BRAHMANS. The priestly caste of India. The caste seems to have originated in the bards, ministers and family priests attached to the king's household in Vedic times. " Gradually then from the household priests and those who made dt their business to commit to memory and recite the sacred hymns and verses handed down orally from generation to generation through this agency, an occupational caste emerged, which arrogated to itself the monopoly of these functions, and the doc trine developed that nobody could perform them who was not qualified by birth, that is, nobody could be a Brahman who was not the son of a Brahman " (Russell and Hira Lid). When the Sanskrit language ceased to be the language spoken by ordinary people, the Brah mans alone held the key to the sacred books, and for a long time they enjoyed a monopoly of literacy and education. This-made their intellectual, religious, and even administrative leadership secure. A change, how ever is taking place now through the action of the British Government, which has made education available to all. It is no longer possible for a Brahman to learn all the Vedas and their commentaries. Hence the ordinary
Brahman devotes himself to one of the branches (or Shakhas) into which each Veda has been divided, and only to one Veda. This has given rise to a kind of sectarian division. In the Central Provinces most Brahmans are either Rigvedis or Yajurvedis, who usually marry only followers of their own Veda. " Formerly the Brahman considered himself as a part of Brahma, and hence a god. This belief has decayed, but the gods are still held to reside in the body : Siva in the crown of the head, Vishnu •in the chest, Brahma in the navel, Indra in the genitals and Ganesh in the rectum. Most Brahmans belong to a sect worshipping especially Siva or Vishnu, or Rama and Krishna, the incarnations of the latter god, or Sakti, the female principle of energy of Siva. But as a rule Brahmans, whether of the Sivite or Vishnuite sects, abstain from flesh meat and are averse to the killing of any living thing " (Russell and Hira Lai). See R. V. Russell, and cp. J. Dowson.