Introduction

There is no simple relationship between religion and society. The relationship between the two is the relationship between the part and the whole and it depends on several factors. In India the relationship is further complicated due to the fact that while society is religious, state defines itself as secular. A simple principle of sociology says that a man, born and socialized in society, internalizes the religious rules of his religious community, fully or partly. In the process, however, he does not play simply a blotting paper role, and reacts to religion on the basis of how society has shaped his needs, ideas and non-religious beliefs. This reaction to religion affects the religious rules and impacts on society subsequently. In most cases this impact may be small but in some cases the impact is so great that it can change the discourse of religion. In all cases a complex relationship between man and society is involved. Man acts, thinks and feels religiously because he is social. This is a different matter that the outcome of this man-society interaction may be such that in special religious conditions man may become oblivious of society and devote completely to an amoral, non-social God.