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Introduction
 India is basically
a country of religion. Here every aspect of life is governed by
religion. As Indians have been living on the mercy of the nature,
the elements of the nature have become part of the religion in this
country. Farmers, who from sixty percent of Indian population, are
basically religious and conservative in outlook. Apart from it,
there is death of education in Indian village society and it makes
people more religious. As Gillin and Gillin have said, “the social
field of religion may be regarded as including those emotionalized
beliefs prevalent in a social group concurring the supernatural plus
crest and behaviours, material objects and symbols associated with
such beliefs prevalent in a social group concurring the super
natural plus crest and behaviours, material objects and symbols
associated with such beliefs”. All the writer and sociologists, who
have defined religion, have agreed in the common faith in the
existence of some superior power in the core of the
religion.
Almost all aspects of life
are influenced by religion, which is an important part of the
culture and civilization. In India, the forms of religion at the
national and local levels are different. At the national level there
is Hinduism derived from the philosophical system of India, which is
called dharma. At the local or village level, the form of religion
is different, which includes various elements of small tradition.
Thus the national form of religion is based on classical customs and
traditions, while the local forms are dominated by the elements from
small tradition.
Indian religion contains a
worldly outlook and regulations and influence of the world form a
part of the religion. As such religion contains views about magic,
sorcery, taboos, spiritualism, concept of dead, ancestors,
mythological stories and so on. Hindu religion of dharma is based on
the theory of rebirth, and the various worlds or lives. It is also
based on the theory of karma and various results thereof. The sin is
the root cause of pain, while good deeds lead to progress. These
beliefs are more found in the rural society. All aspects of life in
rural society are governed by the religion and religion provides
answer to all superstitions. Rural religion is very strong with a
worldly outlook and it covers various aspects of the life. Numerous
fasts and prayers are much more in practice among the villages than
the urban population.
Various methods of
worship-prayers, sacrifice and rituals-are the practical aspects of
religion, more practiced in the villages. God is treated either as
having a form (sakar) and without a form (nirakar). Prayers are
performed to placate gods and goddess at various places of worship,
like temples or in family temples, as a duty in the practice of
religion. Sacrifices, as a religious practice, includes giving away
of alms (grains, clothes, cash, etc.). Animals are also sacrificed
in order to placate god and goddesses. Rituals, as religious
activities, are performed in order to maintain religious and social
purity.
The earnest
desire of ever human being is to be spared of problems in the life.
He will like to be ever immersed in happiness. The acquisition of
spiritual knowledge is necessary for attaining the eternal bliss. It
will enable to him to gain wealth, wisdom, and also to safeguard
them. He seeks relief in fasts, prayers, worship, traditional Hindu
Dharma customs and ceremonies. Man is a sociocultural being and
society is both natural and necessary for man. As such all religious
activities are subject to social control. Society is a harmonious
organization of human relationships and the individuals in a
socio-religious group have to live up to the prescribed norms of
conduct and the society has to exercise a
certain control over its members called social control.
In
social control of an individual, the factors notable are the
influence exerted through public opinion, coercion, social
suggestion, religion, appeal, tolerance or any other method.
Influence may be exercised by the society, the family, the church,
the state, the club, the school, the trade union, the sermons and
preaching in religious congregations (sateye sang).
Social
control differs from self-control in as much as the latter is from
within, while the former is from outside. When an individual
controls himself-his impulses-not because of certain coercion
exercised by some other individual or group, but because of his own
will and self realization, he is said to have practised self
control. It is the individual’s own attempt to guide his own
behaviour in accordance to some previously developed ideal, goal or
purpose. Self control, out of one’s own realization, is real and
permanent. Man, from birth to death, is undergoing the process of
socialization and his behaviour is being controlled in numerous
ways. The essence of all religions, the goal of all scriptures and
the objective of all aspirations is to remain wedded to virtue
adhering to the moral law. The customs regulate the birth and death
ceremonies. Diet, dress, manner of speech, marriage, education and a
host of other matters are controlled by customs. These customs and
procedures become a part of man’s life and man gets adjusted to the
society. There are various agencies of social control, which
exercise regulatory influence over the behaviour of the individual.
The formal means of social control are law, education and coercion,
which are meant for the society as a whole, but for the individual,
with whom we are concerned, informal control can be exercised thus:
BELIEF:
Belief is a conviction that a particular thing is true. It is the
belief in the existence of an unseen power; the belief in Nemesis,
the Goddess of Vengeance; the belief in the existence of hell and
heaven and the belief in the immortality of soul.
