THE CHILD IN INDIA
=Caste.= The caste system in India was the most fixed of any of the
nations. In this way the natural divisions into which mankind placed
itself in a free country was not allowed, but fixed and hereditary
classes were formed. There were four principal classes: The Brahmans,
the priests; the Kshatriyas, the warriors; the Vaisyas, the farmers and
traders; the Sudras, the laborers. Below these was a class of the very
lowest.
There was very little opportunity for a member of one caste going into a
higher, so that an impulse for higher striving was of no avail, and if
ever such came to a member of a lower caste it must have soon died away.
This entailed especial disadvantages upon the children, for a boy's
whole situation in life depended upon the class to which the father
belonged and, consequently, his occupation and education. This rigid
caste system might have brought contentment to the people, as there was
no use of being discontented with one's lot, but such contentment could
not bring great progress.
=Women and Marriage.= In the early times in India, women were not
excluded as they were later, but they were honored and respected. They
were considered as the intellectual companion of the husband, as helper
in the daily life, and as partaker in the religious duties. They
attended the courts and assemblies and public entertainments, being
permitted to appear freely and openly on public occasions. The change
took place when they were conquered by the Moslems, from whom the custom
of the exclusion of women was learned by the Hindus or was thrust upon
them.
The Code of Manu some three centuries before Christ set the status of
woman thus, "During her childhood a woman depends on her father; during
her youth, on her husband; her husband being dead, on her sons; if she
has no sons, on the near relatives of her husband; or if in default of
them, on those of her father; if she has no paternal relatives, on the
sovereign. A woman ought never to have her own way." So it is no wonder
that the wife was treated by the husband in the harshest manner and she
to respond with the greatest humility. The following from a witness of a
hundred or more years ago, portrays some of the relations which women
bore to the opposite sex:
"The women, on the other hand, are so thoroughly accustomed to harsh and
domineering treatment from their husbands that they would be quite
annoyed if the husbands adopted a more familiar tone. I once knew a
native lady who complained bitterly that her husband sometimes affected
to be devoted to her in public and allowed himself such little
familiarities as are looked upon by us as marks of affection. 'Such
behavior,' said she, 'covers me with shame and confusion. I dare not
show myself anywhere. Did anyone ever see such bad manners amongst
people of our caste? Has he become a Feringhi (European), and does he
take me for one of their vile women?'
"As a rule a husband addresses his wife in terms which show how little
he thinks of her. _Servant_, _slave_, etc., and other equal flattering
appellations, fall quite naturally from his lips.
"A woman, on the other hand, never addresses her husband except in terms
of the greatest humility. She speaks to him as _my master_, _my lord_,
and even sometimes _my god_. In her awe of him she does not venture to
call him by his name; and should she forget herself in this way in a
moment of anger, she would be thought a very low class of person, and
would lay herself open to personal chastisement from her offended
spouse. She must be just as particular in speaking of him to anyone
else; indeed, the Hindus are very careful never to put a woman under the
necessity of mentioning her husband by name. If by chance a European,
who is unacquainted with this point of etiquette, obliges her to do so,
he will see her blush and hide her face behind her _sari_ and turn away
without answering, smiling at the same time with contemptuous pity at
such ignorance.
"But if women enjoy very little consideration in private life, they are
in some degree compensated by the respect which is paid to them in
public. They do not, it is true, receive those insipid compliments which
we have agreed to consider polite; but then, on the other hand, they are
safe from the risk of insult. A Hindu woman can go anywhere alone, even
in the most crowded places, and she need never fear the impertinent
looks and jokes of idle loungers. This appears to me to be really
remarkable in a country where the moral depravity of the inhabitants is
carried to such lengths. A house inhabited solely by women is a
sanctuary which the most shameless libertine would not dream of
violating. To touch a respectable woman even with the end of your finger
would be considered highly indecorous, and a man who meets a female
acquaintance in the street does not venture to stop and speak to
her."[51]
Courtesans in India, as in Greece, if of great beauty and
accomplishments, were accorded many more privileges than the other
women. As these were used in the temples, they were permitted to learn
to read and to sing and to dance, accomplishments which a respectable
woman would have been ashamed to have acknowledged even if she should
have learned them.
