Brahmin

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Not to be confused with Brahman – a metaphysical concept in Hinduism, Brahma – a Hindu god, or Brahmana – a layer of text in the Vedas.

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For other uses, see Brahmin (disambiguation).

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Brahmin is a varna (caste) in Hinduism specialising as priests, teachers (acharya) and protectors of sacred learning across generations.[1][2][3]

Brahmins traditionally were responsible for religious rituals in temples, as intermediaries between temple deities and devotees, as well as rite of passage rituals such as solemnising a wedding with hymns and prayers.[3][4] However, Indian texts suggest that Brahmins were often agriculturalists and warriors in ancient and medieval India.[4][5]

Vedic sources

Brahmin priests
Group of Brahmins 1913.jpg
early 20th century, India
A robed Bumese Brahmin priest of Konbaung Dynasty.jpg
Myanmar
Candi Prambanan - 102 Brahmins, Visnu Temple (12042036684).jpg
Indonesia
A Brahmin standing praying in the corner of the streets 1863.jpg
early 19th century India

It must be emphasised that attempts to interpolate references from the Rigveda with contemporary social groups that identify as "Brahmin" is entirely speculative.[citation needed]

Purusha Sukta

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Main article: Purusha Sukta

The earliest inferred reference to "Brahmin" as a possible social class is in the Rigveda, occurs once, and the hymn is called Purusha Sukta.[6] According to this hymn in Mandala 10, Brahmins are described as having emerged from the mouth of Purusha, being that part of the body from which words emerge.[7][8]

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यत पुरुषं वयदधुः कतिधा वयकल्पयन
मुखं किमस्य कौ बाहू का ऊरू पादा उच्येते
बराह्मणो अस्य मुखमासीद बाहू राजन्यः कर्तः
ऊरूतदस्य यद वैश्यः पद्भ्यां शूद्रो अजायत

11 When they divided Puruṣa how many portions did they make?
What do they call his mouth, his arms? What do they call his thighs and feet?
12 The Brahman was his mouth, of both his arms was the Rājanya made.
His thighs became the Vaiśya, from his feet the Śūdra was produced.

— Rigveda 10.90.11-2, Translation by Ralph TH Griffith[9]

This Purusha Sukta varna verse is now generally considered to have been inserted at a later date into the Vedic text, possibly as a charter myth.[10] Stephanie Jamison and Joel Brereton, a professor of Sanskrit and Religious studies, state, "there is no evidence in the Rigveda for an elaborate, much-subdivided and overarching caste system", and "the varna system seems to be embryonic in the Rigveda and, both then and later, a social ideal rather than a social reality".[10]

Shrauta Sutras

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Main article: Yajna
Brahmins in white dress performing the Bhumi Puja ritual yajna around fire

Ancient texts describing community-oriented Vedic yajna rituals mention four to five priests: the hotar, the adhvaryu, the udgatar, the Brahmin and sometimes the ritvij.[11][12] The functions associated with the priests were:

  • The Hotri recites invocations and litanies drawn from the Rigveda.[13]
  • The Adhvaryu is the priest's assistant and is in charge of the physical details of the ritual like measuring the ground, building the altar explained in the Yajurveda. The adhvaryu offers oblations.[13]
  • The Udgatri is the chanter of hymns set to melodies and music (sāman) drawn from the Samaveda. The udgatar, like the hotar, chants the introductory, accompanying and benediction hymns.[13]
  • The Brahmin recites from the Atharvaveda.[12]
  • The Ritvij is the chief operating priest.[12]

Dharmasutras and Dharmashastras

The Dharmasutras and Dharmasatras text of Hinduism describe the expectations, duties and role of Brahmins. The rules and duties in these Dharma texts of Hinduism, states Patrick Olivelle, are primarily directed at Brahmins.[14][15] The Gautama's Dharmasutra, the oldest of surviving Hindu Dharmasutras, for example, states in verse 9.54-9.55 that a Brahmin should not participate or perform a ritual unless he is invited to do so, but he may attend. Gautama outlines the following rules of conduct for a Brahmin, in Chapters 8 and 9:[16][17]

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Virtues more important than rituals
A [Brahmin] man who has performed the forty sacramental rites, but lacks eight virtues does not obtain union with or residence in the same world as Brahman. A man who may have performed just some rites, but possesses these eight virtues, on the other hand, does.

