Brahmana (Brahmin/Brahman)

Contributions to Indian Sociology

This article shows how Brahmanism was a regional tradition, confined to the northwestern parts of the Indian subcontinent, that passed through a difficult period—which it barely survived—roughly between the time of Alexander and the beginning of the Common Era. It then reinvented itself, in a different shape. No longer primarily a sacrificial tradition, it became a mainly socio-political ideology that borrowed much (including the belief in rebirth and karmic retribution) from the eastern region in which Buddhism and Jainism had arisen. Its revival went hand in hand with the elaboration of behavioural and theoretical innovations, one of whose purposes was to justify the claimed superiority of Brahmins.

Encyclopedia Entry in the Springer Encyclopedia of Hinduism and Tribal Religions.

History of Indian Philosophy, 2018

The authors of the Brāhmaṇa texts enriched their view of the Vedic rituals through building unique theories of identification and connection that served to establish a notion of shared being between the sacrificer, the sacrifice, and the cosmos itself. In exploring identifications that were not immediately available to the senses (but were said to be "mysterious"), these thinkers set the groundwork for later Indian speculation, as seen in particular in the Upaniṣads, the texts which follow them. Although long underappreciated by students of the Indian tradition, the Brāhmaṇas represent a rich source for understanding the beginnings of Indian philosophy.

Discussion of Brāhmaṇa texts In: S. Wolpert (ed.) Encyclopedia of India; Charles Scribner's Sons. Dec. 2005

2019

This article shows how Brahmanism was a regional tradition, confined to the northwestern parts of the Indian subcontinent, that passed through a difficult period—which it barely survived—roughly between the time of Alexander and the beginning of the Common Era. It then reinvented itself, in a different shape. No longer primarily a sacrificial tradition, it became a mainly socio-political ideology that borrowed much (including the belief in rebirth and karmic retribution) from the eastern region in which Buddhism and Jainism had arisen. Its revival went hand in hand with the elaboration of behavioural and theoretical innovations, one of whose purposes was to justify the claimed superiority of Brahmins.