In the early times, during the Vedic period, it would seem that the
girls had some choice in the selection of the husband, and yet the
father must have exercised some control over the affair. But later the
selection of both bride and groom was fast fixed in the hands of the
parents, who arranged everything. With the young man's family the purity
of the caste of the future wife was the greatest concern, beauty and
personal attraction counting nothing, while the girl's parents thought
more of the fortune of the bridegroom to be and of the character of his
mother, because she was to become the absolute mistress of the young
wife. Intermarriage between castes was not strictly forbidden, but a
woman could not marry a man of lower caste without losing caste.
"To a Hindu marriage is the most important and most engrossing event of
his life; it is a subject of endless conversation and of the most
prolonged preparations. An unmarried man is looked upon as having no
social status and as being an almost useless member of society. He is
not consulted on any important subject, and no work of any consequence
may be given to him. A Hindu who becomes a widower finds himself in
almost the same position as a bachelor, and speedily remarries.
"Though marriage is considered the natural state for the generality of
men, those who from pious motives remain unmarried are looked up to and
treated with the utmost respect. But it is only those persons who have
renounced the world, and have chosen to lead a life of contemplation,
who can take vows of celibacy. In any other case marriage is the rule,
and every one is under obligation of discharging _the great debt to his
ancestors_, namely, that of begetting a son.
...
"But this privilege men possess of remaining single, and giving
themselves up to a life of contemplation, is not shared by women. They
at all events cannot, under any circumstances, take vows of celibacy.
Subjected on all sides to the moral ascendancy of man, the very idea
that they could possibly place themselves in a state of independence and
out of men's power is not allowed to cross their minds. The opinion is
firmly established throughout the whole of India, that women were only
created for the propagation of the species, and to satisfy men's
desires. All women therefore are obliged to marry, and marriages are
carefully arranged before they arrive at a marriageable age."[52]
There were eight kinds of marriages described in the law, the Institutes
of Manu: "Of which one half are honorable, and differ from one another
only in some minute circumstances; in the fifth, the bridegroom bestows
gifts upon the bride, her father, and paternal kinsman; the last three
are rather species of unlawful connection, than forms of nuptial
contract; one being voluntary and by mutual consent; the other forcible
when a woman is seized, 'while she weeps and calls for assistance, after
her kinsmen and friends have been slain in battle'; the last, 'when the
damsel is sleeping, or flushed with strong liquor, or disordered in her
intellect."[53]
The following verses from the Rig Veda, a very ancient Aryan collection
of hymns, belonging to the Hindus, give the ceremony of marriage in
those olden times:
"21. O Visvâvasu! (god of marriage), arise from this place, for the
marriage of this girl is over. We extol Visvâvasu with hymns and
prostrations. Go to some other maiden who is still in her father's house
and has attained the signs of the age of marriage. She will be your
share, know of her.
"22. O Visvâvasu! arise from this place. We worship thee, bending in
adoration. Go to an unmarried maiden whose person is well developed;
make her a wife and unite her to a husband.
"23. Let the paths by which our friends go in quest of a maiden for
marriage be easy and free of thorns. May Aryaman and Bhaga lead us well.
O gods! may the husband and wife be well united.
"24. O maiden! the graceful sun had fastened thee with ties (of
maidenhood), we release thee now of those ties. We place thee with thy
husband in a place which is the home of truth and the abode of righteous
actions.
"25. We release this maiden from this place (her father's house), but
not from the other place (her husband's house). We unite her well with
the other place. O Indra! may she be fortunate and the mother of worthy
sons.
"26. May Pûshan lead thee by the hand from this place. May the two
Asvins lead thee in a chariot. Go to thy (husband's) house and be the
mistress of the house. Be the mistress of all, and exercise thine
authority over all in that house.
"27. Let children be born unto thee, and blessings attend thee here.
Perform the duties of thy household with care. Unite thy person with the
person of this thy husband; exercise thy authority in this thy house
until old age.
"40. First Soma accepts thee; then Gandharva accepts thee; Agni is thy
third lord; the son of man is the fourth to accept thee.
"41. Soma bestowed this maiden to Gandharva, Gandharva gave her to Agni,
Agni has given her to me with wealth and progeny.
"42. O bridegroom and bride! do ye remain here together; do not be
separated. Enjoy food of various kinds, remain in your own home, and
enjoy happiness in company of your children and grandchildren.
