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Who are the Brahmins in India?

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Brahmins – gods on earth, representatives of the highest caste in India among the three others ( Kshatriyas , Vaishyas , Shudras ) in modern and ancient Hinduism. For several centuries, representatives of this caste have been engaged in government administration, judging, mentoring, and other noble professions inaccessible to other castes.

History

Historically, the Brahmin caste emerged from the desire of wealthy and educated segments of society to separate themselves from those who lacked these qualities. Gradually, this grew into a set of strict rules, the violation of which was severely punished and condemned in society.
Initially, Brahmins had priestly duties – they had to perform sacrifices and other rituals of communication with the gods, following ancient traditions. Representatives of this varna were called gods on earth and were placed almost on a par with higher gods. In Hinduism, they believed that only the unanimity of the gods in heaven and on earth would lead the lands subject to them to prosperity. However, soon the list of duties of Brahmin priests expanded along with the needs of the society surrounding them. They became mentors, officials, scribes, and even judges during one period. Be that as it may, from birth, Brahmins in India were surrounded by honor and respect. In ancient India, it was impermissible to take away a Brahmin’s property even from the most noble nobles, and the murder of a sage was equated with the most terrible sin.

Duties

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From afar, it may seem that a Brahmin is an idle loafer, living without worries only by right of birth, but this is not so. Like representatives of other castes, a Brahmin could not choose his occupation and live freely, despite all the respect surrounding him. His direct duties were piety and wisdom, which he had to share with others. Members of this caste were constantly in the spotlight of lower strata, were obliged to enlighten or teach, depending on their profession. Of course, not all of these rules were followed flawlessly.

What was forbidden:

  • engaging in any manual labor in any form and under any pretext. Women were allowed to do housework;
  • consuming meat (in some regions);
  • marrying representatives of other castes;
  • living in the same territory with representatives of other castes;
  • eating food prepared by a person from another, lower caste – Judaism assumed death from starvation as a more favorable outcome.

Marriage Processes

Marriage played a special place in the life of a Brahmin – thanks to successful unions, the caste grew and flourished for many centuries. Even now, in modern India, where castes are no longer so significant, the intelligentsia and government largely consist of Brahmins. As mentioned earlier, marriages with other castes were strictly prohibited. This prohibition was not unique to Brahmins but extended to all social strata among Hindus. The inability to leave one’s caste through marriage or any other means destroyed any, even the slightest, possibility of a “social elevator”. In Hinduism, a Brahmin was the pinnacle of aspirations and the ultimate life goal of any believer – through a pious life and righteous deeds, one could once be reborn into a higher caste, and then completely break the vicious circle of earthly life, ending up in heaven. Thus, for many centuries, one could become a Brahmin only by being born one. To avoid mixing with the rest of the population, marriages were practiced exclusively between members of the caste. At different times, Brahmins made up from 3% to 5% of the population, so finding a suitable match was not difficult. This was also facilitated by the exclusively contractual nature of marriages, which is still practiced today.

Despite the fact that Hindus preferred to marry within the same community (city or village), Brahmins often married their equals from neighboring settlements. Such measures were taken against incest.

Modernity

Despite the fact that Hinduism prescribes to honor Brahmins as intermediaries between people and gods, as well as wise mentors, the attitude towards them among the non-believing population (of course, in ancient India there were very few such people, unlike the centuries closer to us) was ambiguous. Brahmins were officials and judges, which means they directly influenced most aspects of the life of the average Hindu. Most of them received their positions by birth, and although representatives of the caste received a first-class education, they often did not fit their jobs. In addition, despite the dogmas of religious texts, Brahmins remained people with their shortcomings, and not celestial beings.

In the last century, the attitude towards the highest caste predictably worsened – the percentage of the believing population decreased, laws and social norms of the civilized world came into play. Such blatant inequality by origin began to cause unrest, and at the official level, castes had to be abolished.
Despite this, varnas are still an integral part of social life in India. The prohibitions have been lifted, but people who have lived according to such rules for millennia continue to marry within their castes and take origin into account in everyday matters such as employment, preferring it to professional level and talent. Nowadays, many Brahmins by origin have long ceased to engage in the affairs of their ancestors. Among them are people with average and even low incomes, atypical professions. All this only points to the inevitability of social progress alongside the still existing respect for representatives of the highest caste in India.

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Comments

Brahmins still define the country's development strategy. In 1993, we were at a conference in Voronezh, mainly attended by our businessmen and Indians. The conference was dedicated to humanitarian issues and the opening of factories in Crimea and Altai for the production of Ayurvedic drugs. These regions were chosen by the businessmen themselves. They were both Brahmins. One of them said that in 1991, Brahmins at a council in India decided that from that time on they would closely engage in improving the material well-being of the lower castes, and that since 1991 it was time to put things in order in the country at a basic physical level. And it should start with sanitation. How they spoke! I only then understood who a real Brahmin is! They refused to open factories here then (from the very idea), because they decided that our attitude towards medicines was inappropriate! And one of them said that too many parasites want to participate in this process and the medicines will be expensive! That's it! I don't know, maybe there are such factories now? But I know one thing, when I was in India and got the flu, their medicine got me back on my feet in three days!

Very interesting article. Traveling through India, I have always been interested in the various castes in India. It seems to me that caste still exists in India. To escape from caste, it is necessary to leave the country

As I understand it, Brahmins are high-ranking people in India who preach the Hindu faith. These people held high positions in the government, had noble professions that were inaccessible to other castes. In the distant past, Brahmins were priests, they were entrusted with performing sacrifices and other rituals within their traditions. In the last century, castes were abolished, but Brahmins are still a part of India's social life. Very interesting topic.

Very interesting to read about Brahmins. I have been interested in India and its culture since childhood. This mysterious country, full of secrets and traditions, cannot but inspire. Of course, this is just my opinion, it's a little unfair to divide people into castes. Since childhood, studying the traditions of India, I didn't like this division. If you don't belong to the Brahmin caste, is the path to important things closed? Or is it possible to somehow climb the steps of the caste?