A caste in a changing world – Frank F. Conlon
The Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins (1700-1935)
In this book author wanted to study how the caste is changing and transforming in the urban setup. He had case studied Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins.
He narrates his ideas as …
“The story may well be a source of legitimate pride, for it is in many ways a chronicle of a progressive and adaptive community whose ancestors often made great sacrifices to accommodate changing circumstances. What appears here reflects my interest in the corporate identity of the Saraswats and how it and they changed and affected change during the past two and a half centuries.”
The study is both a history of a caste and an illustration of some varieties of social and economic changes produced in India by British rule. This book gives insights into the way members of a caste could adapt to new conditions while endeavoring to preserve and strengthen their social unit. It also attempts to present evidence against the view that India’s “traditional” society and culture were static and changeless. Making allowances of the particular circumstances of the Saraswats in social status and geographical locals, one must still observe that their boundaries, internal institutions and occupations were the subjects of almost continuous alterations and adaptation, even in times which Saraswats themselves regarded as periods of hidebound traditionalism.
He also points out the importance of external forces, at the time when British colonial administrative policies and practices were a major element, decisions to employ local men in district administration, to transfer North Kanara to Bombay, or to not build a railroad to Karwar, all created opportunities and problems for Saraswats. Government services did provide new openings for some Saraswats who mastered the new techniques and language of the emerging bureaucracy. Learning the new knowledge did not turn Saraswats away from their religious and social traditions. Rather, they contributed their skills and a portion of their wealth for the betterment of Shri Chitrapur mathas and its swamis.
Author also speaks about the education system, as he says, “Guruparampara” was a spiritual link which served to confirm the castes’ brahmanical status- an important consideration for an immigrant community. At the same time, it provided a mode of communication and social control among the Saraswat settlements scattered up and down the west coast of Kanara. The subsequent growth and elaboration of the matha and the caste temples during the 19th century reveal the constructive potencies of orthodoxy during a period of Indian history when most historians have concentrated upon a few widely visible critics and reformers of a modern persuasion.
He also explains the concept of purer brahmanical standards wit the reference to sea-voyage. He explains, “In the Saraswat jati’s experience, the sea-voyage controversy was magnified because Shrimat Pandurangashram Swami, the castes’ guru from 1864 to 1915, was himself attempting to reform and revitalize his flock’s religious and social life in precisely the opposite direction from the reformers. He promoted a purer brahmanical standard of behavior just as Narayan Chandavarkar was exploring the potentialities of modern rationalism”.
The alienation of the matha from the growing segment of urban laity was as much a reflection of the relatively limited resources of early Saraswat migrants as it was a result of their independence of mind and spirit produced by breathing free air of modern metropolis.
When the author looks at the social context and social costs of reform, he feels that one is struck by difficulties faced by all but a very few well-to-do families, and even those families would be dependent upon the jati when marriages are to be arranged. The overall decline of support for the matha reflects the turning away of the urban Bhanaps to new concerns and enterprises.
The author concludes his study by saying that:
“The urbanization of the Saraswats may be seen to reveal a diverse set of motivations and patterns. Migration for education, as from Mangalore to Madras, or in employment, as from Kumta to Hubli, will be familiar enough. But it is unexpected that the growth of the colony in Bombay would be as much the product of economic and educational failure as of success. The strangeness of the metropolis was combated by residential clustering which eventually produced the most substantial concentration of Bhanaps at any time in the castes’ history. This was confirmed by the emergence of voluntary associations: a cooperative bank, housing society, which was predicated upon caste membership. In light of the excommunications and alienation surrounding the reform controversies, the urban Saraswats postulated a caste identity based not upon the purity of ritual standing but upon the “natural identity” of being born a Saraswat. By the 1920’s the initiative within the caste had clearly shifted to its urban segment. Yet, influenced by stressful conditions, relocated elders and the compelling personality of Anandashram Swami, and given a lead by several skilled and energetic individuals, the Saraswats renewed and revitalized their allegiance and support for Shri Chitrapur Matha. It was not the end of the story, but a prelude to a new epoch”.