"43. (The bride and bridegroom say), May Prajapati bestow on us
children; may Aryaman keep us united till old age. (Address to the
bride), O bride! Enter with auspicious signs the home of thy husband. Do
good to our male servants and our female servants, and to our cattle.
"44. Be thine eyes free from anger; minister to the happiness of thy
husband; do good to our cattle. May thy mind be cheerful; and may thy
beauty be bright. Be the mother of heroic sons, and be devoted to the
gods. Do good to our male servants and our female servants, and to our
cattle.
"45. O Indra! make this woman fortunate and the mother of worthy sons.
Let ten sons be born of her, so that there may be eleven men in the
family with the husband.
"46. (Address to the bride), May thou have influence over thy
father-in-law, and over thy mother-in-law, and be as a queen over thy
sister-in-law and brother-in-law.
"47. (The bridegroom and bride say), May all the gods unite our hearts;
may Mâtarisvan and Dhâtri and the goddess of speech unite us
together."[54]
Dubois goes quite fully into the ceremonies and functions of a Brahmin
marriage of his time, from which is taken the following extract.[55]
There were four different ways of arranging the preliminaries of a
marriage. In the first the father of the bride refused the sum of money
to which he was entitled from the young man's parents and he bore all
the expenses of the wedding. In the second way the parents of both
parties agreed to share all the expenses. In the third way the youth's
parents bore all the expenses of the wedding and also paid a sum of
money to the father for his daughter. In the fourth method the girl's
parents handed her over to the young man's parents to do with her what
they would. It is needless to say that the first way was the most
honored and respected and the last was most mortifying to the girl's
parents and it was used by none but the very poorest.
As soon as the parents of a young man had discovered a suitable girl,
when the auguries were favorable, they provided themselves with presents
and went and formally asked for her. Then the parents of the girl, at a
favorable moment, gave their consent and accepted the presents. Then the
priest who presided at public and private ceremonies fixed on a lucky
day and great preparations were made. The wedding garments were
prepared, the stores for feasts and for presents were got together, and
all the many other things needed. A canopy was erected and all the
relatives and friends invited.
The marriage ceremony lasted for five days. The first day was the great
day, as it was the day on which the most important and solemn ceremonies
took place. The gods and the ancestors and other divinities were invited
to be present. Then a number of rites and ceremonies were performed, in
which the bride and bridegroom, the parents, and guests partook. Near
the close of these ceremonies the husband fastened round the neck of the
young wife the _tali_, the little gold ornament which all married women
wore round their necks, and which performed by the husband showed that
henceforth the woman was to be his property. The day was ended with a
specially magnificent feast.
Amongst the ceremonies of the second day was the placing of an ornament,
covered with gold-leaf or gold paper and entwined with flowers, on the
forehead of both husband and wife to avert the effects of the evil eye,
the spell which is cast by the looks of jealous or ill-disposed people.
On the third day the wife joined in the sacrifice offered by the
husband, the only occasion on which a woman could take an active part in
any of the sacrifices. The only remarkable ceremony on the fourth day
was that the newly married couple rubbed each other's legs three times
with powdered saffron, of which Dubois did not understand the meaning
and fancied its only object was to kill time, just as Europeans under
similar circumstances would spend their time in drinking. The fifth day
was chiefly occupied in dismissing the gods and the ancestors and the
other divinities that had been invited to the feast. Then followed the
distribution of presents. The festivity ended with a solemn procession
through the streets, which generally took place at night by torchlight
in the midst of squibs and fireworks of all kinds.
A girl's lot after marriage must have been dreadful in many cases, as
she became a servant to the mother of her husband, who too often tried
in every way to make the young girl miserable. In her husband's home the
young wife occupied the back of the house with the other women and she
must take the humblest place in this apartment for women. The little
girl was scolded quite a great deal and received no, or but little,
praise. "I have several times seen young wives shamefully beaten by
beastly young husbands who cherished no natural love for them.... A
child of thirteen was cruelly beaten by her husband in my presence for
telling the simple truth, that she did not like so well to be in his
house as at her home."[56] Yet, there are here and there bright spots in
this dark home life.