—Gautama Dharmasutra 9.24-9.25[18]

  • Be always truthful
  • Conduct himself as an Aryan
  • Teach his art only to virtuous men
  • Follow rules of ritual purification
  • Study Vedas with delight
  • Never hurt any living creature
  • Be gentle but steadfast
  • Have self-control
  • Be kind, liberal towards everyone

Chapter 8 of the Dharmasutra, states Olivelle, asserts the functions of a Brahmin to be to learn the Vedas, the secular sciences, the Vedic supplements, the dialogues, the epics and the Puranas; to understand the texts and pattern his conduct according to precepts contained in this texts, to undertake Sanskara (rite of passage) and rituals, and lead a virtuous life.[19]

The text lists eight virtues that a Brahmin must inculcate: compassion, patience, lack of envy, purification, tranquility, auspicious disposition, generosity and lack of greed, and then asserts in verse 9.24-9.25, that it is more important to lead a virtuous life than perform rites and rituals, because virtue leads to achieving liberation (moksha, a life in the world of Brahman).[19]

Left: Brahmin woman, Right: Brahmin girl
(both paintings by Lady Lawley, 1914)

The later Dharma texts of Hinduism such as Baudhayana Dharmasutra add charity, modesty, refraining from anger and never being arrogant as duties of a Brahmin.[20] The Vasistha Dharmasutra in verse 6.23 lists discipline, austerity, self-control, liberality, truthfulness, purity, Vedic learning, compassion, erudition, intelligence and religious faith as characteristics of a Brahmin.[21] In 13.55, the Vasistha text states that a Brahmin must not accept weapons, poison or liquor as gifts.[22]

The Dharmasastras such as Manusmriti, like Dharmsutras, are codes primarily focussed on how a Brahmin must live his life, and their relationship with a king and warrior class.[23] Manusmriti dedicates 1,034 verses, the largest portion, on laws for and expected virtues of Brahmins.[24] It asserts, for example,

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A well disciplined Brahmin, although he knows just the Savitri verse, is far better than an undisciplined one who eats all types of food and deals in all types of merchandise though he may know all three Vedas.

— Manusmriti 2.118, Translated by Patrick Olivelle[25]

John Bussanich states that the ethical precepts set for Brahmins, in ancient Indian texts, are similar to Greek virtue-ethics, that "Manu's dharmic Brahmin can be compared to Aristotle's man of practical wisdom",[26] and that "the virtuous Brahmin is not unlike the Platonic-Aristotelian philosopher" with the difference that the latter was not sacerdotal.[27]

Normative occupations of a Brahmin

The Gautama Dharmasutra states in verse 10.3 that it is obligatory on a Brahmin to learn and teach the Vedas.[28] Chapter 10 of the text, according to Olivelle translation, states that he may impart Vedic instructions to a teacher, relative, friend, elder, anyone who offers exchange of knowledge he wants, or anyone who pays for such education.[28] The Chapter 10 adds that a Brahmin may also engage in agriculture, trade, lend money on interest, while Chapter 7 states that a Brahmin may engage in the occupation of a warrior in the times of adversity.[28][29] Typically, asserts Gautama Dharmasutra, a Brahmin should accept any occupation to sustain himself but avoid the occupations of a Sudra, but if his life is at stake a Brahmin may sustain himself by accepting occupations of a Sudra.[29] The text forbids a Brahmin from engaging in the trade of animals for slaughter, meat, medicines and milk products even in the times of adversity.[29]

The Apastamba Dharmasutra asserts in verse 1.20.10 that trade is generally not sanctioned for Brahmins, but in the times of adversity he may do so.[30] The chapter 1.20 of Apastamba, states Olivelle, forbids the trade of the following under any circumstances: human beings, meat, skins, weapons, barren cows, sesame seeds, pepper, and merits.[30]

The 1st millennium AD Dharmasastras, that followed the Dharmasutras contain similar recommendations on occupations for a Brahmin, both in prosperous or normal times, and in the times of adversity.[31] The widely studied Manusmriti, for example, states:

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Except during a time of adversity, a Brahmin ought to sustain himself by following a livelihood that causes little or no harm to creatures. He should gather wealth just sufficient for his subsistence through irreproachable activities that are specific to him, without fatiguing his body. – 4.2-4.3

He must never follow a worldly occupation for the sake of livelihood, but subsist by means of a pure, upright and honest livelihood proper to a Brahmin. One who seeks happiness should become supremely content and self controlled, for happiness is rooted in contentment and its opposite is the root of unhappiness. – 4.11-4.12

