Brahman

Brahman, also spelled Brahmin, is one of the four varnas in the Hindu varna system. It is also the first. The three others are Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra. The word Brahman is derived from the word Brahm the Supreme God, meaning thereby, a person who knows Brahm. Later, the sons of Brahma the creator god, were categorized as Brahmans giving way to a caste system by birth. However, the Hindu law giver Manu has said that everybody is Shudra by birth but a Braman by karma (ie in action). Obviously, a life in ignorance is a life of Shudra, and a life in complete spiritual knowledge of the Supreme being is the life of a Brahman, he insisted.

All the castes and subcastes of the Brahman varna are considered collectively as Brahman caste. The chief duty of a Brahman is to study and teach vedas, and perform religious ceremonies and performances. The life of a Brahman is divided into four ashramas - Brahmacharya, Grihastha, Vanprastha, and Sannyas.

It is to be noted here that in ancient days, when a Brahman boy was born, a sacred fire was lit in his home. At the time of his attaining the age of 16, this sacred fire was given to him with the instruction that either he should take sannyasa or go to study the vedas and sacred scriptures after completion of which he should return to lead a Grihastha life.

Later, this system was altogether abandoned in favour of an other. In the childhood, at about eight years of age, he was to be given a sacred thread (the Janeu) as a mark of initiation in study. After the performance of the ritual of the sacred thread a Brahman is called a Dvija, ie twice born, because he has left the life of darkness for the life of spiritual knowledge of the Supreme God Brahm.