SSRN Electronic Journal

Brahmanism is a school with no relationship whatsoever with erratic idea of race & birth Note on the semantics of the expression, ब्राह्मण brāhmaṇá m. ʻ one who has sacred knowledge, Brahman ʼ RV. 2. brāˊhmaṇī -- f. Kāṭh. [bráhman -- 1]1. Pa. brāhmaṇa -- m. (← Sk.), Aś.shah. bramaṇa -- , man. bamaṇa -- , kal. baṁbhana -- , gir. brā̆hmaṇa -- , bā̆mhaṇa -- , KharI. bramhaṇeṇa inst. sg., NiDoc. bramaṁna, Dhp. bra(m)maṇa, Pk. bamhaṇa -- , baṁbhaṇa -- m., S. ḇã̄bhaṇu m., L. (Ju.) ḇã̄bhaṇ m., P. barāhmaṇ, bāmhaṇ, ludh. bāmhan m., Ku. bāmaṇ, N. bāman, bāwan, bāhun, A. bāmun, OB. bāmbhaṇa, B. bāman, ˚mun, bāmnā ʻ a low Brahman ʼ, Or. bāmbhuṇa, bābhuṇa, bāmuṇa, (Sambhalpur) bāmnā, Bi. Mth. bābhan, bāman, Bhoj. bāmhan, bābhan, Aw.lakh. bāmhan, bã̄bhan, H. bāmhan m., G. M. bāmaṇ m., M. bã̄bhurḍā, bāmurḍā m. ʻ term of reproach for a Brahman ʼ, Si. bamuṇā. 2. Pa. brāhmaṇī -- f., Pk. baṁbhaṇī -- , S. ḇã̄bhaṇī, P. bāmhaṇī, Ku.gng. &rtodtilde; B. bāmni, Or. bām(h)uṇī, H. bāmhnī, G. bāmṇī, M. bāmhṇī, Si. bämiṇī. Addenda: brāhmaṇá -- : S.kcch. bhrāmaṇ m. ʻ Brahman ʼ; WPah.kṭg. bamməṇ m., bamṇi f., J. bām(m)aṇ m., Garh. bāmaṇ.(CDIAL 9327) பார்ப்பனச்சேரி pārppaṉa-c-cēri , n. < பார்ப்பனன் +. Quarters where Brahmins live; பார்ப்பனர் குடியிருக்கு மிடம். (நன். 377, மயிலை.)பார்ப்பனத்தி pārppaṉatti , n. Fem. of பார்ப்பனன். [K. hāruvagitti.] See பார்ப்பனி.பார்ப்பனமுல்லை pārppaṉa-mullai , n. < பார்ப்பனன் +. (Puṟap.) Theme describing the mediation of a Brahmin who tries to bring about peace between two contending kings; பகைத்த மன்னரிருவருடைய மாறுபாட்டை நீக்க முயலும் பார்ப்பானது நடுவுநிலைகூறும் புறத்துறை. (பு. வெ. 8, 18.) பார்ப்பனவாகை pārppaṉa-vākai , n. < id. +. (Puṟap.) Theme describing the greatness of a learned Brahmin, attained through the performance of sacrifices; வேதம்வல்ல அந்தணன் வேள்விவேட்டலாற் பெறும் பெருமையைக் கூறும் புறத்துறை. (பு. வெ. 8, 9.) பார்ப்பனன் pārppaṉaṉ , n. < brāhmaṇa. See பார்ப்பான், 1. ஆனியற் பார்ப்பன மாக்களும் (புறநா. 9).பார்ப்பனி pārppaṉi , n. < brāhmaṇī. Brahmin woman; பிராமணப்பெண். பார்ப்பனி மருதியை (மணி. 22, 41) பார்ப்பாத்தி pārppātti , n. Fem. of பார்ப்பான். See பார்ப்பனி. (W.)(Tamil) brāhmaṇá mfn. relating to or given by a Brāhman, befitting or becoming a Br°, Brāhmanical, AV. ; TBr. ; MBh.; ब्राह्मण m. one who has divine knowledge (sometimes applied to Agni), a Brāhman, a man belonging to the 1st of the 3 twice-born classes and of the 4 original divisions of the Hindū body (generally a priest, but often in the present day a layman engaged in non-priestly occupations although the name is strictly only applicable to one who knows and repeats the Veda), RV. &c.; = ब्राह्मणाच्छंसिन्, KātyŚr. 'one of the 16 Rtvij, priests of a yajna; a Brāhman in the second stage (between Mātra and Śrotriya), Hcat.; the Soma vessel of the Brahman priest, RV. ; AV.; a society or assemblage of Brāhmans, a conclave (Monier-Williams) ब्राह्मण brāhmaṇa a. (-णी f.) [ब्रह्म वेदं शुद्धं चैतन्यं वा वेत्त्वधीते वा अण्] 1 Belonging to a Brāhmaṇa. -2 Befitting a Brāhmaṇa. -3 Given by a Brāhmaṇa. -4 Relating to religious worship. -5 One who knows Brahma. -णः 1 A man belonging to the first of the four original castes of the Hindus, a Brāhmaṇa (born from the mouth of the puruṣa); ब्राह्मणोऽस्य मुखमासीत् Rv.10.90.12; Ms.1.31,96; (जन्मना ब्राह्मणो ज्ञेयः संस्कारैर्द्विज उच्यते । विद्यया याति विप्रत्वं त्रिभिः श्रोत्रिय उच्यते ॥ or जात्या कुलेन वृत्तेन स्वाध्यायेन श्रुतेन च । एभिर्युक्तो हि यस्तिष्ठेन्नित्यं स द्विज उच्यते ॥). -2 A priest, theologian. -3 An epithet of Agni. -4 N. of the twentyeighth Nakṣatra. -णम् 1 An assemblage or society of Brāhmaṇas. -2 That portion of the Veda which states rules for the employment of the hymns at the various sacrifices, their origin and detailed explanation, with sometimes lengthy illustrations in the shape of legends or stories. It is distinct from the Mantra portion of the Veda. -3 N. of that class of the Vedic works which contain the Brāhmaṇa portion (regarded as Śruti or part of the revelation like the hymns themselves). Each of the four Vedas has its own Brāhmaṇa or Brāhmaṇas :-- ऐतरेय or आश्व- लायन and कौषीतकी or सांख्यायन belonging to the Ṛigveda; शतपथ to the Yajurveda, पञ्चविंश and षड्विंश and six more to the Sāmaveda, and गोपथ to the Atharvaveda. -4 The Soma vessel of the Brahman priest. -Comp. -अतिक्रमः offensive or disrespectful conduct towards Brāhmaṇas, insult to Brāhmaṇas; ब्राह्मणातिक्रमत्यागो भवता- मेव भूतये Mv.2.10. -अगर्शनम् absence of Brahmanical instruction or guidance; वृषलत्वं गता लोके ब्राह्मणादर्शनेन च Ms.10.43. -अपाश्रयः seeking shelter with Brāhmaṇas. -अभ्युपपत्तिः f. protection or preservation of, or kindness shown to, a Brāhmaṇa; ब्राह्मणाभ्युपपत्तौ च शपथे नास्ति पातकम् Ms.8.112. -आत्मक a. belonging to Brāhmaṇas. -घ्नः the slayer of a Brāhmaṇa; स्त्रीबालब्राह्मणघ्नांश्च हन्याद् द्विट्सेविनस्तथा Ms.9.232. -चाण्डालः 1 a degraded or outcast Brāhmaṇa; यथा ब्राह्मणचाण्डालः पूर्वदृष्टस्तथैव सः Ms.9.87. -2 the son of a Śūdra father by a Brāhmaṇa woman. -जातम्, -जातिः f. the Brāhmaṇa caste. -जीविका the occupation or means of livelihood prescribed for a Brāhmaṇa; अध्यापनमध्ययनं यजनं याजनं तथा । दानं प्रतिग्रहश्चैव षट्कर्माण्यग्रजन्मनः ॥ षण्णां तु कर्मणामस्य त्रीणि कर्माणि जीविका । याजनाध्यापने चैव विशुद्धाच्च प्रतिग्रहः ॥. -द्रव्यम्, -स्वम् a Brāhmaṇa's property. -निन्दकः a blasphemer or reviler of Brāhmaṇas. -प्रसंगः the applicability of the term Brāhmaṇa. -प्रातिवेश्यः a neighbouring Brāhmaṇa; ब्राह्मणप्रातिवेश्यानामेतदेवानिमन्त्रणे Y.2.263. -प्रियः N. of Viṣṇu. -ब्रुवः one who pretends to be a Brāhmaṇa, one who is a Brāhmaṇa only in name and neglects the duties of his caste; बहवो ब्राह्मणब्रुवा निवसन्ति Dk.; सममब्राह्मणे दानं द्विगुणं ब्राह्मणब्रुवे Ms.7.85;8.20. -भावः the rank or condition of a Brāhmaṇa. -भूयिष्ठ a. consisting for the most part of Brāhmaṇas. -यष्टिका, -यष्टी Clerodendrum Siphonantus (Mar. भारंग). -वधः the murder of a Brāhmaṇa, Brahmanicide. -वाचनम् the recitation of benedictions. -संतर्पणम् feeding or satisfying Brāhmaṇas.ब्राह्मणकः brāhmaṇakaḥ 1 A bad or unworthy Brāhmaṇa (only in name); एवं युक्तो ब्राह्मणः स्यादन्यो ब्राह्मणको भवेत् Mb.12.270. 27. -2 A family of such a Brāhmaṇa. -3 N. of a country inhabited by warlike Brāhmaṇas.ब्राह्मणता brāhmaṇatā, ब्राह्मणत्वम् brāhmaṇatvam The state or rank of a Brāhmaṇa.ब्राह्मणत्रा brāhmaṇatrā ind. Among Brāhmaṇas.ब्राह्मणसात् brāhmaṇasāt ind. In the possession of Brāhmaṇas, as in ब्राह्मणसात् भवतिधनम्.ब्राह्मणाच्छंसिन् brāhmaṇācchaṃsin m. N. of a priest, the assistant of the priest called Brahman q .v.ब्राह्मणायनः brāhmaṇāyanaḥ A Brāhmaṇa descended from learned and holy progenitors.ब्राह्मणी brāhmaṇī 1 A woman of the Brāhmaṇa caste. -2 The wife of a Brāhmaṇa. -3 Intellect; (बुद्धि according to नीलकण्ठ). -4 A kind of lizard; हृष्टः पश्यति तस्यान्तं ब्राह्मणी करकादिव Rām.3.29.5. -5 A kind of wasp. -6 A kind of brass (Mar. सोनपितळ). -Comp. -गामिन् m. the paramour of a Brāhmaṇa woman. ब्राह्मण्य brāhmaṇya a. Befitting a Brāhmaṇa. -ण्यः An epithet of the planet Saturn. -ण्यम् 1 The station or rank of a Brāhmaṇa, priestly or sacerdotal character; सत्यं शपे ब्राह्मण्येन Mk.5; Pt.1.66; Ms.3.17;7.42. -2 A collection of Brāhmaṇas; ब्राह्मण्यं कृत्स्नमेतत्त्वां ब्रह्मण्यमनुगच्छति Rām.2.45.21.(Apte) brāhmaṇānāṃ mūlaṃ: vaṃśāḥ Origin of the Brahmins: The Ancestries We the Brahmins are a direct descendant of the Sarasvati-Sindhu Civilization / Harappan Civilization. The prehistoric Harappan Civilization is the root of Civilization & Culture of the Indian Subcontinent & beyond. Here we have chosen Harappan people found in Shahr-i Sokhta (IRN_Shahr_I_Sokhta_BA2, part of "Indus_periphery" samples, see Narasimhan et al. 2019 ), as representatives of the Harappan Ancestry present in the different Brahmin groups. We didn't use the Rakhigarhi, Haryana female sample published in Shinde et al. 2019, because it had a very low coverage. As we clearly see, Harappan Ancestry is the largest ancestry of the Brahmins, with the exception of groups like Manipuri Brahmins, but we will come to that soon. In Post Vedic Iron age (beginning from ~ 1000 BCE), we started to absorb a Central Asian ancestry, here represented by Iron age Sarmatian samples from The Urals in Russia. The Central Asian nomadic people like the Sarmatians, Scythians were Iranic speakers, a Sister language group of Indo-Aryan languages of India. We suggest that, Iron age Steppe Central Asian related admixture in Brahmins, was mainly female mediated, a phenomenon we have already noticed in Narasimhan et al.2019, where Early Iron age Suvāstu (Swat) valley SGPT samples, clearly started to show female mediated Central Asian admixture in patchy levels. The Y-DNA Haplogroups of Brahmins are also remarkably indigenous to the subcontinent or at least are Neolithic to Mesolithic old. The Y-DNA R1a of Brahmins is largely R1a-M780+, R1a-L657+ which is most likely Indian in origin, as we haven't found this particular Haplogroup in any ancient dna record outside of the subcontinent so far!. In moderate levels, we do show R1a-Z2123, which is Central Asian in origin. That this R1a-Z2123 came with the Post Vedic migrations we spoke about is certain. R1a-M780+ likely originated during the Integration Harappan era beginning from ~3000 BCE. The diversity of R1a in Indian populations is also very high, R1a was very likely already here from Mesolithic period (Chaubey et al. 2021 upcoming). The Juang people of Orissa here, represent the different South Indian Hunter Gatherer/ South East Asian related groups, to whom we started get admixed, after we migrated from our central homeland area in North India. Now about the big Naxi people related East Asian type ancestry in Manipuri Brahmins. The Naxi here again represent the exotic ancestries Brahmins absorbed with the spread of Brahmanism in different parts of the subcontinent & beyond, and if we test the Brahmin groups of SE Asian countries and others, we will likely not see any Harappan or other typical subcontinental ancestries at all!

