Intercaste Marriage: A Study from the Indian Context

Abstract

Marriage in India is primarily based on social stratification of a caste system. In this article we discuss the issues and challenges faced when defying the traditional culture of arranged marriage to enter into an intercaste marriage in the rural Indian context. Guided by the ecocultural theory, we used qualitative methods to collect the data based on phenomenological principles. Data for this study were collected through in-depth interviews with 15 couples who were recruited through purposive and snowball methods. Two key themes emerged during discussions with participants: one from the social context and the other from the personal context. The study findings suggest that even today the caste system is largely prevalent in rural India, which condemns intercaste marriage, and the couple who tries to defy this norm faces dire consequences. We also provide insights to the logic behind the propagation of arranged marriages from the Hindu religion perspective.

KEYWORDS:

• caste
• culture
• Hinduism
• India
• marriage
• qualitative

Notes

1. According to the present practice, dowry usually subsumes material gifts and cash paid to the bridegroom and his kin. The gifts are no longer a token of affection from parents to the daughter but instead an elaborate demand from the marital family. The practice was a means of giving gifts to the daughter during the marriage so the couple could start a life on their own and to compensate her share of the property, because she is otherwise excluded from inheriting parental property. Dotal (dowry giving) marriages were common in the Near East, Europe, East Asia, South Asia, and pockets of the Americas. Although the custom has largely disappeared in the Western World, it remains popular in some of the South Asian countries, including India. Evidence shows that real dowry payments, the transfer of wealth from bridal families to grooms and their families at the time of marriage, have risen over the last five decades (Rao, 1993a, 1993b). The amounts of these dowries can be astronomical. In the sample used by Deolalikar and Rao (1998), average dowries are equal to 68% of total assets before marriage and can amount to six times the annual wealth of the bridal family.

2. The concept of “psychological contract” has a much longer and deeper pedigree, with its antecedents evident in earlier work on social exchange theory. Central to this theory is that social relationships have always consisted of unspecified obligations and the distribution of unequal power resources (Blau, 1964). Although there is general consensus that the psychological contract deals with implicit reciprocal promises and obligations, there has been what can be described as a dualistic approach in the literature over which parties should be included under the analytical rubric of the psychological contract (Cullinane & Dundon, 2006). A psychological contract is individual in nature and is based on an individual's direct experience. It is thus idiosyncratic (Rousseau, 1995).

3. In his 1973 book, The Colors of Love, John Lee explained the various styles of love. Lee (1973) proposed six love styles analogous to primary and secondary styles. He defined three primary styles. First, eros is a style of loving that begins with strong physical attraction and can be known as “love at first sight.” Erotic lovers enjoy intense emotion and desire exclusivity with partner. Second, ludus is a love styles that views love as a game. Ludic lovers are playful and refuse to commit the whole life to develop a love relationship. Third, storge is a love relationship developed slowly from friendship. Storgic lovers are often affectionate initially and finally settle down together. The three secondary styles are derivatives of the primary styles. Fourth, pragma is a practical approach to love. Pragmatic love is a combination of ludus and storge (Lee, 1988). This love style is not specially emphasis on intense physical attraction but is a conscious search for compatible partner. Fifth, mania is the style characterized by obsession and anxiety to the partner (Morrow et al., 1995). Sixth, agape is combination of eros and storge (Lee, 1988) and is a selfless, giving, and altruistic love. People with this style view love as a duty. Emotional intensity is described as varied across each love styles. Eros and mania are in intense emotion, agape is mildly intense, and ludus, storge, and pragma are low in intensity (Hendrick & Hendrick, 1986).

4. The untouchables, or Dalits, are stationed at the bottom of the hierarchal stratum of the caste system. In Hinduism the religiously based hierarchical prototype only recognizes four castes, with the untouchable level representing those individuals who are deemed to be impure. Historically, Dalits are referred to as the fifth caste. As a fifth caste, they are positioned below the lowest of the caste levels; they are a noncaste. It has been argued that they have been labeled as such for the purpose of isolating them from caste status (Michael, 1999). Occupational theory argues that untouchables get connected with impurity because they have historically been relegated to low status, menial occupations associated with dirty or unclean tasks (Fernando, 2001). Because of their involvement in these unhygienic occupations, the individuals engaged in the activity are seen as impure and contaminated as well (Kamen, 2004).

5. Brahmo-daivastathaivarsah Prajapatya-statha' surah Gandharvo raksasascaiva Paisacastamah smrtah (Manusmrti, 3.21).

6. Yajnasya rtvije daivah (Yajnavalkya Smrti, 1.59).

7. Adaryarsastu godvayam (Yajnavalkya Smrti, 1.59).

8. Asuro dravinadanat (Yajnavalkya Smrti, 1.61).

9. The centaurs (gandharvas in Sanskrit, possibly cognate with the Latin centaurus) are celestial patterns of music, horses, and sexual love. The term gandharva marriage became a euphemism in Sanskrit literature for an otherwise unsanctioned sexual union (i.e., one witnessed only by these creatures).

10. Translations from voice of the guru Pujyasri Chandrasekharendra Sarasvati Swami made by S. Ramkrishnan in Hindu Dharma, The universal way of life (2000).