The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society c16.18

c16.18

The relationship is a permanently fixed and irreversible one. Relationships based on exchange, on the other hand, may be equally permanent, but there always is an element of built-in uncertainty and instability, for the exchange relationship is based on reciprocity. While the sharers "eat" their portions simultaneously so that there are no scores to be settled afterward, the reciprocity of exchange is based on settling the scores over time. At each turn, the partners in the exchange arrangement have to reverse their roles, the previous receivers acting as givers, and so the relationship is perpetuated through reversals. However, one never knows whether the other partner will be able and willing to honor his obligations when it is his turn to reciprocate. At each turn, there is the risk that the relationship will fail and break off. Nevertheless, exchange relationships have the advantage of being capable of indefinite extension to include new partners, while the sharing brotherhood is a formally fixed and exclusive grouping.