Polygamy was practiced in ancient India, and even down to later times,
as was true among many other ancient nations, but as a rule it was
confined to kings and wealthy lords. It was not looked upon with great
favor. A person of inferior rank was not allowed to have more than one
wife, except in case his wife was barren or had only borne female
children, but before he could contract a second marriage he had to
obtain the consent of the first wife.
"Women in India have ever been remarkable for their faithfulness and
their duteous affection towards their husbands, and female
unfaithfulness is comparatively rare."[57] Adultery was looked upon with
the greatest detestation in India. Yet the heinousness of the crime was
regulated by the caste of the offender, for a man of high caste
committing adultery with a woman of low caste was by no means so
severely punished as was a man of low caste with a woman of high caste.
In case the man was a Sudra and the woman of one of the three higher
castes he suffered capital punishment, but as on no account was a
Brahmin to be punished with death, this offence could not bring it to
him.
"Although no law has ever said so, the popular belief is that a woman
can have no salvation unless she be formally married."[58] Perhaps for
this belief parents became extremely anxious when their daughters were
over eight or nine years of age and were unsought in marriage. This was
so strong it frequently happened that poor parents feeling that their
daughters must be married would marry girls of eight or nine to men of
sixty or seventy. In the early times child marriages were unknown, but
later boys among the Brahmins married at about sixteen years of age and
girls generally at five or seven or, at the utmost, nine years of age.
One author states that among the Brahmins, if any girl remained
unmarried until she was eleven years old the family was suspended from
caste.[59]
In early times in India, widows married and men belonging to one caste
married widows of other castes. "A droll story is told of the daughter
of a householder of Mâlava who married eleven husbands successively; and
on the death of the eleventh husband the plucky widow would probably
have welcomed a twelfth, but 'even the stones could not help laughing at
her,' so she took to the life of an ascetic."[60] But Manu laid down
that a widow should never even mention the name of another man after
her husband had died, and that a second husband was nowhere prescribed
for virtuous women. A widower, whatever his age might be, and to
whatever caste he might belong, could marry again; but a woman of the
Brahminical caste, whether she ever lived with her husband or not, was
not allowed again to enter the married state. Sad was the state of these
widows, for they were cast out of society, but however despised they
might have been, if one remarried her lot became even worse, for she was
shunned absolutely by every honest and respectable person. "I once
witnessed amongst the _Gollavarus_, or shepherds, an instance of even
greater severity. A marriage had been arranged, and, in the presence of
the family concerned, certain ceremonies which were equivalent to
betrothal amongst ourselves had taken place. Before the actual
celebration of the marriage, which was fixed for a considerable time
afterwards, the bridegroom died. The parents of the girl, who was very
young and pretty, thereupon married her to another man. This was in
direct violation of the custom of the caste, which condemns to perpetual
widowhood girls thus betrothed, even when, as in this case, the future
bridegroom dies before marriage has been consummated. The consequence
was that all the persons who had taken part in the second ceremony were
expelled from caste, and nobody would contract marriage or have any
intercourse whatever with them. A long time afterwards I met several of
them, well advanced in age, who had been for this reason alone unable to
obtain husbands or wives, as the case might be."[61]
Suttee is the name given to the act of a woman immolating herself upon
the funeral pile with the body of her deceased husband. This was not
practiced in the early times of India, yet it was quite old as it was
known from the time of Alexander, and even earlier. It continued down
till the nineteenth century, when a noted Hindu, Raja Ram Mohun Roy, got
up such an agitation against it that Lord William Bentinck,
Governor-General of India, enacted a law in 1829, which prohibited
suttee within British dominion and made all assistance, aid, or
participation in any act of it to be murder and punishable with death.
But it did not fully cease till near the middle of the century.
"Dr. Carey appears to have been the first who made efforts to ascertain
the extent of this practice in Bengal, and he found that the number of
widows who perished in this way, within 30 miles of Calcutta, in 1803,
was 438. In 1817 the number of cases officially reported to the
magistrate in Bengal was 706. In 1818 the number was 839, thus making
1,545 in two years. The number which took place in Bengal from
1815-1826, or for 12 years, as officially reported to the English
magistrates, was 7,154. This number includes only those which took place
in Bengal. There was no means of ascertaining the whole number of cases
in the country. Mr. W. Ward estimated them at 3,000 annually."[62] The
practice was chiefly among kings, princes, Brahmins, and the wealthy and
this made it all the more horrid, because these were the men who
practiced polygamy, and several of the wives were burned with the
husband's dead body. Instances are recorded of 5, 10, 15, 25, and even
more, who thus sacrificed themselves. Everything was done to get a woman
to sacrifice herself and if after mature deliberation she decided to do
so there was no turning back for her. For if she did not go on the
funeral pyre of her own free will she would be dragged to it by force.