Routledge Handbook of South Asian Religions, 2020

Brahmans play a prominent role in Hinduism in most of its forms. They constitute a caste-class (varṇa) and claim descent from the seers who "saw" the ancient Vedic hymns. They o ciated in Vedic times at the sacrifi ces that were (or aspired to be) an essential part of political life. Their vital role in all kinds of rituals continued beyond those days, well into the present. From a Brahmanical point of view, the history of Brahmans and of the institutions for which they have been responsible is continuous. From their perspective, Brahmans were there from immemorial time to look after the ritual aspects of society, incorporating traditional knowledge and wisdom and advising rulers on the correct way to run society and their kingdoms. What is more, Brahmans considered themselves to be, and to have always been, at the top of the social hierarchy. An inspection of the historical evidence shows that this vision of the past is not correct. Such an inspection brings up a far more complex picture, in which the rise of Brahmanism was a long and di cult process, with several ups and downs. Our point of departure is the late Vedic period, the period during which texts were composed dealing with complex rituals-we'll call them Vedic sacrifi ces. These Vedic sacrifi ces were carried out by sacrifi cial priests, the Brahmans, for the benefi t of rich and powerful patrons. This happened in the northwestern regions of the Indian subcontinent, including regions that now lie in Pakistan. This sacrifi cial and priestly tradition was closely associated with the political order in those regions, just as the sacrifi cial and priestly traditions of ancient Egypt and of ancient Mesopotamia were part of the political systems in those parts of the world. The sacrifi cial and priestly traditions of ancient Egypt and ancient Mesopotamia did not survive the collapse of those political systems. One might have expected the same in South Asia, but this is not what happened. The following pages will consider how the Vedic political systems came to an end and how the responses of those primarily a ected, the Brahmans, led to something altogether new. A succession of political events e ectively put an end to the Vedic sacrifi cial tradition. The fi rst one we know about in some detail is the invasion of the Indian subcontinent (327-325 BCE) by Alexander of Macedonia, often called Alexander the Great. He and his army did not penetrate deeply into the subcontinent; in fact, their movements were confi ned to what is now Afghanistan and Pakistan and never reached present-day India. But the regions they did visit, especially in what is now Pakistan, had an infl uential population of Brahmans, and we learn