— Manusmriti, Translated by Patrick Olivelle[32]
An ascetic from renunciation tradition (1914)

The Manusmriti recommends that a Brahmin's occupation must never involve forbidden activities such as producing or trading poison, weapons, meat, trapping birds and others.[33] It also lists six occupations that it deems proper for a Brahmin: teaching, studying, offering yajna, officiating at yajna, giving gifts and accepting gifts.[33] Of these, states Manusmriti, three which provide a Brahmin with a livelihood are teaching, officiating at yajna, and accepting gifts.[34] The text states that teaching is best, and ranks the accepting of gifts as the lowest of the six.[33] In the times of adversity, Manusmriti recommends that a Brahmin may live by engaging in the occupations of the warrior class, or agriculture or cattle herding or trade.[34] Of these, Manusmriti in verses 10.83-10.84 recommends a Brahmin should avoid agriculture if possible because, according to Olivelle translation, agriculture "involves injury to living beings and dependence of others" when the plow digs the ground and injures the creatures that live in the soil.[34][35] However, adds Manusmriti, even in the times of adversity, a Brahmin must never trade or produce poison, weapons, meat, soma, liquor, perfume, milk and milk products, molasses, captured animals or birds, beeswax, sesame seeds or roots.[34]

Brahmin and renunciation tradition in Hinduism

The term Brahmin in Indian texts has signified someone who is good and virtuous, not just someone of priestly class.[36] Both Buddhist and Brahmanical literature, states Patrick Olivelle, repeatedly define "Brahmin" not in terms of family of birth, but in terms of personal qualities.[36] These virtues and characteristics mirror the values cherished in Hinduism during the Sannyasa stage of life, or the life of renunciation for spiritual pursuits. Brahmins, states Olivelle, were the social class from which most ascetics came.[36]

History

According to Abraham Eraly, "Brahmin as a varna hardly had any presence in historical records before the Gupta Empire era" (3rd century to 6th century AD), and "no Brahmin, no sacrifice, no ritualistic act of any kind ever, even once, is referred to in any Indian text" dated to be from the first century AD or before.[37] Their role as priests and repository of sacred knowledge, as well as their importance in the practice of Vedic Shrauta rituals grew during the Gupta Empire era and thereafter.[37] However, the knowledge about actual history of Brahmins or other varnas of Hinduism in and after 1st-millennium is fragmentary and preliminary, with little that is from verifiable records or archeological evidence, and much that is constructed from a-historical Sanskrit works and fiction. Michael Witzel writes,

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Toward a history of the Brahmins: Current research in the area is fragmentary. The state of our knowledge of this fundamental subject is preliminary, at best. Most Sanksrit works are a-historic or, at least, not especially interested in presenting a chronological account of India's history. When we actually encounter history, such as in Rajatarangini or in the Gopalavamsavali of Nepal, the texts do not deal with brahmins in great detail.

— Michael Witzel, Review (1993)[38]

Actual occupations of Brahmins

Adi Shankara a proponent of Advaita Vedanta, was born in a Brahmin family, and is credited with unifying and establishing the main currents of thought in Hinduism.[39][40][41]

Historical records, state scholars, suggest that Brahmin varna was not limited to a particular status or priest and teaching profession.[4][5][42] Historical records from mid 1st millennium AD and later, suggest Brahmins were agriculturalists and warriors in medieval India, quite often instead of as exception.[4][5] Donkin and other scholars state that Hoysala Empire records frequently mention Brahmin merchants "carried on trade in horses, elephants and pearls" and transported goods throughout medieval India before the 14th-century.[43][44]

The Pali Canon expresses Hindu Brahmins as the most prestigious and elite non-Buddhist figures.[42] These and other Buddhist texts record the livelihood of Brahmins to have included handicrafts and artisan work such as carpentry and architecture.[42][45] Buddhist sources extensively attest, state Greg Bailey and Ian Mabbett, that Brahmins were "supporting themselves not by religious practice, but employment in all manner of secular occupations", in the classical period of India.[42] Some of the Hindu Brahmin occupations mentioned in the Buddhist texts such as Jatakas and Sutta Nipata are very lowly.[42]

During the days of Maratha India, Brahmins were part of administration, apart from taking up military jobs and converged into the sovereign or the Chhatrapati of Satara.[46][47] They took up military jobs in the Maratha Dynasty.[48][49][50]