This is well portrayed in the following:
"In 1794, in a village of the Tanjore district called Pudupettah, there
died a man of some importance belonging to the _Komatty_ (Vaisya) caste.
His wife, aged about thirty years, announced her intention of
accompanying her deceased husband to the funeral pyre. The news having
rapidly spread abroad, a large concourse of people flocked together from
all quarters to witness the spectacle. When everything was ready for the
ceremony, and the widow had been richly clothed and adorned, the bearers
stepped forward to remove the body of the deceased, which was placed in
a sort of shrine, ornamented with costly stuffs, garlands of flowers,
green foliage, etc., the corpse being seated in it with crossed legs,
covered with jewels and clothed in the richest attire, and the mouth
filled with betel. Immediately after the funeral car followed the widow,
borne in a richly decorated palanquin. On the way to the burning-ground
she was escorted by an immense crowd of eager sight-seers, lifting their
hands towards her in token of admiration, and rending the air with cries
of joy. She was looked upon as already translated to the paradise of
Indra, and they seemed to envy her happy lot.
"While the funeral procession moved slowly along, the spectators,
especially the women, tried to draw near to her to congratulate her on
her good fortune, at the same time expecting that, in virtue of the gift
of prescience which such a meritorious attachment must confer upon her,
she would be pleased to predict the happy things that might befall them
here below. With gracious and amiable mien she declared to one that she
would long enjoy the favors of fortune; to another, that she would be
the mother of numerous children who would prosper in the world; to a
third, that she would live long and happily with a husband who would
love and cherish her; to a fourth, that her family was destined to
attain much honor and dignity; and so forth. She then distributed among
them leaves of betel; and the extraordinary eagerness with which they
were received clearly proved that great value was attached to them as
relics. Beaming with joy, these women then withdrew, each in the full
hope that the promised blessings of wealth and happiness would be
showered on her and hers.
"During the whole procession, which was a very long one, the widow
preserved a calm demeanor. Her looks were serene, even smiling; but when
she reached the fatal place where she was to yield up her life in so
ghastly a manner, it was observed that her firmness suddenly gave way.
Plunged, as it were, in gloomy thought, she seemed to pay no attention
whatever to what was passing around her. Her looks became wildly fixed
upon the pile. Her face grew deadly pale. Her very limbs were in a
convulsive tremor. Her drawn features and haggard face betrayed the
fright that had seized her, while a sudden weakening of her senses
betokened that she was ready to faint away.
"The Brahmins who conducted the ceremony, and also her near relatives,
ran quickly to her, endeavoring to keep up her courage and to revive her
drooping spirits. All was of no effect. The unfortunate woman,
bewildered and distracted, turned a deaf ear to all their exhortations
and preserved a deep silence.
"She was then made to leave the palanquin, and as she was scarcely able
to walk, her people helped her to drag herself to a pond near the pyre.
She plunged into the water with all her clothes and ornaments on, and
was immediately afterwards led to the pyre, on which the body of her
husband was already laid. The pyre was surrounded by Brahmins, each with
a lighted torch in one hand and a bowl of ghee in the other. Her
relatives and friends, several of whom were armed with muskets, swords,
and other weapons, stood closely round in a double line, and seemed to
await impatiently the end of this shocking tragedy. This armed force,
they told me, was intended not only to intimidate the unhappy victim in
case the terror of her approaching death might induce her to run away,
but also to overawe any persons who might be moved by a natural feeling
of compassion and sympathy, and so tempted to prevent the accomplishment
of the homicidal sacrifice.
