Content deleted Content added
Riteshmmec (talk | contribs) No edit summary Tags: Reverted Mobile edit Mobile web edit Advanced mobile edit Disambiguation links added |
Pepperbeast (talk | contribs) Undid revision 1105889597 by Riteshmmec (talk) |
||
Line 6:
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2019}}
{{Hinduism}}
'''Brahmin''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|r|ɑː|m|ɪ|n}}; {{lang-sa|ब्राह्मण|brāhmaṇa}}) is a [[Varna (Hinduism)|varna]] as well as a [[caste]] within [[Hindu]] society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as [[Hindu priest|priests]] ([[purohit]], [[pandit]], or [[pujari]]) and religious teachers ([[guru]] or [[acharya]]). The other three varnas are the [[Kshatriya]], [[Vaishya]] and [[Shudra]].<ref name="Wren2004">{{cite book | author = Benjamin Lee Wren | date = 2004 | title = Teaching World Civilization with Joy and Enthusiasm | publisher = University Press of America | pages = 77– | isbn = 978-0-7618-2747-4 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=XdvfevJAsgMC&pg=PA77|quote=At the top were the Brahmins(priests), then the Kshatriyas(warriors), then the vaishya(the merchant class which only in India had a place of honor in Asia), next were the sudras(farmers), and finally the pariah(untouchables), or those who did the dirty defiling work}}</ref><ref name="Valpey2019">{{cite book | author = Kenneth R. Valpey | date = 2 November 2019 | title = Cow Care in Hindu Animal Ethics | publisher = Springer Nature | pages = 169– | isbn = 978-3-03-028408-4 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=EJO7DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA169|quote=The four varnas are the brahmins (brahmanas—priests, teachers); kshatriyas (ksatriyas—administrators, rulers); vaishyas (vaisyas—farmers, bankers, business people); and shudras(laborers, artisans)}}</ref><ref name="BullietCrossleyHeadrick2018">{{cite book | author1 = Richard Bulliet | author2 = Pamela Crossley | author3 = Daniel Headrick | author4 = Steven Hirsch | author5 = Lyman Johnson | date = 11 October 2018 | title = The Earth and Its Peoples: A Global History, Volume I | publisher = Cengage Learning | pages = 172– | isbn = 978-0-357-15937-8 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=lJRUEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA172|quote=Varna are the four major social divisions: the Brahmin priest class, the Kshatriya warrior/ administrator class, the Vaishya merchant/farmer class, and the Shudra laborer class.}}</ref><ref name="Iriye1979">{{cite book | author = Akira Iriye | date = 1979 | title = The World of Asia | publisher = Forum Press | pages = | isbn = 978-0-88273-500-9 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=tM-CAAAAIAAJ|quote=The four varna groupings in descending order of their importance came to be Brahmin (priests), Kshatriya (warriors and administrators), Vaishya (cultivators and merchants), and Sudra (peasants and menial laborers)|page=106}}</ref><ref name="ludo14"/>
The traditional occupation of Brahmins is that of priesthood at the Hindu temples or at socio-religious ceremonies, and rite of passage rituals such as solemnising a wedding with hymns and prayers.<ref name=lochtefeld125>James Lochtefeld (2002), Brahmin, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A–M, Rosen Publishing, {{ISBN|978-0-8239-3179-8}}, page 125</ref><ref name=ghurye15/> Traditionally, the Brahmins are accorded the highest ritual status of the four social classes.<ref name=doniger141/> Their livelihood is prescribed to be one of strict austerity and voluntary poverty ("A Brahmin should acquire what just suffices for the time, what he earns he should spend all that the same day").<ref>{{Cite web|last=www.wisdomlib.org|date=2016-11-04|title=Manusmriti Verse 4.7|url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/manusmriti-with-the-commentary-of-medhatithi/d/doc200103.html|access-date=2021-03-26|website=www.wisdomlib.org}}</ref> In practice, Indian texts suggest that some Brahmins historically also became agriculturalists, warriors, traders, and had also held other occupations in the [[Indian subcontinent]].<ref name=ghurye15>GS Ghurye (1969), Caste and Race in India, Popular Prakashan, {{ISBN|978-81-7154-205-5}}, pages 15–18</ref><ref name=doniger141>{{cite book | last=Doniger | first=Wendy | title=Merriam-Webster's encyclopedia of world religions | publisher=Merriam-Webster | location=Springfield, MA, USA | year=1999 | isbn=978-0-87779-044-0 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780877790440/page/141 141–142, 186] | url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780877790440/page/141 }}</ref><ref name="David Shulman 1989 page 111">David Shulman (1989), The King and the Clown, Princeton University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-691-00834-9}}, page 111</ref>
| |||