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Topic: Brahman (caste)


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In the News (Sat 26 Jul 08)

  
  Social Castes
The word "caste" is derived from the Portuguese casta, meaning "pure" or "chaste." The Sanskrit words varna and jati are commonly translated as "caste" but this is misleading and obscures important differences between them.
The brahmans belong to the original caste, the ksatriyas to the Treta Yuga or second age, the vaisyas to the Dvapara Yuga or third age, and the sudras to the Kali Yuga or present corrupt age.
The sacred thread of the brahman is of munja grass, that of the ksatriya is a bow-string, and the vaisya wears one of hemp or wool.
philtar.ucsm.ac.uk /encyclopedia/hindu/ascetic/castes.html   (1257 words)

  
 Brahman
The first of the four castes; the sacerdotal class, the members of which may be, but are not necessarily, priests.
A Brahman is the chief of all created beings; his person is inviolate; he is entitled to all honour, and enjoys many rights and privileges.
The divisions and subdivisions of the Brahman caste are almost innumerable.
www.mythfolklore.net /india/encyclopedia/brahman.htm   (430 words)

  
 Caste System of Balinese Hinduism (Different Bali Indonesia Encyclopedia)
The first one, and the highest, was hold by the Brahman (caste of the priests and the teachers).
The fourth caste (95% of the total population) was hold by the Sudra (lower caste of peasants and craftmen).
Still, it is well known that Brahman young men are more often “playboys” (able to catch girls easily) then the Sudra are (it is said that Sudra girls still dream of climbing the hierarchy and to become a “Jero”, a new Brahman woman, and offer themselves to any young Brahman who points his finger).
www.differentbaliindonesia.com /encyclopedia/caste-system-of-hinduism.html   (645 words)

  
  India - Caste and Class
Brahmans are usually expected to be nonviolent and spiritual, according with their traditional roles as vegetarian teetotaler priests.
An example of such behavior is that of some Leatherworker castes adopting a policy of not eating beef, in the hope that abstaining from the defiling practice of consuming the flesh of sacred bovines would enhance their castes' status.
Caste associations have expanded their areas of concern beyond traditional elite emulation and local politics into the wider political arenas of state and national politics.
countrystudies.us /india/89.htm   (5053 words)

  
 Brahman
In the Vedantic (and subsequently Yogic) schools of Hinduism, Brahman is the signifying name given to the concept of the unchanging, infinite, immanent and transcendent reality that is the Divine Ground of all being.
In the Hindu pantheon, Brahman should not be confused with the first of the Hindu Trimurti (= trinity) of Brahma (the Creator), Vishnu (the Preserver) and Shiva (the Destroyer).
Brahman is beyond the senses, beyond the mind, beyond intelligence, beyond imagination.
www.thaiexotictreasures.com /brahman.html   (1106 words)

  
 Caste System in Hinduism
The former includes the Brahman, the Kshatriya and the Vashya who are the descendants of the fair-skinned Aryan invaders and the latter includes the Sudras, who are dark in skin and are the offspring of the original inhabitants of India.
According to Markandaya Purana, after death, the virtuous Brahman goes to the abode of Brahma, the good Kshatriya to that of Indra, the worthy Vashya to that of the Maruts, and the dutiful Sudra to that of the Gandharvas [ 3 ].
Caste originally was a colour-bar, and in India, as later in America, served at first to separate free men from slaves.
salam.muslimsonline.com /babri/caste.htm   (1330 words)

  
 Caste System in india, Indian Caste System, Caste in India
Basic caste is called varn.a, or "color." Subcaste, or jâti, "birth, life, rank," is a traditional subdivision of varn.a.
Why there are so many Untouchables (15%-20% or so of Hindus) is unclear, although caste Hindus can be ejected from their jâtis and become outcastes and various tribal or formerly tribal people in India may never have been properly integrated into the social system.
Today the status of the Shudras, Untouchables, and other "scheduled castes," and the preferential policies that the Indian government has designed for their advancement ever since Independence, are sources of serious conflict, including murders and riots, in Indian society.
www.indhistory.com /india-caste-system.html   (1737 words)

  
 Raceandhistory.com - Apartheid Varna System
The word caste is of Portuguese origin, and refers to this co-existence and preservation of different identities for races, not necessarily with a loose hierarchy.
The sanctity and infallibility of the Vedas, Smritis and Shastras, the iron law of caste, the heartless law of karma and the senseless law of status by birth are to the Untouchables veritable instruments of torture which Hinduism has forged against untouchables.
The caste which dwell there are severally the Kapilas, Arunas, Pitas, and Krishnas (or, the Tawny, the Purple, the Yellow and the Black).
www.raceandhistory.com /historicalviews/varna.htm   (4017 words)

