RAPE & ARTHASHASTRA

RAPE & ARTHASHASTRA

American media has been blaming the patriarchal nature of Indian power structure for the crimes against women. It loses no opportunity to show India in a bad light consistent with the general psyche of a nation suffering from Indophobia. There is a certain amount of truth in it, yes. But … Is it a characteristic of Indian society alone? 

Take for example, in this world’s most advanced society a female intern succumbs to providing sexual favors to the world’s most powerful man. The man continues to enjoy public acclaim and even goes on to lead the campaign of a future incumbent. While the woman is relegated to a quiet corner – a butt of lewd jokes.

When Will They Be Without Fear?

Empowering women had been a very recent phenomenon in the societies that lay to the west of India. Here, the accent since the earliest times had always been on protection as a means to empowerment. The gruesome incident in the capital that stirred the nation’s conscience is not due to the lack of empowerment but the failure of institutions meant for protecting the citizens.

From the historian’s perspective, India had a clear punitive regime for the perpetrators of crimes against women and an adequate organization to ensure its administration. Let us look at the provisions in traditional jurisprudence that goes back to pre-Christian times.

Manu Dharma Shastra on Rape

The seminal law text of Indian antiquity prescribes corporeal and capital punishment to those having sex with an unmarried woman against her will. The text prohibits rape and gives no protection to the upper castes as in the case of other crimes. The punishment is mutilation of fingers even if it is committed against a slave or a bonded servant. You will see the recognition of the crime as the basest and the privileges of birth and station cease the moment one perpetrates the act.

Arthashastra on Rape

Arthashastra, a treatise on Indian polity and statecraft recognizes rape as a crime that requires very stringent action against its perpetrators. Different punishments are prescribed for the crime depending on the victim: Amputation of middle and index fingers for raping a girl who had attained puberty, amputation of a hand if the girl had not attained puberty and death if the girl dies as a result of the crime. In the case of Gang Rape, even if the victim happens to be a prostitute, the punishment is equally stringent to all those involved in the crime. If one reads between the lines, one can notice that the accent is on protecting the most susceptible.

Further, the treatise describes a large and elaborate police and judiciary system. Significantly it delves heavily on an efficient informant system to proactively protect civil life. Of course a large portion deals with issues like espionage and rebellion, an equally large part addresses protection of property and life of people. Most importantly, the treatise recognizes the common axiom – A Policeman is as good as his informant system.  

The popular literature and folk tradition always condemned the violators of woman’s ‘honour’ as villains and they were almost always depicted as demonic aliens and the act received the severest punishment. It was only since the middle-ages that rape is used as a political instrument in conquered territories and a license given to the rulers to subdue the subjects – a concept alien to India. But the civic life continued to be dictated by the traditional law. Of course there are a few examples of despotic lords wielding the power over the subject populations – of both sexes – with no regard for their life or propriety. 

However, during the Islamic rule, the traditional law was not applied to the ruling class. Unfortunately, the landed gentry of rural India still carry the legacy of those times. Current ‘democratic’ polity is to a great extent made up by them and almost entirely dependent on the numbers they mobilize. The cause is not the patriarchal nature of the society but a state of anomy that pervades it.

On the surface, the cause appears to be a consequence of the corrupt system with the police being a co-beneficiary. That puts the blame squarely on the law enforcers as willing partners in the perpetration of crimes against women. The media is shouting hoarse about the inaction or positive connivance of police with the perpetrators. But do the police have a choice?

The blame cannot be placed at the doorstep of the police station but the failure of successive governments in building a sufficiently large and responsive force. Today the same understaffed police institution is responsible for internal security, crisis response, bandobasts, VIP security, political intelligence etcetera. If you look at the schedule of a station house officer in your neighborhood, the demands on his time and that of his force – if you still want to call that so – leave him with absolutely no time for any proactive role in protecting the neighborhood in his charge. Nature of his roster, unreasonable demands on his time, lack of infrastructure and complete lack of transparency in performance evaluation and reward system have lead to dilution of pride and basic values on which the institution was built. There is no provision for developing a proper informant network except in regions affected by insurgency and when there is a need for political intelligence. And, the need for survival in the system has forced him to evolve an alternate normative structure that looks away from his most fundamental role in an organized society. No wonder, any demand for action in the right direction elicits a belligerent response and even violence against those who dared touch his dormant conscience.   