Eric Bellman says that during and after the Islamic Mughal Empire era Brahmins served as advisers to Maharajas and the Mughals.[51] In the British colonial era, Brahmins served as administrators for the British Raj.[51] Many Brahmins, in other parts of South Asia lived like other varna, engaged in all sorts of professions. Among Nepalese Hindus, for example, Niels Gutschow and Axel Michaels report the actual observed professions of Brahmins from 18th- to early 20th-century included being temple priests, minister, merchants, farmers, potters, masons, carpenters, coppersmiths, stone workers, barbers, gardeners among others.[52]

Other 20th-century surveys, such as in the state of Uttar Pradesh, recorded that the primary occupation of almost all Brahmin families surveyed was neither priestly nor Vedas-related, but like other varnas, ranged from crop farming (80 per cent of Brahmins), dairy, service, labour such as cooking, and other occupations.[53][54] The survey reported that the Brahmin families involved in agriculture as their primary occupation in modern times plough the land themselves, many supplementing their income by selling their labor services to other farmers.[53][55]

Brahmins, bhakti movement and social reform movements

Raja Ram Mohan Roy, a Brahmin, founded Brahmo Samaj, a reform movement.

Sheldon Pollock states that the Bhakti movement, which moved away from Vedic rituals and emphasised love of god by anyone without barrier to gender, class or caste, was a movement whose prominent thinkers and earliest champions were Brahmins.[56]

Among the many Brahmins who nurtured the Bhakti movement was Ramananda, a 14th-century devotional poet sant.[57][58] Born in a Brahmin family,[57][59] Ramananda welcomed everyone to spiritual pursuits without discriminating anyone by gender, class, caste or religion (such as Muslims).[59][60][61] He composed his spiritual message in poems, using widely spoken vernacular language rather than Sanskrit, to make it widely accessible. His ideas also influenced the founders of Sikhism in 15th century, and his verses and he are mentioned in the Sikh scripture Adi Granth.[62] The Hindu tradition recognises him as the founder of the Hindu Ramanandi Sampradaya,[63] the largest monastic renunciant community in Asia in modern times.[64][65]

Other medieval era Brahmins who led spiritual movement without social or gender discrimination included Andal (9th-century female poet), Basava (12th-century Lingayatism), Dnyaneshwar (13th-century Bhakti poet), Vallabha Acharya (16th-century Vaishnava poet), Ramprasad Sen (18th-century Shakta poet), among others.[66][67][68]

Many 18th and 19th century Brahmins are credited with religious movements that criticised idolatry. For example, the Brahmins Raja Ram Mohan Roy led Brahmo Samaj and Dayananda Saraswati led the Arya Samaj.[69][70]

Modern demographics and economic condition

According to 2007 reports, Brahmins in India are about five percent of its total population.[51][71] The Himalayan states of Uttarakhand (20%) and Himachal Pradesh (14%) have the highest percentage of Brahmin population relative to respective state's total Hindus.[71]

65 percent Brahmin households in India, with about 40 million people, live on less than $100 a month, according to a 2007 Wall Street Journal report.[51] Brahmins have also included wealthier and politically successful members such as Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India.[72]

Brahmins outside India: Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia

Among the Hindus of Bali, Indonesia, Brahmins are called Pedandas.[73] The role of Brahmin priests, called Sulinggih,[74] has been open to both genders since medieval times. A Hindu Brahmin priestess is shown above.

Some Brahmins formed an influential group in Burmese Buddhist kingdoms in 18th- and 19th-century. The court Brahmins were locally called Punna.[75] During the Konbaung dynasty, Buddhist kings relied on their court Brahmins to consecrate them to kingship in elaborate ceremonies, and to help resolve political questions.[75] This role of Hindu Brahmins in a Buddhist kingdom, states Leider, may have been because Hindu texts provide guidelines for such social rituals and political ceremonies, while Buddhist texts don't.[75]

The Brahmins were also consulted in the transmission, development and maintenance of law and justice system outside India.[75] Hindu Dharmasastras, particularly Manusmriti written by the Brahmin Manu, states Anthony Reid,[76] were "greatly honored in Burma (Myanmar), Siam (Thailand), Cambodia and Java-Bali (Indonesia) as the defining documents of law and order, which kings were obliged to uphold. They were copied, translated and incorporated into local law code, with strict adherence to the original text in Burma and Siam, and a stronger tendency to adapt to local needs in Java (Indonesia)".[76][77][78]

