Gupta Society

Studies in People's History, 2018

2021

The genre of courtly literature, especially dramas, proves to be an enlightening source in the domain of social history. Within this genre, Kālidāsa's work is considered to be of remarkable value. Though it is difficult to arrive at an exact date for his compositions, scholars have often associated him with the reign of Chandragupta II (375-415 CE). It is amply clear that Kālidāsa was a recipient of royal patronage, evident from the central role that he accords to the figure of the king as well as the in-depth knowledge of administration, culture, and geography implicit in his plays. 1 Unlike most plays of Kālidāsa, the Mālavikāgnimitram belongs to the prakarana i.e. secular-romance genre, which features a worldly character as its hero. One of the major elements of the play is the tussle between dharma (duty) and kāma (desire), portrayed through the device of the vīrarasa (heroic sentiment) and the sṛngārarasa (erotic sentiment). Notwithstanding the courtly origins of Kālidāsa's literary corpus, it must be kept in mind that dramas were not just consumed by a wide-ranging audience but also involved the participation of actors, who are generally believed to have belonged to the lower castes. 2 Thus the play's content, at the very same time,

Madhya Bharti -Humanities and Social Sciences, 2023

The Kamasutra is an ancient Indian text that discusses the art of living a fulfilling and harmonious life, with a particular focus on human sexuality and relationships. It was written by Vatsyayana in the 3rd or 4th century CE and is considered one of the classic texts on human sexuality. The Kamasutra is divided into seven books, each of which covers a different aspect of human life and relationships. The Kamasutra has undertones of gender egalitarianism and the reader can see the efforts of Vatsyayana towards this goal throughout the text. Vatsyayana emphasizes on the development of skills for both men and women but he dedicates sections only to explain the sixty-four arts which would help women in life circumstances to be financially stable. He also guides them towards managing domestic expenses besides dedicating an entire book on courtesans and advising them on their vocation and how to make money through various skills. The current study endeavours to read meaning into various sections of the Kamasutra and bring out analytically arguments and perspectives towards economic freedom of women.

A Companion to World Literature, 2019

The Kamasutra (Kāmasūtra) of Vatsyayana (Vātsyāyana Mallanāga) is an ancient Indian treatise in Sanskrit on the proper enjoyment of sexual pleasures. It is the earliest and most well-known text of the wider genre of writing in India known as kamashastra (kāmaśāstra), or "the science of erotics." The text is divided into seven "books" (adhikaran. as), each comprised of multiple chapters (adhyāyas) and topics (prakaran. as) of varying length, and is written in an aphoristic prose style known as sūtra, supplemented with occasional verse-quotations. Though Vatsyayana places himself at the end of a substantial scholarly tradition on the subject, the Kamasutra remains the only surviving work in the field of kamashastra before the ninth century, though treatises on various aspects of erotics became abundant in later times. The extant text of the Kamasutra comes with an important thirteenth-century commentary in Sanskrit, called the Jayamangala (Jayamȧngalā), written by one Yasodhara (Yaśodhara). The Kamasutra bears a resemblance in both style and overall structure to Kaut. ilya's famous manual on polity, the Arthashastra (Arthaśāstra), a text that Vatsyayana openly cites in his first book (Wilhelm 1966; Trautmann 1971; Doniger 2016). The Arthashastra, whose precise date may not be established with certainty and is the cause of extended scholarly discussion, has generally been placed in the second or third century ce. It may thus be surmised that Vatsyayana's work, which seems unaware of the powerful Gupta dynasty (c. 300-500 ce) that rose to power in the fourth century ce, should be placed sometime in the latter half of the third century or the first decades of the fourth. Beyond this broad ascription, nothing certain can be said of the date of the text's composition nor its author and his life. A Companion to World Literature. Edited by Ken Seigneurie.