I am not stating something new. The Indian Police Commission – gathering dust for decades – agrees with the above assessment and its recommendations are very specific for the way forward.

And, they are consistent with the traditional wisdom that can be elicited from Arthashastra that had successfully guided the leaders for centuries.

What are they?

Stringent punishments aside,

Fundamentally, “there is an urgent need to increase the size of police force and a substantial investment in improving the informant system with a clear focus on neighborhood peace.”

Then, why weren’t they implemented?

The singular reason given by successive governments is the lack of fiscal resources.

But…

From the times immemorial the largest source of state revenue had been the tax on agriculture. In a country as large as ours, the largest contributor to GDP is not taxed. Here, I’m not talking about the marginal farmer who will never reach the lowest tax slab.

A reasonable demand on agricultural income is imperative to bring in a rational tax regime and improve federal investment in the basic services required in an organized society that is essential for the success of India’s democracy. But will they, the landlords with large holdings that influence the voting pattern and form the largest block of our legislating bodies, allow it?

Only a tax-payer will have interest in ensuring that his money is well spent.

Rewinding the Traditional Clock – Part III

Geography of Jambudwipa series:

 Are the Sanskrit sources relevant in understanding the Indus Geography?

Here I would like to quote Prof. Asko Parpola in a recent interview.

 “I think these two language families have been in contact with each other ever since the Indo-Aryan speakers entered South Asia. It is impossible to leave Indo-Aryan sources out of account. They have preserved very important information of Harappan heritage.”

Coming from an authority like Prof. Parpola, whose contribution to the understanding of Harappan script and culture is respected by the scholars cutting across the parochial and ideological boundaries, the statement supports the rationale of drawing clues from the Sanskrit tradition in understanding the geography of the civilization milieu.

Similarly, the Dravidian literature also must have retained some of the clues, if we agree to the possibility that multilingual populations had shared the same civilization.

Where else do we look for more clues?

The literary tradition aside, the subcontinent has a culture complex with a multitude of isolated populations which retained some common memories and legends that had not transcended the folk domain to be a part of the written tradition. 

Finally, the geographical map as viewed by the civilization was not a constant. Coming to Jambudwipa, if that was what we assume they called their land, it must have changed with the times and therefore requires a look in from different chronological view points. 

7^th Millennium BCE

Was the concept of Jambudwipa present in the 7^th millennium BCE?

Archaeology tells us that most of the early farming sites are concentrated in the upper river valleys of Hindukush range. If we look at the map, Quetta Valley has the largest concentration of sites. We know that the valley is situated on a natural highway between the subcontinent and the Levant. It is plausible that the early farming communities of the Levantine Crescent and the sites in the subcontinent are somehow connected. Prof. Colin Renfrew thinks that it was during this period that a Proto-IE language had spread with the establishment of these communities. If that was the case, the original IE people belonged to the earliest of these farming communities. Mehrgarh certainly is a candidate along with some of the Palestinian and Anatolian sites.

Now the question is, ‘Were they the Rig Vedic people?’

True, there were many common names and legends Rig Veda shares with those of the classical Mediterranean cultures. But those came about much later and any commonality is probably due to later dissemination. Further, the Assyrian and the Rig Vedic traditions are entirely distinct. There are a few shared events and legends like the much touted flood legend of circa 3100 BCE belonging to Post-Ubaid, Jemdet Nasr period.

Therefore, Rig Veda may not be helpful in understanding the early farming communities of 7^th millennium BCE. Secondly, we are not sure if these early farmers belonged to the same people or entirely independent of each other, even though those village sites looked functionally similar.

I am not trying to speculate on whether these cultures evolved indigenously or were planted by the migrants from the west. Archeologically, they were present in the Quetta Valley in the 7^th millennium. I am looking only at the fact that when these technologically advanced communities existed, there were many indigenous communities that coexisted who were at an earlier cultural phase. Topographically, most of these farming sites are found in river valleys at substantial elevation – at an average of thousand meters above mean sea level, Mehrgarh being the lowest at around 700 above msl.

