Page 253 - DSOC201_SOCIAL_STRUCTURE_AND_SOCIAL_CHANGE_ENGLISH

Social Structure and Social Change

Notes Features of Sanskritization
A few facts are worth noting in the process of Sanskritization:
1. The concept of Sanskritization has been integrated with economic and political domination, that
is, the role of local ‘dominant caste’ in the process of cultural transmission has been stressed.
Though for some time, the lower castes imitated Brahmins but soon the local dominant caste came
to be imitated. And the locally dominant caste was often a non-Brahmin caste.
2. Sanskritization occurred sooner or later in those castes which enjoyed political and economic
power but were not rated high in ritual ranking, that is, there was a gap between their ritual and
politico-economic positions. This was because without Sanskritization, claim to a higher
position was not fully effective. The three main axes of power in the caste system are the ritual, the
economic and the political ones. The possession of power in any one sphere usually leads to the
acquisition of power in the other two. But Srinivas mentions that inconsistencies do occur.
3. Economic betterment is not a necessary pre-condition to Sanskritization, nor economic development
must necessarily lead to Sanskritization. However, sometimes a group (caste, tribe) may start by
acquiring political power and this may lead to economic betterment and Sanskritization. Srinivas
(1985: 57) has given the example of untouchables of Rampura village in Mysore who have got
increasingly sanskritized though their economic condition has remained almost unchanged.
Economic betterment, the acquisition of political power, education, leadership, and a desire to
move up in the hierarchy, are all relevant factors in Sanskritization, and each case of Sanskritization
may show all or some of these factors mixed up in different measures.
4. Sanskritization is a two-way process. Not only a caste ‘took’ from the caste higher to it but in turn
it ‘gave’ something to the caste. We find Brahmins worshipping local deities which preside over
epidemics, cattle, children’s lives, and crops, besides the great gods of all India Hinduism. It is not
unknown for a Brahmin to make a blood-sacrifice to one of these deities through the medium of a
non-Brahmin friend (Srinivas, 1985: 60). Though local cultures seem to ‘receive’ more than they
‘give’, yet sanskritic Hinduism has also absorbed local and folk elements. The absorption is done
in such a way that there is a continuity between the folk or little tradition and the great tradition.
5. Unit of mobility is group and not individual or family.
6. The British rule provided impetus to the process of Sanskritization but political independence has
weakened the trend towards this change. The emphasis is now on the vertical mobility and not on
the horizontal mobility.
7. Describing social change in India in terms of Sanskritization and Westernization is to describe it
primarily in cultural and not in structural terms. Srinivas himself has conceded (1989: 55) that
Sanskritization involves ‘positional change’ in the caste system without any structural change.
8. Sanskritization does not automatically result in the achievement of a higher status for the group.
The group must be content to wait an indefinite period and during this period it must maintain a
continuous pressure regarding its claim. A generation or two must pass usually before a claim
begins to be accepted. In many cases, the claim of the caste may not be accepted even after a long
time. Further, it is likely that a claim which may not succeed in a particular area or period of time
way succeed in another.
The fact that Sanskritization may not help a lower caste to move up does not prevent it to discard the
consumption of beef, change polluting occupation, stop drinking alcohol, and adopt some sanskritic
customs, beliefs and deities. Thus, the process of Sanskritization may remain popular without achieving
the goal of mobility.
Factors Promoting Sanskritization
Factors that have made Sanskritization possible are industrialization, occupational mobility, developed
communication, spread of literacy, and western technology. No wonder, the spread of Sanskrit
theological ideas immersed under the British rule. The development of communications carried
Sanskritization to areas previously inaccessible and the spread of literacy carried it to groups very
low in the caste hierarchy. M.N. Srinivas has specifically referred to one factor which has helped the

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