Chapter 5 : FAMILY SYSTEM IN INDIA

FAMILY SYSTEM IN INDIA

FAMILY AMONG THE HINDUS

THE HINDU JOINT FAMILY

Joint Family As a Main Pillar of the Indian Social System

• The joint family system is an inseparable part of the Indian social system.
• K.M. Panikkar points out that the caste system, village system of life, and the joint family system are the basic pillars of the Indian social system.
• K.M. Panikkar considers the Hindu joint family and the caste system as constituting a common institution because they are highly interdependent. He writes: “Though in theory unconnected, these two institutions, the caste and the joint family are, in practice, interlocked to an extent which makes them in effect a common institution. The unit of Hindu society is not individual but joint family. The widest expression of this family is “sub-caste” which often consists only of a few joint families which intermarry and interdine among themselves."
• I.P. Desai notes that while extended families are not unknown in Europe, the Indian joint family is unique: “The family is the group wider than the nuclear group is not unknown to the European society, yet strangely enough, the joint family came to be understood as the conglomeration of nuclear families for all purposes in stead of qualitatively different family.”
• The Hindu joint family is unique because it has religious sanction, a spiritual base, and is associated with historical myths and legends.

Joint Family in the Ancient Time

• The joint family has existed right from the Vedic times.
• Dr. Iravathi Karve points out that in the “Indian social evolution the family has always meant the joint family.”
• Vedic Family Structure and Patriarchal Authority: "The Vedic family was of the patriarchal type, matriarchate being unknown to Vedic society. It was a joint family consisting of the father, the grandfather, sons, nephews and their wives. The patriarch controlled the family property and could theoretically divide it in any way he liked; but normally the division was made equitably. The stories of Sunashepa and Rjasravas suggest that the father had the power over the life and limb of the children.......... The father most frequently figures…