  
 Brahmin-every brahmin should read-amresh vashisht - www.ezboard.com
Brahmanical lawgivers developed the theory of defilement and laid a ban on certain kinds of food as being intrinisically unfit for consumption by the twice born or upper castes.
Brahman is the totality of the universe as it is present outside of you; Atman is the totality of the universe as it is present within you; Brahman is the totality of the world known objectively, Atman is the totality of the world known subjectively.
Brahman is not defined anywhere in the upanishhads: it is merely described in rather sketchy terms.
p196.ezboard.com /fyoga84291frm7.showMessage?topicID=121.topic   (4145 words)

  
 Brahman   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-13)
The word Brahman is derived from the Sanskrit word for power, specifically the power of ritual and sacrifice to change the material world.
Philosophers of the Upanishads identify Brahman, the world soul, with atman, the inner essence of the human being, or the human soul.
'Brahman' is also an alternate spelling of Brahmin, the highest of the four castes, or 'varnas' in the Indian caste system.
www.free-web-template.org /br/brahman.html   (411 words)

  
 Hinduism - Religions of India - Hindus - Karma - Dharma - Haryana Online
Brahman is the ultimate, both transcendent and immanent the absolute infinite existence, the sum total of all that ever is, was, or ever shall be.
Brahman is not a God in the monotheistic sense, as it is not imbued with any limiting characteristics, not even those of being and non-being, and this is reflected in the fact that in Sanskrit, the word Brahman is of neuter (as opposed to masculine or feminine) gender.
It is considered one of the most universal of all Hindu mantras, invoking the universal Brahman as the principle of knowledge and the illumination of the primordial Sun.
www.haryana-online.com /Culture/hinduism.htm   (3807 words)

  
 Hinduism
Caste alone could not perpetuate the Aryan religio-cultural system, and as the inferior religions of the Deccan permeated the north, there developed an age of despair and hopelessness.
In their efforts at self-preservation the Brahmans had rejected the one God of Melchizedek, and now they found themselves with the hypothesis of Brahman, that indefinite and illusive philosophic self, that impersonal and impotent it which has left the spiritual life of India helpless and prostrate from that unfortunate day to the twentieth century.
Brahmanic philosophy has approximated many of the facts of the universe and has approached numerous cosmic truths, but it has all too often fallen victim to the error of failing to differentiate between the several levels of reality, such as absolute, transcendental, and finite.
www.geocities.com /theworldsreligions/hinduism.html   (2299 words)

  
 Caste System
A BRAHMAN should study (the Vedas), offer sacrifices, make charities, and sojourn to the best of all holy places on the earth; he should teach, minister as a priest in sacrifices offered by others worthy of such help, and accept gifts from persons who are known.
Cast off at a distance lust and wrath and covetousness and honour, and, always observing the dictates of righteousness, punish with your own hands the man, whoever he may be, that deviates from the path of duty.
By these evil deeds of the destroyers of the family, which cause confusion of castes, the eternal religious rites of the caste and the family are destroyed.
www.hinduism.co.za /caste.htm   (7237 words)

  
 Brahman - Param Atma - God - Hinduism - Vedas - Haryana Online - India
However as the centuries passed and Upanishads, the primary Vedantic scriptures, are written the concept of Brahman fittingly grew in scope and complexity.
Brahman is also not restricted to the usual dimensional perspectives of being, and thus enlightenment, Moksha, Yoga, Samadhi, Nirvana, etc. in the Hindu perspective is not merely coming to know Brahman, but to realize one's 'Brahman-hood', to actually realize that one is and always was Brahman.
Philosopher mystics of the Upanishads identify Brahman with atman, the inner essence of the human being, or the human soul.
www.haryana-online.com /Culture/brahman.htm   (770 words)

  
 Between Sundays: Hinduism
Though the Indian Parliament has outlawed caste discrimination and education is eroding some of its power, custom and tradition are so thoroughly ingrained in Indian life that change moves slowly and with great difficulty.
Caste is less a foctor than it once was, yet it still pervades Hindu society and is most powerfuI in the many small villages where the majority of India's population lives.
Some historians claim that castes were not originally a part of the Hindu religion but were created to defend the position of the Aryan ruling class against both the indigenous population and later conquerors.
www.uua.org /clf/betweensundays/middlechildhood/Hindus2.html   (966 words)

  
 Caste System and Casteism
Thus it is also clear from the above that one (of any caste or background) need not feel disadvantaged, discriminated, dispossessed or deprived of spirituality as a Hindu if he / she pursues God by own free will in a manner convenient or appropriate to him / her.
Brahman, as Nirguna, has no attributes (is formless and unmanifested), whereas as Saguna (or Iswara) is manifested and with attributes.
In the case of Saguna Brahman, there are two types of worship -- one is of a personal God as the Immanent, and the other by using symbols.
www.geocities.com /lamberdar/_caste.html   (8003 words)

  
 The Origin Of Caste
This state of caste development is represented in a sloka of the same Anushasana Parva which states that: “of the four wives of four orders of a Brahman, in the two higher he himself (i.e., a Brahman) is born, in the two lower less pure sons are born who belong to their mother’s varna.”.
The colour of the Brahman was white; that of the Kshatriyas red; that of the Vaisyas yellow; and that of the Sudras fl”.
The rank of any caste as higher or low depends upon whether the industry represented by the caste belongs to an advanced or backward stage of culture; and thus the natural history of human industries affords the chief due to the gradations as well as the formation of Indian castes.
www.islam4all.com /the_origin_of_caste.htm   (4335 words)