This essay explores the notion of textual tradition in Odia unknown Kamsutra and its proper understanding through the medieval illustrated manuscripts and several colophon; which is dealing with the behavioural activities of 'royal family members' or 'particular individuals' generally related to t he 'sexual activities.' Such as the process of any creativeness 'monumental activities' or may be the production of any art form for the public sphere as well as for individual interest, these large numbers of manuscript played a significant role to reframe the ideas. As per the assumption of economic-historian clearly point out that; the surplus of revenue mostly converts to the 'pleasure' (?) and 'passion' (?) through the various way; it may be the literary/illustrated manuscript played a important role to producing such 'erotic literature' which are painted/scribed in palm leaf rather than construction of gigantic traditional temple style Odisha. There are some cultural inquisitiveness persons of the royal family, rich class community has more or less associated with the development of cultural legacy, which one chiefly the production of the sexual related literature, paintings, sculpture, and the engraving or illustrated manuscript as the medium of representation for the public 'or' individual. In essence of the courtly culture in medieval period their patrons donated for enriching the literature as well as illustrated manuscript tradition in portable form like palm leaf. This is basically observed in Odisha the form of pothi or tala patara pothi's .These described about the sensual pleasure as well as the nayaka and nayika played the important role basically from mythic character and they performed as several sexual-poses or 'bandha'. This essay highlights the theme of courtly culture and its member's behaviour regarding sexuality. The outstanding contribution of classical literatures and erotic illustrated manuscript's idea; how touched the public sphere and in the later stage became more important like Kamasutra, which is only restrict in the higher class community and how these Odia manuscript became a passionate for every sphere basically the commoner or mass.

Published in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh (Humanities), volume 54, issue number 1, pp.123-134, 2009

The Arthashastra by Kautilya who was the Chancellor of Chandragupta Maurya was composed between the third and fourth centuries BC. Various scholars are unanimous on the point that, while Kautilya was the composer of the text, he was not its creator.According to Shastri, the author himself admitted that he took account of all the literature existing at his time and also of the statecraft prevalent in contemporary states.He was also familiar with the political system of the Hellenistic states, particularly Syriaand Egypt.Kautilya then was keen to combine the policies of statecraft of foreign states with the earlier Indian tradition handed down by the ancient sages to form one of the seminal texts on Indian statecraft. This article aims to explore the socioeconomic position of women in the Arthashastra. It recognized the existence of women in a male-dominated society and mentioned women in connection with its laws and regulations. These laws and regulations were granted to women and men according to the complex varnaor caste system of Hindu society. To explain the position of women, it is necessary to expound the varnasystem in brief. The whole society was divided into two major classes. They were the Aryas and the non-Aryas. The Aryas were divided into four major castes. They consisted of the Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Sūdra. Each of these castes was assigned particular roles in society. The Brahmin, Kshatriya and the Vaishya corresponded roughly to the three classes of the rulers, soldiers and craftsmen, which were needed to constitute an ideal society in Plato's Republic. The Sūdra's task was to devote his services to the people of the other three castes. Among the four castes, the Brahmin constituted the most superior varna. He enjoyed all the rights and privileges of society. He was also entitled to earn great respect and dignity from people of the other three varnas. The only disadvantage that a Brahmin suffered was not to be able to claim ownership for a piece of building after having lived on it for twenty years.The non-Aryas consisted of those who were either ostracized out of the Arya fold for transmitting some heinous crime or were never admitted into it. One such group were the chandalas who were regarded as impure and therefore, untouchable. Also, the mlecchas or spies, slaves and foreigners were regarded as non-Aryas.In times of peace, each caste was to perform its particular duty. Only in times of anomaly such as, war, were the castes required not to adhere strictly to their respective duties. Keeping this caste system in view, this article has looked into the position of women by dividing them into various segments. They constitute the married woman, the widow, the ganika or the prostitute who could be of any varna, the female slave, the working woman who also could belong to any varnaand the female spy.

Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh (Hum.), Vol. 69(1), 2024, 2024

This article extensively explores marriage norms in ancient India, focusing on women's agency. It begins by dissecting the concept of marriage and its variations in ancient India and sheds light on its significance from women's viewpoints. It scrutinises the roles of women within the institution, including debates surrounding the age of marriage, the qualities sought in brides, and the complexities of partner selection including the prohibited degrees of marriage. The paper delves into her roles in marriage rituals as well as post-marital positions. Contentious issues like divorce and remarriage of women have also been touched. Overall, this article aims to uncover obscure aspects of women's autonomy within marriage, analysing their roles and representations across all facets. By examining evolving Hindu marriage norms throughout the Vedic, Puranic and Smriti periods, it emphasizes the need for a refined understanding of women's agency. The paper seeks to contribute to a comprehensive understanding of marriage in ancient India, particularly from the perspective of women's representations, urging readers to reconsider conventional narratives.

