Here is your essay on Max Weber’s viewpoint on Hinduism.
Hindu social institutions are distinctive in nature both in terms of their form and function. These social institutions ideally operate according to prescribed norms and religious sanction examines some of these institutions.
(1) Caste:
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Caste is a hereditary social institution based on the following principles:
(i) Endogamy,
(ii) Hierarchy,
(iii) Occupational specialization, and
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(iv) Purity and pollution.
Various kinds of restrictions are imposed on inter-caste relationships. These restrictions are explicit in the following:
(1) Acceptance of food and drink by the upper castes from lower ones.
(ii) Their inter-caste marriage, sex relation, ongoing or touching the upper castes by a lower ones etc.
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(2) Samskara (Sacraments):
There are well defined Samskara (Sacraments) in Hinduism. Each and every Samskara has a particular object i.e. to chance to be fit to be used in a divine activity. In this way, through the processes of various samskara all aspects of Hindu life are purified to be the part of the divine. To Vidya Nivas Misra, 193 samskaras are investiture-cum-purificatory rites. These are performed in different stages of the Hindus from prenatal to funeral. These are enumerated to be sixteen: (i) Conception (Garbhadharna = placing the seed in the womb), (ii) Invocation to the male child (Pumsavana), (iii) Braiding of the hair of the pregnant women (Simantonanayana), (iv) Offering to Vishnu, the sustainer (VishnuBali in the eighth month of pregnancy), (v) Birth rites (Jata karma), (vi) Giving a name (Nama-Karana), (vii) Hiking a child out of the house (Niskramana), (viii) First feeding (Anna-prasana), (ix) Tonsure (Caula-Karma), (x) The rite of letters (Aksararambha), (xi) Piercing of the ear lobe (Kamacedha), (xii) Sacred thread ceremony (Upanayana = Lit, taking a boy to the place of Guru for study), (xiii) Initiation into the Vedic studies (vedarambha), (xiv) Entering into life Samavartana, (xv) Marriage (Vivaha), (xvi) Last rite (Antyesti).
(3) Marriage:
Among the Hindus, marriage is an obligatory sacrament. In order to obtain salvation, a Hindu is required to perform certain Rituals towards the Gods and the ancestors as prescribed in the religious texts. The Rituals are performed by the male descendants. Hence every Hindu must marry to have a male descendent for salvation.
According to the ancient Hindu texts there are three main objectives of marriage as under:
(i) Dharma (honest and upright conduct),
(ii) Praja (progeny), and
(iii) Rati (sensual pleasure).
Features:
Some of the salient features of Hindu marriage are as under:
(i) Monogamy:
Monogamy i.e. marriage of one man and one woman at a time is the usual form of marriage in Hinduism. Polygamy was also found among some Hindus based on local customs. The Hindu Marriage Act 1955 permits only monogamous form of marriage.
(ii) Endogamy:
The Hindus maintain the religious and caste endogamy. The legally permitted inter-caste and inter religious marriage are very few.
(iii) Hypergamy:
According to the rule of hypergamy, the status of the husband is always higher than the wife. The ancient Hindu literature permits hypergamy in the form of anuloma whereby a girl is married to upper sub- caste. It does not permit pratiloma whereby a girl marries a boy from lower sub-caste.
(iv) Gotra Exogamy:
Gotra indicates the common ancestor of a clan or a family. People with common ancestor are not allowed to intermarry. The gotra exogamy implies prohibition of marriage within five generations on the mother’s side and seven generations on the father’s side.
(v) Family:
Grihastha Ashrama is the stage of family life of a Hindu. Here a Hindu performs his Dharma and Karma for the continuity of the family and his salvation. In this way, the ideal typical family of the Hindu is joint in nature. In it people of three generations usually live together. Hindu Joint Family possesses mostly the following characteristics:
(i) Patrilineal,
(ii) Patrivirilocal,
(iii) Co-residentia,
(iv) Comman property ownership, and
(v) A Commercial unit.
At present, consequent to the rapid urbanization, industrialization, spread of commercial values, education and mass-communication the joint family system has been under severe threat in India.
(vi) Inheritance:
Traditionally the Mitakshara system of inheritance was practiced in most parts of India except for Bengal and Assam. According to this system, a son has a birth right on father’s ancestral property. The father cannot dispose of this property in a way which can be detrimental to the interest of the son.
According to Dayabaga which is applicable to Bengal and Assam system of inheritance the father is the absolute owner of this property and he has the right to dispose it of according to his will.
Traditionally females are not coparcenary. Women in the patrilinear society get some movable property as stridhana at the time of marriage. According to the Hindu Succession Act and the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act 1956 (Applicable to Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs) a husband has legal responsibility for the maintenance of his wife and children. The individual property of a male Hindu, who happens to die having made no will, passes on equal share between his son, daughter, widow and mother.