  
 Brahman: Encyclopedia II - Brahman - Semantics and pronunciation
In the earliest Vedic Sanskrit: The word stem (neuter gender) is Brahman (ब्रह्मन्, pronounced as /brəh mən/) and its nominative singular form is Brahma (ब्रह्म, pronounced as /brəh mə/).
The word stem (neuter gender) is Brahman (ब्रह्मन्, pronounced as /brəh mən/) and its nominative singular form is Brahma (ब्रह्म, pronounced as /brəh mə/).
Ishvara, or the Supreme God (lit., Supreme Lord), which may be completely identified with the Supreme Truth Brahman, as by the Dvaita philosophy, or partially as a worldly manifestation of the Brahman having (positive) attributes.
www.experiencefestival.com /a/Semantics_and_pronunciation/id/1286744   (655 words)

  
 VNN Editorial - One Caste
The word Brahman refers to the greatness and nourishment of unbroken knowledge or supreme consciousness, unalloyed consciousness, pure consciousness, and eternal consciousness.
Since the living entities are constitutionally marginal, sometimes they identify themselves as under the subordination of unbroken knowledge, sometimes they misidentify themselves as brahman or knowers of dualistic knowledge and sometimes they misidentify themselves as matter, which is opposite to brahman.
The hamsas, however, know perfectly well that Brahman, which is devoid of form and variegatedness, is a partial manifestation of the Supreme Lord.
www.vnn.org /editorials/ET9904/ET24-3685.html   (1089 words)

  
 Journey through Timeless India - Glossary of Indian terms
Brahman (Brahamana): the highest of the four Hindu castes.
The priestly caste consists of many sub-castes depending on the area the priest comes from and the duties he performs, such as temple priest, family priest, astrologer, teacher, cook, etc. [Brahman is written in italicized letters in the text.]
On the other hand, J. Nehru was a Kashmir Brahman (considered a lower status in the Brahman caste hierachy); however, he and his father were attorneys, a Kshatriaya caste function.
www.timelessindia.us /glossary.htm   (5210 words)

  
 Cricket, Lagaan, and Caste
The brahman is conspicuous by his absence, except as the priest in the background with no dialogue.
It is the acknowledgement of caste (in passing) and its negotiation/accommodation on casteist/brahmanic terms that makes Lagaan the darling of the liberal-seculars.
And cricket rules because the brahmanical caste system, with is bedrock as inequality, continues to grip India.
jan.ucc.nau.edu /~sj6/Eatingwith.html   (6205 words)

  
 Maithil Brahman --  Encyclopædia Britannica
The elevated position of the Brahmans goes back to the late Vedic period, when the Indo-European-speaking settlers in northern India were already divided into Brahmans, or priests, warriors (of the Kshatriya class), traders (of the Vaisya class), and labourers (of the Sudra...
As the All, brahman causes the universe and all beings to emanate from itself, transforms itself...
The Brahmans are large, with a hump of cartilage and fat rising above the neck and withers.
www.britannica.com /eb/article?tocId=9050196   (786 words)

  
 Caste and Casteism amongst the Hindu, (Muslim, Christian, and Sikh) Communities in India
In the Indian lexion we refer to caste by the words 'Varna' meaning colour and 'Jati' which is derived from the root syllable 'Ja' which means 'to be born'.
All this along with the recurring caste carnages and the ongoing caste politics are a constant reminder to us Indians that caste and casteism which we have inherited from our history are still active and alive around us.
The vaishya varna or caste is the third of the four social strata of vedic society.
www.salagram.net /castevedic.html   (6273 words)

  
 [No title]
Caste system originally recognized supremacy of warrior caste, Kshatriyas, followed by priests or Brahman caste, merchants and farmers (Vaisyas), and subsistence laborers (Sudras).
Hinduism also furnished moral system to legitimate social caste system (reincarnation means one could eventually rise to higher caste levels through reincarnation).
However, Brahman caste also supplanted warrior caste in hierarchy and imposes greater moral authority on society at large.
web.ics.purdue.edu /~rauhn/H102_11.doc   (1765 words)

  
 Brahman: Encyclopedia II - Brahman - Brahman and Atman
Brahman - Brahman and Atman: Encyclopedia II - Brahman - Brahman and Atman
While Advaita philosophy considers Brahman to be without any form, qualities, or attributes, Dvaita philosophy understands nir-guna as without material form or without bad qualities.
The phrase that is seen to be the only possible (and still thoroughly inadequate) description of Brahman that humans, with limited minds and being, can entertain is the Sanskrit word Sacchidānanda, which is combined from sat-chit-ānanda, meaning "truth - knowledge - bliss".
www.experiencefestival.com /a/Brahman_and_Atman/id/1286745   (483 words)

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