Sanskritization | Anthropology Optional for UPSC PDF Download

Introduction

• India presents one of the oldest, continuous and uninterrupted living civilizations in the whole world known as Hinduism. One of the prominent features of Indian civilization is its ‘Caste-system’. Caste system is a unique way of stratifying the society. It has been conceptualized, originated and practiced exclusively in India. It has given a distinguished identity to Indian society.
• Caste-system is one of the prominent features running through the entire social fabric of India. Castes have its ethnic roots as denoted by “Jati”, and a ritualistic and symbolic significance in its Varna aspect. It has greatly influenced the culture of the whole of India. Caste system has maintained its continuity without interruption. It has survived the vicissitudes of time, saved itself by erosion from within and assault from outside only because of the adaptability. Its absorptive nature has internalized alien influences. It has taken different shades and meaning with the changing times and places. Its character

  during Indus Valley Civilization was altogether different from what exists today. It is still in a transient phase. Its shade is different in the context of village, locality, region or religion. Once changed, the system never returned to its original form. Its absorptive nature has internalized alien influences. 

• Though the Indian Society which is based on caste system is often regarded as “closed society”, it is not altogether changeless. Within the framework of the caste itself, some kind of mobility is observed. The socio-cultural changes that has taken place in India can mainly be categorised into these processes namely; sanskritisation, westernisation and modernisation. These three process reflect an attempt on the part of Indian masses to achieve some amount of mobility both within and outside the framework of the caste system. 

Sanskritisation 

• The term Sanskritisation was introduced into Indian Sociology by Prof. M.N. Srinivas. The term refers to a process whereby people of lower castes collectively try to adopt upper caste practices and beliefs, as a preliminary step to acquire higher status. Thus, this indicates a process of cultural mobility that took place in the traditional social system of India. 

Meaning of Sanskritisation 

• Sanskritisation is not a new phenomenon. It has been a major process of cultural change in Indian history, and it has occurred in every part of the Indian sub-continent. It denotes the process in which the lower castes try to imitate the life-styles of upper castes in their attempt SANSKRITISATION, MODERNISATION AND WESTERNISATION to raise their social status. The process seems to be associated with the role of local “dominant caste”. 

Definition of Sanskritisation 

• The definition of Sanskritisation was given by M.N. Srinivas in his “Social Change in Modern India” published in 1971. It means “a process by which a low caste or a tribe or other group changes its customs, rituals, ideology, and a way of life in the direction of a high and frequently, twice born caste.” 

An analysis of the process of Sanskritisation

• Sanskritisation denotes the process of upward mobility. In this process, a caste is trying to increase its position in the caste hierarchy not at once, but over a period of time. It would take sometimes, a period of one or two generations. 
• Mobility that is involved in the process of Sanskritisation results only in “positional changes” for particular castes or sections of castes, and need not necessarily lead to a “structural change”. It means, while individual castes move up or down, the structure as such remains the same. 
• The castes which enjoyed higher economic and political power but rated relatively low in ritual ranking went after Sanskritisation for they felt that their claim to a higher position was not fully effective.
• Economic betterment is not a necessary pre-condition to Sanskritisation, nor economic development must necessarily lead to Sanskritisation. However, sometimes a group (caste/tribe) may start by acquiring political power and this may lead to economic development and Sanskritisation. 
• Sanskritisation is not necessarily confined to the castes within the Hindu community, it is found in tribal communities also. The Bhils of Western India, the Gonds and Oraons of Middle India and the Pahadiyas of Himalayan region have come under the influence of Sanskritisation. These tribal communities are now claiming themselves to be Hindus.
• The process of Sanskritisation serves as a “reference group”. It is through this process a caste group tries to orient its beliefs, practices, values, attitudes and “life-styles” in terms of another superior or dominant group, so that it can also get some recognition. 
• Sanskritisation does not take place in the same manner in all the places.

Impact of Sanskritisation

• Modern education, Western literature and philosophy of people widened, and as a result the mental horizons and visionary of people changed. They welcomed rationality and other good features of and made good use of liberal, and humanitarian ideas and thoughts. 
• Vedas has been conceived through intellectual contemplation and empirical observation and used Upnishads (speculative interpretation of Vedas or Mythology) for the creation of human imagination.
• Reformists and their organizations had purely an economic and social thrust. They aimed at establishing a social order based on Vedic teachings and practices. They criticized the mumbo-jumbo of rituals and superstitions created by some selfish people to entangle the ignorant and poor masses. They laid emphasis on interpreting Vedas in a rational and scientific way. 
• It reduced or removed the gap between the ritual and secular rankings. It also helped upliftment of weaker persons. The lower caste group which successfully got into the seat of secular power also tried to avail of the services of Brahmins especially at the time of observing rituals, worshipping and offering things to God. 

Criticisms of Sanskritisation

• According to J.F Stall, Sanskritisation as used by Srinivas and other anthropologists is a complex concept or a class of concepts. The term itself seems to be misleading, since its relationship to the term Sanskrit is extremely complicated. 
• Yogendra Singh opines that sanskritisation fails to account for many aspects of cultural change in past and contemporary India as it neglects the non-sanskritic traditions.
• Sanskritic influence has not been universal to all parts of country. In most of northern India, especially in Punjab, it was the Islamic tradition which provided a basis for cultural imitation. 
• When we try to interpret certain changes that have taken place in the field of social mobility in the light of Sanskritisation, we face certain paradoxes. According to Dr. Srinivas, political and economic forces are normally favourable for Sanskritisation. But the “policy of reservation” a poltico-constitutional attempt to elevate the status of lower caste, and class people, presents here a different picture. Theoretically, the policy of reservation must be supportive of Sanskritisation. But paradoxically it goes against it.
  Those who avail of the “reservation benefits” have developed a vested interest in calling themselves “dalits” or Scheduled Caste people. They want to be called so in order to permanently avail of the benefits of reservation.

Conclusion

Sanskritisation has played a significant role in the socio-cultural changes within the Indian society. It has allowed lower castes to adopt upper caste practices and beliefs in an attempt to achieve higher status, leading to cultural mobility. While it has its critics, it is important to note that the process of Sanskritisation has positively impacted the lives of many by reducing the gap between ritual and secular rankings and uplifting the weaker sections of society. However, it is also essential to recognize the limitations of Sanskritisation, as it does not encompass all aspects of cultural change in India and can sometimes be counterproductive, as seen in the case of the reservation policy. Overall, Sanskritisation is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon that has shaped the Indian society to a considerable extent, but it should not be seen as the sole determinant of social mobility and cultural change.