The hunter gatherers that lived in the plains must have looked at these technologically advanced people with awe. Their technology – their ability to control the animals and plants – was probably considered some kind of superhuman magic. These people of the ‘High place’ were probably the catalyst for the origin of the Meru myth. Naturally, when in the latter days, a geographically cogent world view developed, this mythical High place became its center.

Etymologically, it can be argued that Meru is derived from the Dravidian root, ‘Mél’. Not surprisingly Mél in Tamil is associated with height and the cardinal west.  

Zhob in all probability was the focus of this nascent civilization of the super human people and is the same river ‘su-po-fa-su-tu’ (or Subha-vastu) as mentioned by Hsuen Tsang. This argument is consistent with my earlier post – Finding Mount Meru …

http://saipapineni.blogspot.in/2012/08/finding-mount-meru.html

This entire argument above presumes that the concept of Jambudwipa belonged to a later phase in the prehistory of the subcontinent. Therefore, let us look at the next phase in my time-list to understand the Jambudwipa as a concept.

4500 BCE – Atlanticum

Om Bhūr Bhuvar Swar …. Thus goes the Gāyatri mantra. The spiritual interpretation of this is not what I would touch upon. But the context in which the mantra is first uttered is when the person enters the community as an accredited member. Manu samhita says that Vyāhritis – the three mystical words to have been milked by the first man from the three Vedas – resulted in the three lokas: Bhūr, Bhuvar and Swar. In essence, Gayatri is a pledge of loyalty taken by the newly inducted citizen to the way of life as dictated by the God of Bhrigus, the original source of illumination. It was the energy of the Sun that had brought these three spheres into one body. Every member of this emergent Aryan community was bound by this pledge. 

It is a rather simplistic and materialistic interpretation, but the people of the early urban milieu were also simple people – still evolving into a syncretic community combining three streams of subsistence. Please see my earlier post … Rewinding the Traditional Clock – Part II 
 http://saipapineni.blogspot.in/2012/08/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-x-none.html

Let us look closely at the words – Bhū-r, Bhuva-r and Swa-r.

The suffix ‘ar’ always denoted people. It was probably derived from the Dravidian tradition. But many North Indian Jāti names also end with this suffix – Kumh-ar, Cham-ar etc.

Bhūr-loka became synonymous with the land, a plain on which the normal humans lived; while Bhuvar and Swar came to be known as some kind of celestial plains where the mythical superhuman beings like the gods existed. The rivers – Sindhu, Saraswati and Sarayu were the focus of this human habitat … 

Bhūr-loka

Let us start with the identification of this Bhūr-loka in the prehistoric archaeological milieu.

We know where Sindhu is.

Saraswati is no more a speculation.

But, Sarayu is an enigma. I would like to point at a Rigvedic legend much touted in later epics…

“It was on the banks of Harayūpiya, Indra killed hundred priests called Vrichivats”, says Rigveda. Rāmāyana mentions the legend of Viswāmitra killing a hundred of Vasishṭa’s sons at Hariyūpa. They were called Vālashikhas. Sudas killed a hundred Vaikarnéyas on the banks of the river Parushni. Vālashikhas, Varashikhas and Vaikarnéyas belong to Vāsishṭa gōtra. All these above legends allude to one single incident in the remembered past.

We know Parushni is the ancient name of Rāvi on whose bank we find Harappa. Therefore, it is possible that the original Sarayu/Harayu is none other than the river Rāvi.

The three principal rivers – Sindhu, Sarayu & Saraswati – were Indus, Rāvi and  Saraswati (whose upper tributary was Sutlej). The riparian map of Punjab probably looked like this…

It was here the first native agrarian communities had established themselves and called their habitat drained by the three rivers as Bhūr-loka. 

Bhuvar-loka

It was the land of the ancestors. Those, who were looked up to. There are two names that crop up – Vasus and Pitris.  Pitris is just a synonym for the ancestors. I have – in my earlier post – speculated upon the possible association of the original builders of Neolithic communities in the upper Zhob region with the Vasus.

 http://saipapineni.blogspot.in/2012/08/finding-mount-meru.html.

