implement it. We do know, however, that there were various ascetic sects
competing for adherents by the late Gupta period.
The household
Despite the continued opportunity for asceticism, there was considerable
emphasis during this period on the importance of marriage and the family.
The orthoprax family was invariably patrilineal and included sons (and their
wives and families) of the patriarch. While monogamy was considered
the most desirable form of marriage in the legal literature, polygamy was not
uncommon especially amongst the wealthy and royalty. Even polyandry was
known to exist as in the case of Draupadı ̄, depicted in the Maha ̄bha ̄rata
as the wife of five brothers.
Family solidarity, at least among the orthoprax, was often expressed in its
ritual life – not only in its daily rituals, but also in its rites of passage. Starting
with pre-natal rites, designed, for example, to promote conception and
assure a safe pregnancy and childbirth, they continued into a series of post-
natal rites enabling the neonate to be accepted fully as a social person. The
latter rites included the naming of the child, the offering of its first solid
food (annapra ̄s ́ana), and the first tonsure. These rites of passage (sam.ska ̄ra),
intended primarily for sons of the “twice-born,” continued into the rites of
initiation (upanayana) or second birth when the child entered the stage
of a student. Initiation (dı ̄ks.a ̄) for the brahman male included donning of
a sacred thread, to be worn continuously from that time on, and having the
sacred prayer known as the ga ̄yatrı ̄whispered in his ear, a prayer to the solar
deity Savitr.found in the R.g Veda.^12
The education of the young orthoprax brahman male was to consist of
studying under a guru where the proper performance of rites and the
memorization of Vedic stanzas would occur. In addition, certain other
sciences would be taught such as etymology, astronomy, or grammar. The
sons of the court, however, would be trained in the principles of statecraft
while those in the lower echelons of society would learn their craft from
their fathers.
The role of women
It is also apparent that women were expected to fill certain roles in orthoprax
vaidikasettings. It may not be too simplistic to suggest that there were
thought to be at least three “types” of woman.^13 The first was that of wife
and mother. The role of wife and mother was auspicious. She was creatrix
and perpetuator of the “traditions.” She was satı ̄(fromas– to be) – that is,
she fulfilled the role of ideal woman – chaste, competent in the household,
The Urban Period 63