Current Research Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities

The role of women in Pre- Ahom and Ahom society could be regarded in the broader environment within the ambit of sacred space dedicated to them. Kamakhya temple, situated near Guwahati, Assam is the most profound illustration of the sacred space of women. It is celebrated as one of the renowned centres of Tantra in India in general and Assam in particular. It has established itself not only as an eminent Tantric centre but also as a menstruating Goddess. However, menstruation has been treated as a taboo since the earliest times in various religious texts. It represented the image of impurity and pollution and was dubbed as hot and dangerous. However, in Kamakhya temple, annual menstruation of the goddess is celebrated as a festival. In June every year, Ambubachi Mela represents one of the chief celebrations of the temple. The paper attempts to analyze the theme of menstruation, placing it in the border context of Kamakhya. The article also highlights the unrestricted movement of wom...

Proceedings of The 3rd International Academic Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences, 2019

Ancient Hindu cult adhered to Vedas for the moral and social code of conduct. The tenets of Vedas were treated as sublime, hence were unquestionable. The roots of code of conduct cemented in Vedic India gradually metamorphosed into unequal power distribution in Hindu society. It led to the evolution of sexual identities, along with the customs and practices which emanated gender inequality in ancient India. Established social diktats and process of social conditioning nurtured the gender roles. The paper attempts to examine the marriage hymns of Atharva-veda which delineate roles and responsibilities of men and women in the institution of marriage. The analysis is focused on filtered marriage hymns which discuss the concept of Streedhan, prove the existence of patrilocal and patrilineal society, and advocates motherhood. The objective of the paper is to foresee the impact of the Hindu jurisprudence on its women.

Mahabharata, the outstanding sacred text of India, is a preamble to the Indian social philosophy. This prehensile text encompasses all sorts of contemporary feminist agendas like gender discrimination, sexuality, female body politics, women disposition, marriage, kinship and so on. Dharma, being the focal point of Mahabharata, acts as a catalyst in outlining the epical structure of this sacred text. Anthropological elements like marriage, sexuality, lineage, motherhood etc. somehow maintain interlink with dharma, particularly with the streedharma. Thus, the symbiotic relationship of sexuality, marriage and streedharma helps in formulating the code of conduct for women of that era. The present paper intends to analyze the aforementioned anthropological issues through the lives of minor female characters who by dint of their courage and dedication change the track of the epic. Though the epical minor females are somehow nugatory or unrecognized due to politics of gender politics, but they are the most viable for situational decision of royal as well as epical design. Therefore this paper tries to justify their strong epical presence and hidden epical politics bestow upon them. I Mahabharata, the outstanding sacred text of India, is a preamble to the Indian social philosophy. The epic being a social drama opens and connects the maze of Indian society. This prehensile text encompasses all sorts of contemporary feminist agendas like gender discrimination, sexuality, female body politics, women disposition, marriage, kinship and so on. Indian people's dependency upon it to formulate the socio-cultural punctilio is amazing. Actually they seek the spiritual blessing before the auspicious social occasions. Their entrenched belief on the path of dharma purveys this. Being the focal point of Mahabharata, dharma acts as a catalyst in outlining the epical structure of this sacred text. The ubiquitous presence of dharma throughout the text serves as a springboard for comprehending the social, political, religious and cultural aspects of this great epic by providing guidelines to the readers for grasping the causal relation of so many incidents recorded by the poet in the Mahabharata. Social elements like marriage, sexuality, motherhood etc. somehow maintain interlink with dharma, particularly with the streedharma. Thus, the symbiotic relationship of sexuality, marriage and streedharma helps in formulating the code of conduct for women of that era. In the epic we get a galaxy of female characters like Draupadi, Kunti, Gandhari who are prominent forever in the text for their strong, intelligent, feminine personality. But apart from them, we find a host of peripheral characters who are illuminating through their own deeds, though they always stay away from focus. These neglected