"At length, the _purohita_ Brahmin gave the fatal signal. The poor widow
was instantly divested of all her jewels, and dragged, more dead than
alive, to the pyre. There she was obliged, according to custom, to walk
three times round the pile, two of her nearest relatives supporting her
by the arms. She accomplished the first round with tottering steps;
during the second her strength wholly forsook her, and she fainted away
in the arms of her conductors, who were obliged to complete the ceremony
by dragging her through the third round. Then, at last, senseless and
unconscious, she was cast upon the corpse of her husband. At that moment
the air resounded with noisy acclamations. The Brahmins, emptying the
contents of their vessels on the dry wood, applied their torches, and in
the twinkling of an eye the whole pile was ablaze. Three times was the
unfortunate woman called by her name. But, alas! she made no
answer."[63]
=Boys and Girls.= "A son is the most coveted of all blessings that a
Hindu craves, for it is by a son's birth in the family that the father
is redeemed."[64] This accounted for the difference in the feeling for a
boy and for a girl. So strong was the desire for a son that sonless
mothers were filled with great care and anxiety lest the child should
not be a boy. There is, perhaps, nothing which will so weaken mankind as
the life of the mothers before the birth of the children, so what a
great influence upon the Hindu race must have been this constant worry
of women who were to become mothers. Well might the wives worry, for
according to Manu, a wife who had all daughters and no sons could be
replaced with another wife in the eleventh year of marriage.
This was also a burden to a girl born into the family. If a boy died
soon after the birth of a girl, or if a girl was born soon after her
brother's death, she was considered to be the cause of such death and
was accordingly treated very cruelly. This also had a bad influence upon
the boys, as they soon learned to know of their superior being and
learned to despise and to mistreat their sisters and later all
womankind. After several sons had come into a family a daughter might
not be undesirable and in some cases really wished for. Such a daughter
was kindly and even affectionately treated.
The following is a striking passage. "Young children will obey their
father, because they fear punishment if they do not; but they will
overwhelm their mother with abuse, and will insult her grossly, even
going so far at times as to strike her. When they grow older they fail
to respect even their father, and it often happens that he is obliged to
give way to his sons, who have made themselves masters of the house.
Strange to say, nowhere are parents fonder of their children than they
are in India; but this fondness usually degenerates into weakness. If
the children are good, they are extravagantly praised; if they are
naughty, their parents show the utmost ingenuity in finding excuses for
them. The mild punishments that their naughtiness or disobedience brings
down upon them invariably err on the side of leniency. The parents do
not dare to whip them or scold them sharply, or even inflict any
punishment that they would be likely to feel. The father and mother
content themselves with making feeble remonstrances about their bad
behavior, and if these produce no effect, they leave them to grow up in
their evil ways. The few sensible parents who show more firmness and
severity with their children are met with a show of temper. Sons do not
hesitate to resist the parental authority and threaten to escape it by
running away and living elsewhere. This threat rarely fails to produce
the desired effect; the parents' severity melts away and they become
passive witnesses of the disorderly conduct of their sons, who,
encouraged by this first victory, end by becoming absolute masters of
the house. One must, however, do them the justice to say that, after
having thus gained the mastery over their parents, they take great care
of them, as a general rule, and see that they want for nothing in their
old age. But I fancy that in acting thus they are moved less by filial
affection than by considerations of what the world will say."[65]
=Infanticide.= It is not strange that under such beliefs and treatment
as mentioned above that many female children should have been destroyed.
Fathers were willing to destroy their girls because of so little value
and mothers because of the saving to the girls the burdens which woman
had to endure. Also the Hindus were very superstitious and a child born
under an unlucky star was not only destined, according to common belief,
to all sorts of troubles and accidents during his life, but he would
also bring bad luck to his parents and relatives. Parents convinced that
their child would bring bad luck, because of having been born on an
unlucky day, would abandon the child at some place along the road, and
even some would strangle and drown such babies.
=Dress.= All classes of women in India were very fond of ornaments. They
wore jewels and rings in the ears and nose, rings on the fingers and
toes, chains on the neck, and bracelets on the arms, wrists, and ankles.
It was no uncommon sight to see a woman decked out in all her jewels,
drawing water, grinding rice, cooking food, and attending to all the
menial domestic occupations. But the greatest ornamenting was on the
occasion of marriages, holidays, and other festive times.
The women not only profusely ornamented themselves, but they also took
great pains and manifested much pride in ornamenting their children,
both boys and girls. Often the small children would have but little
clothing on but they would be wearing many ornaments, in some cases when
all the clothing worn by the child would, not exceed in value one dollar
they would be wearing ornaments worth one hundred dollars. Children were
frequently robbed and even murdered for these ornaments.