The belief in the existence
of an unseen power leads a man to right action (Karma) because he
believes that his actions are being watched by an unseen power. The
belief in reincarnation keeps the man away from wrongful acts
because he believes that in order to have a good birth in next life,
he must do good acts in this life. The belief in Nemesis also
regulates man’s behaviour because he believes that he will be
punished for his sins, here and now. The fourth belief in the
existence of hell and heaven influences a man to virtuous acts and
avoid sins in order to go to heaven or avoid going to hell after
death. Heaven is a place full of luxuries, fairies and romance. Hell
is a place of terror, miseries and torture. The last belief in the
immortality of the soul leads a man to avoid such actions as will
cause pain to the souls of the deceased ancestors. Beliefs are
powerful influences on human actions. They are vital for human
relations. Beliefs may be true or false. They may be founded on
factual or faulty evidence, but the question of their validity does
not necessarily determine their effectiveness as social/ self
controls. We act with as much determination from false beliefs as
from factually sound ones. Social suggestions (life examples of
great men) or ideologies (Fascism, Leninism, etc.) are social
control methods for the society as a group, but for the individual,
some other means are:
FOLKWAYS: Folkways are the
recognized modes of behaviour which arise automatically within a
group. They are the behaviour patterns of everyday life, which arise
spontaneously and unconsciously in a group. They are, in fact, the
habits of the individual, which become common to a group. They are
the foundation of the group culture, socially approved with some
degree of traditional sanction. The Brahmins shall not take meat or
the Jains shall not take curd, are some of the habits, unconsciously
followed.
MORES: Mores are like
folkways, with a philosophy of social welfare attached. They have
moral sanctions and are thought to be good for social benefit. They
relate to the fundamental needs of society more directly than do the
folkways. Mores are always moulding human behaviour. They restrain
an individual from doing acts contrary to social welfare, In
society, there are innumerable mores viz., monogamy, prohibition,
endogamy, antislavery, anti-sati, etc. Mores control man’s behaviour
in society to a very large extent.
Customs: customs are the long established
habits and usage of the people. They are those folkways and mores
that have persisted for a very long time and have been passed down
from one generation to another. They arise spontaneously and
gradually. There is no constituted authority to declare them or to
safeguard them. They are accepted by society. They are socially
accredited ways of acting. They are socially prescribed modes of
behaviour. Their violation brings social disapproval. They are
followed because they have been followed in the past. The customs
are so powerful that no one can escape their range. They bind men
together and regulate social life to a great extent. They are held
so sacred that any violation is regarded not only a social crime,
but also a sacrilege. In primitive societies, customs were powerful
means of social self control but in modern times, their force has
decreased.
CEREMONIES: Religion
exercises a powerful influence upon man’s behaviour in society.
Religion is an attitude towards superhuman powers. It is a belief in
powers superior to man. It expresses itself in several forms like
superstition, animism, totemism, magic, ritualism and fetishism. In
every religion beliefs and practices differ, but still religion
pervades practically in all societies. Hindu religion assigns great
importance to Ceremonies, for example, at the time of birth,
marriage and death. Mantras are recited, even without understanding
their meaning. Religion makes people benevolent, charitable,
forbearing and truthful. All religious ceremonies are observed with
a view to make people content with their lot, obedient to their
elders and remain wedded to virtue adhering to the moral
law.
ART
& LITERATURE : Art and literature influence the
imagination and exert control on human behaviour. The great epics
Ramayana and Mahabharata are of great social value, and give us
information about customs and ceremonies, as they existed in the
epic period.
PUBLIC
OPINION : Public opinion has a great influence as a means
of social control, particularly in village society; where people are
known to each other personally. One cannot dare neglect a custom or
a ceremony, because of the fear of a social boycott. Ceremonies
performed after death of a Hindu, howsoever disliked, are still
performed, so that public recognition (opinion) is not
degraded.
The
greatest contribution of the Hindu philosophy to human thought is
its conception of Dharma, which governs Hinduism, the system of
living, in its social, religious and all other aspects of life. It
appears to be synonymous with the western concept of religion, which
embraces every kind of supernatural belief, but Hindu Dharma is a
law of nature, which enables man to attain supreme bliss of life. It
is the living experience and leads man to ultimate reality. It is
not supernatural belief but a way of rational thinking. It
consciously aims at achieving the highest perfection of human life
through Moksha (salvation, liberation). Dharma, according to
Mahabharata, is created for the well being of all creations. All
that is free from being harmful to any created being is ‘Dharma’. It
protects all, preserves all and it is that principle that is capable
of preserving the whole universe, being the right order.
According
to Dr. R.K. Mukherjee, “Dharma like Brahma, in Indian thought, is a
notion of many sided import. Metaphysically speaking Dharma is Rita
or the cosmic binding order, the eternal truth holding its sway over
universe, in the words of Kautilya’s Arthashastra. Dharma practice
is the law of altruism, complete, balanced and practical, as
embodied in the eight fold path and based on the laws of unity,
continuity, metapsychosis and transience” .
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