The åaśrama system: the history and hermeneutics of a religious institution

The lesser known and explored of the two pillars of Hinduism--āśrama and varṇa--āśrama is the name given to a system of four distinct and legitimate ways of leading a religious life: as a celibate student, a married householder, a forest hermit, and a world renouncer. In this, the first full-length study of the āśrama system, Olivelle uncovers its origin and traces its subsequent history. He examines in depth its relationship to other institutional and doctrinal aspects of the Brahmanical world and its position within Brahmanical theology, and assesses its significance within the history of Indian religion. Throughout, he argues that the āśrama system is primarily a theological construct and that the system and its history should be carefully distinguished from the socio-religious institutions comprehended by the system and from their respective histories. Contents 8 Abbreviations 12 Prologue 18 I. INTRODUCTION 20 1. Meaning and Method 22 1.1 The Meaning of Asrama 23 1.2 The Meaning of the Asrama System 39 1.3 Issues of Method 43 2. Background and Context 50 2.1 The Vedic Ideal of Religious Life 50 2.2 The Socio-Economic Context 70 2.3 Rival Views of Religious Life 73 II. THE EARLY PERIOD 86 3. The Origins 88 3.1 The Original Formulation 88 3.2 Controversy and Debate 98 3.3 Authorship 109 3.4 Date 116 3.5 The Pre-History of the Asrama System and the Question of the Three Asramas 121 4. Ingredients of Change 127 4.1 The Third Asrama and the Problem of the Hermit 127 4.2 The Fourth Asrama and the Time of Renunciation 132 4.3 Ritual Appropriations of Renunciation 137 4.4 The Asramas and the Rites of Passage 141 III. THE CLASSICAL PERIOD 144 5. The Classical Asrama System 146 5.1 Description of the Classical System 146 5.2 The Hermeneutics of the Classical System 149 5.3 The Classical System in the Smrtis 151 5.4 The Original System in the Classical Period 166 6. Development of the Classical System 176 6.1 Classifications of the Asrama 176 6.2 Modifications of the Classical System 188 7. The Asramas and Other Brahmanical Institutions 198 7.1 Gender and Asrama 198 7.2 Varna and Asrama 205 7.3 The Asramas and Civil Authority 216 7.4 Parisad and Asrama 225 7.5 Asrama and Other Aspects of Dharma 229 7.6 Sets of Four: The Purusarthas and the Asramas 231 8. The Asrama System in Medieval Theology 235 8.1 Anasramin: Obligation to Live in an Asrama 235 8.2 Atyasramin: Transcendence of the Asramas 237 8.3 The Question of a Fifth Asrama 247 8.4 Asrama and the Doctrine of Yuga 249 8.5 The Legitimacy of the Asrama System: The Continuing Debate 252 Epilogue 259 Bibliography 262 Index 278 A 278 B 279 C 280 D 280 E 281 F 281 G 281 H 282 I 282 J 283 K 283 L 283 M 283 N 284 O 284 P 284 R 285 S 285 T 287 U 287 V 287 W 288 Y 288 Z 289 A study of the Asrama system, a Hindu construct consisting of four legitimate ways of leading a religious life. The author traces its early history and explains how Asrama gradually established connections with other Hindu religious institutions to emerge as a central tenet of the Hindu dharma. Patrick Olivelle. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 247-262) And Index.