The dowry given with the girls at marriage consisted very greatly of the
ornaments. What the girl received from her husband's people or from her
home was clearly set forth in writing and they were considered her own
personal property. If she became a widow she claimed all such things as
her own.
=Amusements.= The amusements of the Hindus were for the most part of the
sedentary and inactive kind. Yet dancing was one of the most prominent
forms but they did not dance themselves but had hired performers, the
dancers being young women supposed to be courtesans, and for the most
part connected with the temples. There were feats of bodily agility and
dexterity, as found with the tumbler and the juggler. They were fond of
chess, cards, and other games of chance. Story-telling was a favorite
diversion.
=Rites.= The Hindu performed a great many rites. We are concerned here
only with the domestic ceremonies. The most important of the Domestic
Ceremonies were Marriage, ceremonies performed during pregnancy of wife,
birth of child, first feeding of child, tonsure, initiation, and return
from school on the completion of education.
In marriage there were many parts to the ceremony, all of which had to
be rigorously observed. During pregnancy there were rites to secure
conception, a rite to cause a male child to be born, rites to insure
protection to the child in the womb, and sometime between the fourth and
eighth month was the ceremony of the husband affectionately parting the
wife's hair.
On the birth of a child a rite was performed and a secret name given to
the child, known only to the parents. The child was weaned at eight
months, at which time he was given his first solid food, and an
appropriate ceremony went with it. At one year another rite was
performed, at which time the child's head was shaved, leaving such hair
as might be desired for its arrangement as was the custom of the family.
The ceremony of initiation, or the giving over of the boy to his teacher
for education, was a very important affair, participated in by the boy
and by his teacher. After he had finished his education, the student
returned home, which was the occasion for another important ceremony,
which was followed by his marriage and the student was then changed into
a householder. At the time of the initiation, the triple cord or sacred
thread, which was worn by the three upper castes, was bestowed upon the
boy. The age of the boy differed at this time according to which caste
he belonged, the Brahmin boy being initiated between 8 and 16, the
Kshatriya between 11 and 22, and the Vaisya between 12 and 24.
=Adoption.= "When a Hindu had no sons, because of his wife's failure to
bear them to him or because the sons borne to him had all died, two
things were left to him to do, to take another wife or to adopt a son.
If he adopted a child it was generally from among his own relatives or
if a Brahmin, at any rate from his own caste. He might adopt a child or
an adult, just as he should choose. Girls were adopted, but there were
very few instances of such. The adoption was an event of importance and
it was attended with solemn ceremonies.
"The adopted son renounces wholly and forever all his claims to the
property and succession of his natural father, and acquires the sole
right to the heritage of his father by adoption. The latter is bound to
bring him up, to feed him, and to treat him as his own son; to have the
ceremony of _upanayana_, or the triple cord, performed for him, and to
see him married. The adopted son, in his turn, is obliged to take care
of his adoptive father in his old age and in sickness, just as if he
were his natural father, and to _preside at his obsequies_. On the death
of his adoptive father he enters into full possession of his
inheritance--assets as well as liabilities. Should there be any property
left, he enjoys it; but if, on the other hand, there are debts, he is
bound to pay them. He is, moreover, by his adoption admitted into the
_gothram_ or family stock of the adopter, and is considered to have left
that in which he was born."[66]
=Inheritance.= It appears that the property was divided in earlier times
equally among the sons upon the death of their father. Yet there was a
joint system where all lived together and the eldest son supplied the
place of the father, receiving all the property and then caring for all
the others of the family. At one time it was the custom for a daughter
to get one-fourth as much as a son, and at another time each son gave to
the daughter one-fourth of his share. As was stated above, when a son
was adopted, he renounced all claim to what his natural father might
leave on his death, while he became the full heir of his adopted father
and upon his death got all that he might leave.
The right of inheritance and the duty of presiding at a man's obsequies
belonged one with the other. When a man died without leaving direct
descendants, if he was wealthy a crowd of relatives appeared and great
disputes often arose as to whom belonged the honor of conducting the
funeral rites. But if he was poor, and burdened with debts, then the
survivors took every possible care to disprove near relationship.