These inhabitants of Bhuvar-loka had reciprocal relationship with the dwellers of Bhūr-loka – as benefactors and receivers of annual tribute. 

Swar-loka

It’s called the abode of the gods. Rigveda calls it by the name ‘Divi’. Three sets of superhuman beings occupied this sphere in successive periods. They were Gandharvas, Asuras and Dévas. Clues to the identification of this region lay in the various legends about its original occupants – Gandharvas.

Who are they?

Rigveda calls them Divya Gandharvas, meaning Gandharvas of Divi. They are the beings of the night. They came in their winged craft with the background of setting sun, their amphorae filled with intoxicating Sura and rejuvenating ambrosia. Their women Apsaras accompanied them, the nymphs of water with floral garlands bouncing on their naked breast to their gyrations to the tunes of divine music of their lute playing singers. They are free spirits unrestricted by the norms that governed the common folk.

I want to draw a parallel … the experiences of those early explorers of 19^th century who described the islands of the South Pacific – the Polynesian society. We know from the anthropological sources that the early migration route taken by the native populations of the Pacific islands had passed through the subcontinent. Remnants of these cultures still exist among the hill tribes of the region – speakers of Munda language group. 

Legends have it that the Gandharvas were evicted from their original homes by the Asuras and they fled to the hills. The most populous Munda tribes are still known by names such as Khonds, Gonds etc. Ramayana recollects that the Lanka was ruled by Kubéra, the overlord of Gandharvas who had to relinquish his control to Rāvan and relocate himself at Alaka near Méru. Gandharvas and their women, Apsaras were the children of Nārāyana, the original ancestor who had his floating abode in the waters of Nāra. The dancing girl bronze of Mohenjodaro has strong Austric features. The early levels of Kot Diji, Dholavira, Amri and Chanhudaro show distinct polychrome designs, indicating a lively lifestyle, as compared to the staid unadorned pottery of the later phases. Divi is synonymous with ‘island’ in most Munda and Dravidian languages. Lanka is an island. ‘Ganda’ means ‘Man’ in many Dravidian languages.

All these point to a vibrant native culture that had existed in the lower Indus region – where the rivers split into a myriad of distributaries creating many islands and oxbow lakes – drawing subsistence from the bounty of the river. No wonder, the eastern stream of Indus delta is even today known by the name ‘Nāra’.

We may conclude that primarily these three streams of people – the three lokas – with distinct cultural backgrounds constituted the builders of the first urban civilization.

For now it should suffice to say that the idea of Jambudwipa came into being only after the integration of early Neolithic peoples into a singular urban culture and the resultant need for an identity as opposed to the Upper Paleolithic people that surrounded it. The Gāyatri mantra was instituted as an instrument of recruitment into this emerging culture.

The integration had taken place sometime later. The spark that had ignited this process and the resultant worldview that had developed will be discussed in my next post.  

Until then...

All in the Game

All in the Game

It

 was a pleasant morning with a mild southwesterly blowing intermittent cirrus clouds across the course. Hiraki teed up a little high and with a smooth fluid swing sent the ball over the ominous looking water hazard, splitting the fairway into two equal halves.

“Goooshaaw, Yamamoto-san” shouted Aggarwal. Hiraki’s tiny chest ballooned with pride. First tee-shot always has portentous significance to early morning golfers. ‘A day well began’ Hiraki was smiling within. It was the day he was planning to meet the government representatives; his inner voice must have told him that the deal would somehow go through. That’s when he saw that immaculately dressed gentleman, colour-coordinated from floppy San Andrews cap to his shining black golf shoes, hurrying towards the tee-box.

“Ah there…! You’re just in time, mister Rao”, exclaimed Aggarwal.

Royal N Ancient … RNA, to his friends – Ramji Narayan Aggarwal is one of the oldest and loudest members of the club – always ready to lend a helping hand to fellow members. I looked up midway through my backswing promptly sending my ball sputtering through the lake. An inaudible curse escaped my lips. Hiraki looked at me with a slight nod acknowledging my distress. “Shigata nai” I muttered before tossing the driver to my caddie.

