Hindu women's caste status

[Yashwant Malaiya]

Dr. Richa Puranik asked

>>Is a Hindu woman considered to be 'reborn' at the time of her marriage?
>>If yes, is she 'reborn' into her husband's caste?
>>If her birth-caste is different from the caste of the family she is
>>marrying into, what is her own caste after marriage?

First are we talking about the "varna" or a "jnati"? Today
jnatis (for example Agrawals, CKPs or Deshastha-Brahmins)
are real, and varnas largely fiction.

Since a jnati is, by definition a (mostly) endogamus group,
the question will generally not arise. If a woman marries
into a "lower" jnati, she will perhaps be accepted by the
jnati of the husband and thus become a member of that nyati.
If a man takes a lower-jnati woman, the woman may not be
fully accepted by the husband's jnati, and may never be
acknowledged as a full member.

Nambudris in the past have oten taken Nayar "wives", the wives
remained in their Nayar households and the childern were
raised as Nayars. In the past few centuries, some Rajputs have
taken wives from non-Rajput land-owning jnatis, the offspring
generally would then rank somewhat lower than the proper
Rajputs. However if they continue to intermarry with
daughters of proper Rajputs, their rank will rise.

The "rankings" of the jnatis is governed by popular perceptions.
Membership in a jnati is based on the views of the fellow
jnati members (nor unlike a club). Neither the ranking
nor the membership are subject to rules from the Dharma-shatras.

The rules of determining the designation of a varna-sankara
offspring are given in dharma-shastras. The rules represent
attempt to explain the origin of communities that did not
fit any of the four varnas.


Yashwant