1975/02/01 by Clarence Maloney · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Anthropological Studies and Insights #Religion and Society Interactions #Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies #Tamil #Karma #Hinduism #Dharma #Elite #Hierarchy #Power (physics) #Sociology #Key (lock) #Social science #Religious studies #Philosophy #Theology #Political science #Law #Buddhism #Politics
paper · pdf · doi:10.1525/ae.1975.2.1.02a00100
openalex publication_date 1975/02/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
Tamil villagers define key words of Hindu philosophy, such as dharma, karma, and samsara, in different ways, according to their social situation, for the usual definitions amount to doctrines of the religious elite. Many villagers reject the Brahmanical tendency to pull lower castes in the direction of Sanskritization. Their religion focuses on particularistic deities, whose power is manifest through shamans to solve personal problems.