Aggarwal had not taken any notice, he was eager to introduce Rao to his new found acquaintance, Hiraki. “Yamamoto-san, meet mister Rao, an old friend of mine and a great golfer…” Introductions went on for a while with Hiraki’s characteristic bows in response the verbal flood from Aggarwal extolling his worthy friend.

I began to fidget. My tee-shot had not helped my mood much. “Gentlemen”, I interrupted gesturing at the other four-ball waiting behind us. Aggarwal grunted, conceding, as he moved to the ball already teed up by his caddie – it is too menial a task to bend down and tee up the ball – and a louder grunt followed as he heaved his weight behind the shot making the ball disappear into the trees. Rao’s shot that followed was decent, giving a semblance of competition to Hiraki.

My mood had not improved as I dropped another ball short of the water hazard. Another lousy day! My thoughts went back to the previous day – that began with a quaint plea from my son, who needed my help in getting his passport renewed, rather urgently – and my futile efforts to convince the authorities that the child’s trip to Australia to participate in an architectural design competition is of reasonable national importance.

Pillar to post!

Or is it water hazard to sand trap? I cursed once again as my ball faded right into the greenside bunker. “A double bogey at the best,” I said accompanying Aggarwal ambling lazily towards his caddie that had found the ball which appeared miraculously at the fringe of the fairway.

I had no qualms though – it was I that had asked Aggarwal to fix the game with Rao, explaining the predicament of Hiraki, whose firm is the only supplier of a certain cantilevers, deemed essential by the consultants for the superfast roadway connecting the principal cities of the state. At the request of the consultants, his firm had set up a hundred million dollar manufacturing unit and I was instrumental in locating it.

The project is essential for its future viability.

Everything was hunky dory until Hiraki’s predawn phone-call shook me up on the day before. His voice sounded to my sleepy head like a thousand May-day alarms going off at the same time. “The specs vanished in the final detailing document. It must be the consortium…”

My mind continued to wander adding three more bogeys to the card, as the four-ball continued through to the refreshment hut at the fifth tee – a long holdup, two groups waiting ahead of us. Aggarwal continued in his characteristic tenor forcing wit into his praises of Rao, recounting anecdotes from a long string of his feats. Even Rao couldn’t have made his own resume, more effective.

I smiled absentmindedly at the three heads huddled together and moseyed off with my phone to call a certain Ilangovan that can help me with my son’s passport. “Avaru baathroomla irukaamgu. Pinnaale phonu pamdumgo” a high pitched voice replied without masking her irritation.

The sixth hole is a short par three – just a well aimed pitch with a wedge across the water should get a par, if not a birdie. Hiraki and Aggarwal are already two up. ‘But … this is my favorite hole’ I walked confidently to the tee in spite of a wayward hook by my partner Rao. An easy swing and – Brrrrrrrrr – the phone began to vibrate. I was in two minds – to take a shot or the call – and duffed the ball … another ProV into the depths.

“Sawrree saar. My name ees Ilangovan saar”, he began.

“Yes… yes mister Ilangovan. I was trying to contact you for my son’s …”

“Teriyum saar. Don’t worry. Tomorrow passport coming saar, gaarentee. Just small fees for polees and my friend in awffees, saar”

“Okay … okay” I hung up, getting ready for my three from the tee box.

“Who’s that?” asked Rao with a smirk.

“Some bloody tout”, I replied, landing the ball next to the pin. An assured bogey, and a chance to halve the hole made me eloquent. “In this goddamned country … the processes are so convoluted, they don’t even exist. You know, how much I had to run around to get a simple passport renewed?”

“You’re right buddy.” Shaking his head vigorously, “This country is run by touts. It’s going to dogs for sure. There’s no place for decent folks like us” said Rao, who runs a very successful ‘tender servicing portal’ for government works that provides start to finish facilitation for its clients. And, he had assured my friend Hiraki a complete reversal of the process, of course, for a reasonable fee.

Disclaimer: The story is not a work of fiction and the characters are real and any resemblance to my golfing friends is purely intentional and not a coincidence.