The mythical origins of Cambodia are credited to a Brahmin prince named Kaundinya, who arrived by sea, married a Naga princess living in the flooded lands.[79][80] Kaudinya founded Kambuja-desa, or Kambuja (transliterated to Kampuchea or Cambodia). Kaundinya introduced Hinduism, particularly Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and Harihara (half Vishnu, half Shiva), and these ideas grew in southeast Asia in the 1st millennium AD.[79]

Brahmins have been part of the Royal tradition of Thailand, particularly for the consecration and to mark annual land fertility rituals of Buddhist kings. A small Brahmanical temple Devasathan, established in 1784 by King Rama I of Thailand, has been managed by ethnically Thai Brahmins ever since.[81] The temple hosts Phra Phikhanesuan (Ganesha), Phra Narai (Narayana, Vishnu), Phra Itsuan (Shiva), Uma, Brahma, Indra (Sakka) and other Hindu deities.[81] The tradition asserts that the Thai Brahmins have roots in Hindu holy city of Varanasi and southern state of Tamil Nadu, go by the title Pandita, and the various annual rites and state ceremonies they conduct has been a blend of Buddhist and Hindu rituals.[81][82]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 James Lochtefeld (2002), Brahmin, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A–M, Rosen Publishing, ISBN 978-0823931798, page 125
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 GS Ghurye (1969), Caste and Race in India, Popular Prakashan, ISBN 978-8171542055, pages 15-18
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 David Shulman (1989), The King and the Clown, Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0691008349, page 111
  6. ↑ Max Müller, A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, Oxford University Press, pages 570-571
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ The Rig Veda/Mandala 10/Hymn 90 (Ralph Griffith, Translator);
    Transliteration:
    yat puruṣaṃ vyadadhuḥ katidhā vyakalpayan
    mukhaṃ kimasya kau bāhū kā ūrū pādā ucyete
    brāhmaṇo.asya mukhamāsīd bāhū rājanyaḥ kṛtaḥ
    ūrūtadasya yad vaiśyaḥ padbhyāṃ śūdro ajāyata
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Mahendra Kulasrestha (2007), The Golden Book of Upanishads, Lotus, ISBN 978-8183820127, page 21
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Mohr and Fear (2015), World Religions: The History, Issues, and Truth, ISBN 978-1503503694, page 81
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Robert Hume, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 3.1, Oxford University Press, pages 107- 109
  14. ↑ Patrick Olivelle (1999), Dharmasutras, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0192838827, pages xxxiv-xxxvii
  15. ↑ James Fitzgerald (2014), Old, Older, and Oldest Dharmaśāstra: The Manuscript Tradition of the Manu Śāstra, the Original Text of the Manu Śāstra, and the First Dharmasūtras, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 134, No. 3, pages 481-503
  16. ↑ RC Prasad (2014), The Upanayana: The Hindu Ceremonies of the Sacred Thread, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120812406, pages 3-4
  17. ↑ Patrick Olivelle (1999), Dharmasutras, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0192838827, pages xli-xlii, 90-91, 93
  18. ↑ Patrick Olivelle (1999), Dharmasutras, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0192838827, page 91
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Patrick Olivelle (1999), Dharmasutras, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0192838827, pages 90-91
  20. ↑ Patrick Olivelle (1999), Dharmasutras, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0192838827, pages 136-137
  21. ↑ Patrick Olivelle (1999), Dharmasutras, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0192838827, pages 267-268
  22. ↑ Patrick Olivelle (1999), Dharmasutras, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0192838827, page 284
  23. ↑ Patrick Olivelle (2005), Manu's Code of Law, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195171464, pages 16, 62-65
  24. ↑ Patrick Olivelle (2005), Manu's Code of Law, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195171464, pages 41, for specific examples see 132-134
  25. ↑ Patrick Olivelle (2005), Manu's Code of Law, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195171464, page 101
  26. ↑ John Bussanich (2014), Ancient Ethics (Editors: Jörg Hardy and George Rudebusch), Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, ISBN 978-3899716290, pages 38, 33-52, Quote: "Affinities with Greek virtue ethics are also noteworthy. Manu's dharmic Brahmin can be compared to Aristotle's man of practical wisdom, who exercises moral authority because he feels the proper emotions and judges difficult situations correctly, when moral rules and maxims are unavailable".
