The Structure of Society in Mahabharata

The Structure of Society in Mahabharata

The Priests and TeachersThe position of teacher and priest was conferred only on Brahmans.They were characterized by austerity, simplicity and knowledge of the universe.They are the philosophers and possessed immense understanding of the metaphysics as well as the physical world.They were objective purveyors of knowledge. They were responsible to impart this knowledge to the relevant classes. These relevant classes were only the Kshatriyas and the Brahmans.

In effect Kshatriyas were the only consumers of all this knowledge.The Brahmans were objective purveyors in the sense that they bore the knowledge of familial, social organization, polity, political and warfare strategies, the knowledge of destructive and potent weapons But they were bound by dharma to not use it for personal gain.Their Job was to pass on the knowledge to the Kshatriyas who were supposed to put it in practice.Kripacharya and Dronacharya the two teachers of the Kauravas and Pandavas possessed immense knowledge that could have raised them from being second class citizens to super powers.But their allegiance to the other class was unshakable.Even though Drona couldve defeated Drupada on his own, he didnt because dharma didnt allow him to fight a Kshatriya.His Son Ashwathama, who tried to dissolve the boundaries between a Brahmanaand a Kshatriya is eternally damned. And in his damnation echoes a hegemonic threat to any other Brahman with similar aspirations

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Even though the Brahman is a spiritual superior of Kshatriyas, in material terms he always remains an inferior.Their position is glorified and abused by Kshatriyas strategically. For instance, Arjuna and Krishna shake of their moral responsibility of burning the Khandavaprastha with all the life it contained to the request of a Brahman. Since the Brahman had requested it, it couldnt be denied.While, Irawati Karve alleges, that it was clearly a political imperialist move of expansion they were acquitted of destroying a complete forest with the animals and possibly human tribes within it.

The Warriors and RulersAs opposed to popular beliefs Kshatriyas were not the only warrior class in the society. Nor were they the only ruling class.With repeated references to Krishna and his clan as separate from Kshatriyas, it is apparent that the Yadavas were not Kshatriyas. Yet they were one of the most prosperous kingdoms of the period and they had one of the most feared armies.Irawati Karve points out that the Mlechchas, the scheduled tribes and castes of present-day India, were also fighting shoulder to shoulder with the Pandava Army. (128)Kshatriyas therefore were ONE of the warrior classes an not the only one.Karves reading also points out that there were other cultures and communities, probably ethnic groups, that were equally complex and were functioning equally well. The Mlechhas were efficient organized warrior as Bheem confesses in his condemnation of Drona. (128). It is important to note that the kshatriya prince also confesses their (Mlechchas) Dharma to fight.

The Second Class CitizensIt is apparent that except the Kshatriya, everyone was second class, with an occasional exception of Brahmans.However, the sutas and the women in the Mahabharata are truly the Second Class citizens. Karwe doesnt try to emancipate women from their lowly position. In her narrative she doesnt take sides with either Gandhari or Kunti or Draupadi in their plight against the patriarchal society. She presents them objectively in the light of the age and criticizes them accordingly.Karwe has reduced the job of these three important women to the job of nurturing the war. While Shakuni explicitly engages in instigating rivalry and enmity between Kauravas and Pandavas, Gandhari implicitly wishes for the same.Kunti urges Krishna to remind her sons of her lowly position as a dependant of a suta, Vidur, urging them to fight.Draupadis insult is the final blow. She was nathavati anathavat. She had 5 husbands who were dishonoured through her dishonour but did nothing.They are all objects and instruments for the kings. Yudhisthira puts her at stake in the game of dice and later even krishna puts her on stake when he propose to Karna to join the ranks of Pandavas and in exchange he will even give him Draupadi. ()

Sutas are other second class citizens of the state.They were the illegitimate sons of royalty.Vidur, Sanjaya and Karna are the representatives of this class.They were the advisors and charioteers to the king and were held in high respect. The story of the Mahabharata as it is recorded has also been narrated by Lomaharshana, another Suta from the same lineage.They had no right over the property of the royalty nor were the royalty obliged to extend a patronage. Their illegitimacy was consistently pointed out in their lack of any property or any status independent of the king.Mahabharata has still glorified Karna, Karwe points out, because the valour of Arjuna can only be established as opposed to the valor of an equally efficient warrior.Karna, even though he fights Arjuna and is his sworn enemy, serves in building up a larger than life character of Arjuna. He is another accessory to the elevation of Arjuna into a superhuman warrior. It is incredulous that even though Karna was born with an armour, every time he goes for a war he wears an extra layer of armour. The descriptions raise the question whether he was born with the question or is it just an interpolation to glorify him.

The TribalsKarwe deconstructs the mythic Nagas. Nagas, according to the scriptures were snake tribes who had the power to change shape at will and turn into Human beings. She argues that if we leave the mythic/supernatural element aside they were most probably an indigenous tribe who lived on the shores of Yamuna. Krishna had driven one away from Vrindavan and now in Mahabharata we see Arjuna destroying the entire clan and thereby attaining unrivalled claims over the land.She even propose the entire story of the Mahabharata war as an exaggeration around the family feud between these two ethnicities. The dispute starts with Arjuna destroying Takshakas clan in the jungle fire and goes on to Takshakas revenge by killing Parikshit, Arjunas grandson.And in return Parikshits son, Janamjeya starts a ceremony to massacre the complete clan of the Nagas.Whether it is just a subplot, or actually the plot that has been cornered in the grand narrative of myths and interpolations can be speculated.It is suggested that there are implicit histories of ethnic conflicts between the Aryans who had come from farther north and the indigenous tribes of the sub-continent. The dominance of the Aryans in the text reflects their dominance in socio-political terms and the silence of the tribals in the text reflects their silencing through victory.