Classifying the Universe: The Ancient Indian Varna System and the Origins of Caste Book + PRICE WATCH * Amazon pricing is not included in price watch

Classifying the Universe: The Ancient Indian Varna System and the Origins of Caste Book

Classifying the Universe : Paperback : Oxford University Press Inc : 9780195084986 : 0195084985 : 14 Apr 1994 : This is a comprehensive examination of the `varna' system - a classificatory scheme laid out in the classical Hindu Vedic literature and thought to underlie the concept of caste, which continues to exert a powerful and pervasive influence over Indian life.Read More

from£45.00 | RRP: £36.00
* Excludes Voucher Code Discount Also available Used from £22.22
  • Product Description

    The first book to analyze why India's caste system has authoritatively endured for so long, this path-breaking text provides, for the first time anywhere, an exhaustive analysis of the historical predecessor to caste: the ancient Indian varna system as it was laid out in the Vedic literature. Presenting a revisionist overview of the way the religion of the Veda is to be understood, Classifying the Universe demonstrates that social classes were systematically reduplicated in taxonomies that organized the universe as a whole. The classification of society, in which some groups were accorded rights and privileges withheld from others, could thus be represented as part of a primordial and universally applicable order of things. Social hierarchy, argues the author, was in this way subtly but powerfully justified by recourse to other realms of the cosmos that were similarly ordered, and this essentially religious understanding of varna is the key to comprehending the Vedic world-view in all its complexity, and the persistence of its power in the social realm.

  • 0195084985
  • 9780195084986
  • Brian K. Smith
  • 14 April 1994
  • OUP USA
  • Paperback (Book)
  • 424
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. If you click through any of the links below and make a purchase we may earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you). Click here to learn more.

Would you like your name to appear with the review?

We will post your book review within a day or so as long as it meets our guidelines and terms and conditions. All reviews submitted become the licensed property of www.find-book.co.uk as written in our terms and conditions. None of your personal details will be passed on to any other third party.

All form fields are required.