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Vivekananda, Madras Lectures, pp. 83, 84, 85. 3CT IrTTcT TTcrra IT: if CHAPTER XII OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY OF THE HINDU FAMILY 97. The beginnings of the Hindu family must be traced to the foundation of the Patriarchal family in prehistoric times on the basis of ancestor-worship. The natural results of this form of family organization are that the family and its morality are greatly strengthened ; the father's authority is indefinitely enhanced ; marriage becomes universal ; the birth of a son is ardently desired ; woman tends to be depreciated. Girls were not welcomed so eagerly as boys ; hence the custom of the exposure of girl-babies arose. This began in early prehistoric times. The husband being the head of the family, a wife was regarded as one of his possessions, and polygamy therefore naturally arose. Hindu Maharajas still exercise this ancient right ; and any Hindu is free to marry a second wife, if the first prove barren. This also is prehistoric. 98. Gradual rise of the Joint Family. Each daughter goes to the home of her husband's father ; but each son NOTE. — The text at the top of the page refers to ANCESTOR-WORSHIP IN THE TIMES OF THE RIGVEDA : — ' Fathers, who sit on sacred grass, come, help us : These offerings have we made for you, accept them. So come to us with most auspicious favour, And give us health and strength without a trouble." Rigveda, X. xv. 4. L2 1 64 OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY brings his bride into his father's house. The granddaughters and grandsons do likewise. Hence there may be, and often are, four generations all living together in one house, under the control of the one father. In his hands are the earnings of all ; and every member of the family is carefully looked after. The unity of the family is preserved, and the weaker members are cared for, but independence of character suffers. When the Hindu patriarchal family began to develop, and the father became more and more important, the rule arose that a man must not eat with his wife. This regulation probably dates from the seventh or eighth century 15. c. 99. It became the rule before the sixth century u.c. that every boy of the twice-born castes should be educated. This excellent rule fell into disuse long ago. Though every boy received an education, no education was provided for a girl. 100. By the fifth century B. c. it was the rule that a girl must be married before puberty. The natural consequence of this religious law was that parents, in their eagerness to secure a marriage for their daughters, betrothed them and had the marriage ceremony performed very early. Thus child-marriage became the Hindu custom. Hence through the death of boy-husbands, virgin child-widows of all ages, from a fewr months old, are common. Only childless widows were allowed to remarry at this time. 101. Manu's Law-book ordains that no widow, not even a virgin child-widow, may remarry. The exact date of the book is unknown ; but it is certain that this must have been the Hindu custom by the time of the birth of Christ. 102. The custom of Sail, widow-burning, came gradually into use in the early Christian centuries and was embodied in a code somewhere about the sixth century. The rule ran that only a widow who wished to become a Satl was THE HINDU FAMILY 165 allowed to mount the pyre ; but it is certain that there were many unwilling victims. Ram Mohan Rai witnessed the burning of a widow who struggled to escape, his own brother's wife. It was only in North India that it became very common, and it was in Bengal that the largest number of cases occurred. 103. At the same time it became the rule that a widow who does not mount the pyre must spend her life in perpetual mourning and asceticism. In Bengal the rule is that a widow has to lay aside all her ornaments, wear a sari without a border, subsist on a vegetarian diet, eat only one meal per day and twice a month pass a whole day of twenty-four hours without eating or drinking. In many parts of the country widows have to submit to tonsure. And on the top of all they are usually made household drudges. There are certain parts of the country where their lot is not quite so hard. 104. The zenana system, or custom of secluding the women of the upper castes in the woman's apartments, arose during the Muhammadan period, perhaps partly in imitation of Muslim custom, but mainly in self-defence. This practice does not affect in the same degree those provinces that came little under Muhammadan domination. The zenana is necessarily confined almost altogether to the upper castes. The women of the common people usually lead a very free life. Yet this custom, like other characteristics of high- caste life, is copied by the lower castes so far as their means will allow. 105. (a) Widow-burning prohibited by Lord Bentinck's Government, December 4, 1829. (l>) From 1830 onwards, a steady persistent crusade was carried on against female infanticide by the Government of India. (c) In 1865 the Government passed a law legalizing the remarriage of Hindu widows. 1 66 OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY NOTE. — The text below is on THE SUBJECTION OF WOMEN : ' Let her be in subjection to her father in her childhood, to her husband in her youth, to her sons when her husband is dead : let a woman never enjoy independence.' MdnavaDharia^dstm,v. 148. CHAPTER XIII OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY OF INDIAN ASCETICISM 106. In the Vedas and the Brahmanas we meet with many references to tapas, austerity. Various forms of severe self-denial and self-torture were practised, such as the endurance of extreme cold or excessive heat, sustained fasts, the use of coarse and unnatural food, and such like. The belief was that by such means supernatural power could be obtained, or some definite desire fulfilled, or the highest place in heaven won, if only the pain were carried far enough. The ends being here material, not moral, this practice must be called materialistic austerity. 107. Towards the end of the period of the Brahmanas a new religious order appears. These men live in the forest and are therefore called vanaprasthas, i. e. forest-dwellers, hermits ; and when a group of them live together, their retreat is called dsrama, hermitage. They keep up the worship of the gods by fire and prayer in the forests, and they practise the old tapas. It is still believed that by austerity many material blessings may be won ; but the new idea, that by tapas the man may be purified and elevated NOTE. — The text at the top of the page is THE RULE OF THE HERMIT, VSnaprastha : ' Carrying with him the sacred fire, and taking also the fire-utensils, he may go forth from the village to the forest and reside there with all his senses restrained.' Manava Dharmatastra, vi. 4. i68 OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY morally and spiritually, now appears ; so that this is a new stage of thought and practice. We have here moral asceti cism. The hermit retained his place in the family and in caste ; he continued the worship of the gods and of his 39. TRIDANDI ASCETIC This is the high-priest of the Teh-galai (see section 81) Vishnuites of the Tinnevelley District. Note the triple rod and the sect-mark, as in Ramanuja's image (fig. 31). He wears a sacred thread, for, unlike the Ekadaiidts, the Tridawfts do not give up caste. (Photographed for the author.) ancestors ; and he might even have his wife with him in his forest hut. He usually wore a coat of bark or of skin, lived usually on simple fare, and was forbidden to harm animals. 108. When the new Hindu theory of God and the world ASCETICISM 169 arose — the one divine Reality behind all phenomena, the world worthless and unreal, transmigration and karma the only explanation of the sorrows and inequalities of the world — there came with it a great desire for Release from re birth, and the belief that in order to win Release a man 40. SIVAITE SADHU WITH HEAD-DRESS This extraordinary head-dress is in the form of a linga. He carries his danda in his right, his begging bowl in his left hand, wears a mass of necklaces of rudrciksha berries and a cincture of bells. His face is smeared with ashes. (Photograph by Wiele & Klein.) must give up the work, the interests, and the pleasures of men.