  27. ↑ John Bussanich (2014), Ancient Ethics (Editors: Jörg Hardy and George Rudebusch), Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, ISBN 978-3899716290, pages 44-45
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 Patrick Olivelle (1999), Dharmasutras, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0192838827, page 94
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 Patrick Olivelle (1999), Dharmasutras, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0192838827, page 89
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 Patrick Olivelle (1999), Dharmasutras, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0192838827, page 31
  31. ↑ Patrick Olivelle (2005), Manu's Code of Law, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195171464, pages 124-126
  32. ↑ Patrick Olivelle (2005), Manu's Code of Law, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195171464, page 124
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 Patrick Olivelle (2005), Manu's Code of Law, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195171464, pages 125, 211-212
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 34.3 Patrick Olivelle (2005), Manu's Code of Law, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195171464, page 212
  35. ↑ Patrick Olivelle (2011), Ascetics and Brahmins: Studies in Ideologies and Institutions, Anthem, ISBN 978-0857284327, page 39
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 36.2 Patrick Olivelle (2011), Ascetics and Brahmins: Studies in Ideologies and Institutions, Anthem, ISBN 978-0857284327, page 60
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 Abraham Eraly (2011), The First Spring: The Golden Age of India, Penguin, ISBN 978-0670084784, page 283
  38. ↑ Michael Witzel (1993) Toward a History of the Brahmins, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 113, No. 2, pages 264-268
  39. ↑ Johannes de Kruijf amd Ajaya Sahoo (2014), Indian Transnationalism Online: New Perspectives on Diaspora, ISBN 978-1-4724-1913-2, page 105, Quote: "In other words, according to Adi Shankara's argument, the philosophy of Advaita Vedanta stood over and above all other forms of Hinduism and encapsulated them. This then united Hinduism; (...) Another of Adi Shankara's important undertakings which contributed to the unification of Hinduism was his founding of a number of monastic centers."
  40. ↑ Shankara, Student's Encyclopedia Britannia - India (2000), Volume 4, Encyclopaedia Britannica (UK) Publishing, ISBN 978-0-85229-760-5, page 379, Quote: "Shankaracharya, philosopher and theologian, most renowned exponent of the Advaita Vedanta school of philosophy, from whose doctrines the main currents of modern Indian thought are derived.";
    David Crystal (2004), The Penguin Encyclopedia, Penguin Books, page 1353, Quote: "[Shankara] is the most famous exponent of Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy and the source of the main currents of modern Hindu thought."
  41. ↑ Christophe Jaffrelot (1998), The Hindu Nationalist Movement in India, Columbia University Press, ISBN 978-0-231-10335-0, page 2, Quote: "The main current of Hinduism - if not the only one - which became formalized in a way that approximates to an ecclesiastical structure was that of Shankara".
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 42.2 42.3 42.4 Greg Bailey and Ian Mabbett (2006), The Sociology of Early Buddhism, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0521025218, pages 114-115
  43. ↑ RA Donkin (1998), Beyond Price: Pearls and Pearl-fishing, American Philosophical Society, ISBN 978-0871692245, page 166
  44. ↑ SC Malik (1986), Determinants of Social Status in India, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, ISBN 978-8120800731, page 121
  45. ↑ Stella Kramrisch (1994), Exploring India's Sacred Art, Editor: Stella Miller, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120812086, pages 60-64
  46. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  49. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  50. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  51. ↑ 51.0 51.1 51.2 51.3 Eric Bellman, Reversal of Fortune Isolates India's Brahmins, The Wall Street Journal (Dec. 29, 2007)
  52. ↑ Niels Gutschow and Axel Michaels (2008), Bel-Frucht und Lendentuch: Mädchen und Jungen in Bhaktapur Nepal, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN , pages 23 (table), for context and details see 16-36
