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Language, Religion, and Society: SANSKRIT, WOMEN, SŪDRAS AND MLECCHAS
ARVIND SHARMA
A good example of the choreographic interaction between language, religion and society is provided by the role of Sanskrit in the context of the religious standing of women and südras in Hinduism.
It appears that around the fourth century B.C. the religious tradition we now describe as the Hindu took a momentous decision: that of denying women and sūdras access to Vedic Sanskritic learning, thus establishing a clear point of intersection between language, religion and society. The language in this case was Vedic Sanskrit, the religion Hinduism and the society consisting of the male members of the four varnas on the one hand and sūdras and women on the other.
According to A.S. Altekar it all began with a key development in the linguistic sphere. He states that "the introduction of the non-Aryan wife into the Aryan household is the key to the general deterioration in the position of women, that gradually and imperceptibly started at about 1,000 B.C., and became quite marked in about 500 years. The non-Aryan wife with her ignorance of Sanskrit language and Hindu religion could not enjoy the same religious privileges as the Aryan consort"! but neither could she be ignored as she was often the favourite wife of her husband, he may have often attempted to associate her with religious sacrifices"2 leading to "grave mistakes and anomalies.”3 In the meantime the ritual had gown more complex so even the Aryan wife may have had difficulty in keeping pace with it. 4 “How then was the situation to be retrieved? Eventually it was felt that the object could be gained by declaring the whole class of women to be ineligible for Vedic studies and religious duties."S
It is also possible that the geographical spread of Vedic culture to other
