brahmin
Publié le 22/02/2012
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Also spelled brahman; in HINDUISM, a
member of the highest of the four varnas or RITUAL
classes. According to tradition, the ideal occupation
for brahmins is that of the priest (see CASTE IN
HINDUISM).
Brahmins descend from the priests who performed
the sacrifi ces described in the sacred books
known as the VEDA. Some scholars have identifi ed
their ancestors as priests among the Indo-Europeans.
The Indo-Europeans were supposedly ancestors
of the people who inhabit north India today,
as well as of European peoples such as the English,
the French, and the Germans.
About 2,000 years ago Hindu lawbooks known
as Dharmasastras carefully listed the duties and
privileges of brahmins. They also assigned brahmins
the highest position in Hindu society, but not everyone
has agreed. Many records from roughly 2,000
years ago tell about disputes between brahmins
and sramanas. Sramanas were wandering ascetics
who practiced religions such as BUDDHISM and JAINISM.
(Ascetics are people who give up pleasures and
sometimes even the necessities of life for religious
purposes.) A thousand years later brahmins were
often the butt of jokes in classical Indian drama.
The lawbooks focus specifi cally on the roles
of boys and men. Brahmin men often have other
occupations, but according to the lawbooks it is
best for them to be priests and to teach the Veda.
Public SACRIFICES described in the Veda still occur in
India, but they are relatively rare. It is much more
common for brahmins to serve as spiritual teachers
for boys, a relationship that the boys are supposed
to remember throughout their lives. Some
brahmins serve as priests in temples. In addition,
all brahmins are supposed to observe household
rituals taught by the Veda. Good examples are the
sandhya or twilight rituals addressed mornings
and evenings to the god Surya, the sun. In theory
the lives of women are limited: They are supposed
to obey in turn their fathers, husbands, and sons.
In practice some Hindu women have been strong
and self-assertive.
Although all brahmins belong to the highest
varna, it should be stressed that varnas are ritual
classes, not economic ones. Brahmins may be the
most ritually pure members of Indian society, but
some brahmins are extremely poor. At the same
time, brahmins have played an enormous role
in the government of India. Only 3.5 percent of
Indians are brahmins, but at the end of the 20th
century brahmins held almost 70 percent of all
government jobs.
Strict brahmins have traditionally observed
a number of rules. These rules were designed to
maintain the brahmins' purity. For example, if
brahmins came into physical contact with persons
considered impure in ritual terms, especially Dalits
("untouchables"), they had to perform a series of
rituals to wash away what they saw as defi lement.
During the 20th century, however, traditional concerns
with maintaining purity often gave way to
the pressures of modern urban life.