  53. ↑ 53.0 53.1 Noor Mohammad (1992), New Dimensions in Agricultural Geography, Volume 3, Concept Publishers, ISBN 8-170224039, pages 45, 42-48
  54. ↑ Ramesh Bairy (2010), Being Brahmin, Being Modern, Routledge, ISBN 978-0415585767, pages 86-89
  55. ↑ G Shah (2004), Caste and Democratic Politics in India, Anthem, ISBN 978-1843310853, page 40
  56. ↑ Sheldon Pollock (2009), The Language of the Gods in the World of Men, University of California Press, ISBN 978-0520260030, pages 423-431
  57. ↑ 57.0 57.1 Ronald McGregor (1984), Hindi literature from its beginnings to the nineteenth century, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN 978-3447024136, pages 42-44
  58. ↑ William Pinch (1996), Peasants and Monks in British India, University of California Press, ISBN 978-0520200616, pages 53-89
  59. ↑ 59.0 59.1 David Lorenzen, Who Invented Hinduism: Essays on Religion in History, ISBN 978-8190227261, pages 104-106
  60. ↑ Gerald James Larson (1995), India's Agony Over Religion, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0791424124, page 116
  61. ↑ Julia Leslie (1996), Myth and Mythmaking: Continuous Evolution in Indian Tradition, Routledge, ISBN 978-0700703036, pages 117-119
  62. ↑ Winnand Callewaert (2015), The Hagiographies of Anantadas: The Bhakti Poets of North India, Routledge, ISBN 978-1138862463, pages 405-407
  63. ↑ Schomer and McLeod (1987), The Sants: Studies in a Devotional Tradition of India, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 9788120802773, pages 4-6
  64. ↑ Selva Raj and William Harman (2007), Dealing with Deities: The Ritual Vow in South Asia, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0791467084, pages 165-166
  65. ↑ James G Lochtefeld (2002), The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: N-Z, Rosen Publishing, ISBN 978-0823931804, pages 553-554
  66. ↑ John Stratton Hawley (2015), A Storm of Songs: India and the Idea of the Bhakti Movement, Harvard University Press, ISBN 978-0674187467, pages 304-310
  67. ↑ Rachel McDermott (2001), Singing to the Goddess: Poems to Kālī and Umā from Bengal, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195134346, pages 8-9
  68. ↑ "Mahima Dharma, Bhima Bhoi and Biswanathbaba", An Orissa movement by Brahmin Mukunda Das (2005)
  69. ↑ Noel Salmond (2004), Hindu iconoclasts: Rammohun Roy, Dayananda Sarasvati and nineteenth-century polemics against idolatry, Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press, ISBN 0-88920-419-5, pages 65-68
  70. ↑ Dorothy Figueira (2002), Aryans, Jews, Brahmins: Theorizing Authority through Myths of Identity, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0791455319, pages 90-117
  71. ↑ 71.0 71.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  72. ↑ P Mishra (2002), Temptations of the West: How to Be Modern in India, Pakistan, Tibet, and Beyond, Macmillan, ISBN 978-0312426415, page 179
  73. ↑ Martin Ramstedt (2003), Hinduism in Modern Indonesia, Routledge, ISBN 978-0700715336, page 256
  74. ↑ Martin Ramstedt (2003), Hinduism in Modern Indonesia, Routledge, ISBN 978-0700715336, page 80
  75. ↑ 75.0 75.1 75.2 75.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  76. ↑ 76.0 76.1 Anthony Reid (1988), Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce, 1450-1680: The lands below the winds, Yale University Press, ISBN 978-0300047509, pages 137-138
  77. ↑ Victor Lieberman (2014), Burmese Administrative Cycles, Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0691612812, pages 66-68; Also see discussion of 13th century Wagaru Dhamma-sattha / 11th century Manu Dhammathat manuscripts discussion
  78. ↑ On Laws of Manu in 14th century Thailand's Ayuthia kingdom named after Ayodhya, see David Wyatt (2003), Thailand: A Short History, Yale University Press, ISBN 978-0300084757, page 61;
    Robert Lingat (1973), The Classical Law of India, University of California Press, ISBN 978-0520018983, pages 269-272
  79. ↑ 79.0 79.1 Trevor Ranges (2010), Cambodia, National Geographic, ISBN 978-1426205200, page 48
  80. ↑ Jonathan Lee and Kathleen Nadeau (2010), Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore and Folklife, Volume 1, ABC, ISBN 978-0313350665, page 1223
  81. ↑ 81.0 81.1 81.2 HG Quadritch Wales (1992), Siamese State Ceremonies,, Curzon Press, ISBN 978-0700702695, pages 54-63
  82. ↑ Boreth Ly (2011), Early Interactions Between South and Southeast Asia (Editors: Pierre-Yves Manguin, A. Mani, Geoff Wade), Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, ISBN 978-9814311168, pages 461-475

Further reading

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