=Education.= In the very early times in India, royal courts were the
seats of learning, and the learned and wise of all nations were welcomed
to them. Learned priests were retained in these courts not only to
perform the religious duties but also for the purpose of imparting
learning. On great occasions men of learning from all parts came to
these places and discussions were held on ritualistic matters and
likewise on such subjects as the human mind, the destination of the soul
after death, the future world, and the like. Then later appeared
Brahminic settlements called _Parishads_, answering to the Universities
of Europe. These were at first, perhaps, conducted by three Brahmins who
knew the Vedas, but the number was increased up to twenty-one. To these
places men of the Brahmin caste who wished to become learned could go
and receive instruction in the Vedas and such traditionary law and
astronomy and philosophy as was current. Besides these Parishads, there
were private schools, established by individual teachers, who collected
about them a body of students. Also learned Brahmins in their old age
would sometimes retire to forests and gather students around them. Later
great schools arose, such as noted by Houen Tsang, a Chinese traveler,
who spent several years in India in the seventh century after Christ.
"Our traveler now came to the great NÂLANDA University, if we may call
it by that name. The monks of this place, to the number of several
thousands, were men of the highest ability, talent, and distinction.
'The countries of India respect them and follow them. The day is not
sufficient for asking and answering profound questions. From morning
till night they engage in discussion; the old and the young mutually
help one another. Those who cannot discuss questions out of the
_Tripitaka_ are little esteemed, and are obliged to hide themselves for
shame. Learned men from different cities, on this account, who desire to
acquire quickly a renown in discussion, come here in multitudes to
settle their doubts, and then the streams (of their wisdom) spread far
and wide. For this reason some persons usurp the name (of Nâlanda
students) and in going to and fro receive honor in consequence.'"[67]
The Brahmins themselves received the highest education possible. This
consisted in the memorizing of their sacred books and a study of the
philosophy and science of their times. The second and third castes seem
to have been accorded the right to study what the first caste did, yet
the third caste must not have entered much into this but have received a
somewhat meager education. As boys followed the occupation of their
parents, they would receive such elementary instruction as was needed
in the trade or work to be performed. The fourth caste had no need for
learning so they received none except in the duties which a servant was
expected to perform.
In the olden times, when women were well respected and permitted to
appear in public, girls were taught to read and to write and were given
other education. But later they received no education further than the
training for domestic duties. Education was not needed by women, as a
woman must at all times depend upon some man for her knowledge of
things. The dancing girls received some education, as it was considered
that their religious duties would be better performed if they should
receive some intellectual training.
The student was expected to be obedient and respectful to his teacher
and to serve him in every way. The discipline of the school was very
mild. Laurie quotes from Manu: "Good instruction must be given to pupils
without unpleasant sensations, and the teacher who reverences virtue
must use sweet and gentle words. If a scholar is guilty of a fault, his
instructor may punish him with severe words, and threaten that on the
next offence he will give him blows; and, if the fault is committed in
cold weather, the teacher may dowse him with cold water."[68]
"To the Hindus we are indebted for our numerical notation, often wrongly
attributed to the Arabs. During the fifth century after Christ they
invented an algebra superior to that of the Greeks, although they were
probably assisted by the work of the latter. They early learned how to
calculate eclipses and find the location of planets by means of tables.
They seem also to have had some knowledge of medicine. By 300 A. D. they
possessed a treatise on rhetoric, and had worked out a logic two
centuries before the time of Aristotle; while in the science of grammar,
as early as the fourth century B. C., they were so far advanced that the
Western world first learned what philology was when the study of
Sanskrit was opened to Europe a hundred or more years ago."[69]
LITERATURE
1. Allen, David O., India, Ancient and modern.
2. Dubois, Abbé J. A., Hindu manners, customs, and ceremonies.
3. Dutt, Romesh Chunder, A history of civilization in ancient India.
4. Graves, Frank Pierrepont, A history of education, Before the middle
ages.
5. Laurie, S. S., Historical survey of pre-Christian education.
6. Letourneau, Ch., The evolution of marriage.
7. Mill, James, The history of British India.
8. Ragozin, Zénaïde A., Vedic India.
9. Ramabai, Pundita, The high-caste Hindu woman.
10. Rhys-Davids, T. W., Buddhist India.