A philosophy of Hindu rank from rural West Bengal

Davis, Marvin

article

A philosophy of Hindu rank from rural West Bengal

Journal of Asian Studies • 36 (1) • Published In 1976 • Pages: 5-24

By: Davis, Marvin.

Abstract
In this article Davis expands the usual concepts of rank generally associated with discussions of caste, to the multiple worlds of the universe recognized by the Hindu Bengalis, which would include various life-forms (e.g., gods, humans, demonic beings, animals, plants and objects), as well as the groupings into which man in the society is divided. Thus all life-forms, according to Davis' interpretation, are viewed by the Bengalis as essentially alike, varying '…only in the way their own physical nature and behavioral code approximates that of Brahma, the apical being in the Bengali cosmos' (p. 6-A). This is also true of the JATI or 'birth groups' and the VARNA or castes. In the Bengali cosmos as well as in society, the rank of any specific unit is dependent on its nature and behavioral code (DHARMA), and in this way one is but the reflection and realization of the other, so that any change in one, would bring about a corresponding change in the other. This latter concept is illustrated by the author in his discussion of the ranking of entire birth groups (JATI) which are altered through the manipulative activities of humans such as are involved in patterns of marriage, foods and food exchange, and occupations.

Theoretical orientation in research and its results

Gratification and control of hunger

Diet

Status, role, and prestige

Ideas about nature and people

Ethnopsychology