Contents -- Abbreviations -- Prologue -- I. INTRODUCTION -- 1. Meaning and Method -- 1.1 The Meaning of Āśrama -- 1.2 The Meaning of the Āśrama System -- 1.3 Issues of Method -- 2. Background and Context -- 2.1 The Vedic Ideal of Religious Life -- 2.2 The Socio-Economic Context -- 2.3 Rival Views of Religious Life -- II. THE EARLY PERIOD -- 3. The Origins -- 3.1 The Original Formulation -- 3.2 Controversy and Debate -- 3.3 Authorship -- 3.4 Date -- 3.5 The Pre-History of the Āśrama System and the Question of the Three Āśramas -- 4. Ingredients of Change -- 4.1 The Third Āśrama and the Problem of the Hermit -- 4.2 The Fourth Āśrama and the Time of Renunciation -- 4.3 Ritual Appropriations of Renunciation -- 4.4 The Āśramas and the Rites of Passage -- III. THE CLASSICAL PERIOD -- 5. The Classical Āśrama System -- 5.1 Description of the Classical System -- 5.2 The Hermeneutics of the Classical System -- 5.3 The Classical System in the Smrtis -- 5.4 The Original System in the Classical Period -- 6. Development of the Classical System -- 6.1 Classifications of the Āśramas -- 6.2 Modifications of the Classical System -- 7. The Āśramas and Other Brāhmanical Institutions -- 7.1 Gender and Āśrama -- 7.2 Varna and Āśrama -- 7.3 The Āśramas and Civil Authority -- 7.4 Parisad and Āśrama -- 7.5 Āśrama and Other Aspects of Dharma -- 7.6 Sets of Four: The Purusārthas and the Āśramas -- 8. The Āśrama System in Medieval Theology -- 8.1 Anāśramin: Obligation to Live in an Āśrama -- 8.2 Atyāśramin: Transcendence of the Āśramas -- 8.3 The Question of a Fifth Āśrama -- 8.4 Āśrama and the Doctrine of Yuga -- 8.5 The Legitimacy of the Āśrama System: The Continuing Debate -- Epilogue -- Bibliography -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y -- Z.