but the
gahapati survive in the Sri Lankan goyigama or rice agriculturist
(115). In a Buddhist dominated society the tension between khattiya
and brahmana has no place, for the khattiya is reduced to the person
of the king, the brahmana is replaced by the bhikku. She quotes
Hocart in proving that caste is based on the idea of work and its
hierarchies (116) "the structuralising power of the Brahman" is ab
sent (to quote Ryan) and there is a mild humanitarian and
rationalising hierarchy where Buddhism is practised.
It is a good book, and I feel that its introduction into sociology
syllabi would be advantageous because it answers many of the ques
tions students raise about kinship structures and hereditary
specialisation qnd the economic (not only symbolic!) bases of caste
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158 SOCIOLOGICAL BULLETIN
organisation. Its clarity of langu
Paradoxically, its evasion of am
damentally intrigued at the end
Buddha, who seems, through the g
ofhim, as an inconsistent figure.
Susan Visvanathan
Hindu College
Delhi
S.C. Dube. 1988. Modernization and Development. New Delhi:
Vistaar Publications, pp.144.
Modernization and development are concepts that have been of
interest to social scientists and particularly sociologists in the last
two to three decades. Modernization at times has been equated with
the 'western' model of development which has emphasised tech
nological development and industrialisation. Such an approach to
development has been questioned particularly in the Third World
countries.
Over the years there has been a disenchantment with the process
of development because of the gap between promise and perfor
mance . There is therefore a search for a more meaningful defini
tion and approach to development. The problem however is compli
cated and as the author says "definitive answers to them are yet to be
found". Among the issues that need to be resolved are:
a. What are the ultimate goals in development?
b. Endogenous versus exogenous development.
c. Self reliance versus inter-dependance
d. Growth versus distribution.
There are also questions as to whether there could be an univer
sal definition of development, given the diversity of the contem
porary societies. There is also the problem as to whether modern
ization should be equated with development. If it is, does it then
restrict one to a particular model of development? The dilemmas
become more problematic as they have to be resolved in the context
of the projections towards 21st century which 'are cheerless'. The
population of the world would increase from 4.1 million to about 6.4
million by 2000 A.D. Of the 50% increase in world population 70%
will be in the less developed countries. While the GNP of USA then
will be 3530 billion US dollars that of India will bç 198 billion US
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