Social Dimensions of Early Buddhism

Abstract

This book examines the relationship of Buddhism to its locus, the expanding agrarian economy of the Ganga valley during the period 600-300 b c . It outlines the contours of the major social and economic groups that were the dramatic personae in this dynamic process, espeff/ lltrtm/itl tlfVirten i'rtld in XlAHl ^ IVf » f r W * k IU 4 UA 11 k 4A L**r VV A IV 1 A. I j Mr IV4L^ X 4 received the attention it deserves. The work explores the emergence of sharp differentiation between those in control of the means of production, who dom in ated the ag ra rian scene, and those marginalized groups whose labour was essential to the expanding economy but who remained vulnerable, being excluded from both economic and social power. It also examines the changing political environment and the gradual collapse of the gana-sanghas in the face of the expanding monarchical formations of the Ganga valley. Buddhism's complex response to this changing economic, social and political context is the central concern of this book. It argues that Buddhism responded in a dialectical manner to the economy, society, and power, conceptualizing in a more humane, if not "radical', way the direction in which a changing society could re-order social and political relations. Dr. Uma Chakravarti teaches History at Miranda House, University of Delhi. She has held a research fellowship at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi between 1990-94. She has published several articles in the field of social history particularly on caste, labour and gender. Among her forthcoming publications is a book titled Gender, Class and Nation: The Life and Times ofPandita Ramabai,