Class-Equations in our Epics

Description

Though the Indian society originally consisted of four ‘varnas’ (classes)—Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra, and they were mandated to rigidly follow the social structure, but from time to time there were transgressions and occasional interactions between them: both palatable and otherwise. There were cases of inter-class marriages:—–Brahmans and Kshatriyas marrying between themselves as well as out side the fold: children were born through intermixing: Shudras were discriminated against in education and training : kings sometimes humiliated their Brahman friends, but some liberally showered riches on them etc, etc. This work tries to delve into the circumstances where such interactions took place, and attempts to dramatize the episodes : the simple reason being to give the reader a feel of the contemporary social practices. Most of the narratives have been taken from the Mahabharata and only a few from the Ramayana for the simple reason that the former talks about a very complex society . It is sincerely hoped that modern reader would have an opportunity to have taste of the days gone by and view the epics from an unconventional angle.