Brahmanism is a religious and social system prevalent amongst the Hindus, and so called because it was developed and expounded by the sacerdotal caste known as the Brahmans. Brahmanism is founded on the ancient religious writings known as the Vedas and regarded as sacred revelations, of which the Brahmans as a body became custodians and interpreters, being also the officiating priests and the general directors of sacrifices and religious rites.
As the priestly caste increased in numbers and power they went on elaborating the ceremonies, and added to the Vedas other writings tending to confirm the excessive pretensions of this now predominant caste, and give them the sanction of a revelation. The earliest supplements to the Vedas are the Brahmanas, more fully explaining the functions of the officiating priests. Both together form the revealed Scriptures of the Hindus.
In time the caste of Brahmans came to be accepted as a divine institution, and an elaborate system of rules defining and enforcing by the severest penalties its place as well as that of the inferior castes was promulgated. Other early castes were the Kshattriyas or warriors, and the Vaisyas or cultivators, and it was not without a struggle that the former recognized the superiority of the Brahmans. It was by the Brahmans that the Sanskrit literature was developed;
and they were not only the priests, theologians, and philosophers, but also the poets, men of science, lawgivers, administrators, and statesmen of the Aryans of India.
The sanctity and inviolability of a Brahman are maintained by severe penalties. The murder of one of the order, robbing him, etc, are inexpiable sins; even the killing of his cow can only be expiated by a painful penance. A Brahman should pass through four states: First, as Brahmachari, or novice, he begins the study of the sacredVedas, and is initiated into the privileges and the duties of his caste. He has a right to alms, to exemption from taxes, and from capital and even corporal punishment. Flesh and eggs he is not allowed to eat. Leather, skins of animals, and most animals themselves are impure and not to be touched by him. When manhood comes he ought to marry, and as Grihastha enter the second state, which requires more numerous and minute observances. When he has begotten a son and trained him up for the holy calling he ought to enter the third state, and as Vanaprastha, or inhabitant of the forest, retire from the world for solitary praying and meditation, with severe penances to purify the spirit; but this and the fourth or last state of a Sannyasi, requiring a cruel degree of asceticism, are now seldom reached, and the whole scheme is to be regarded as representing rather the Brahmanical ideal of life than the actual facts.
The worship represented in the oldest Vedic literature is that of natural objects: the sky, personified in the god Indra; the dawn, in Ushas; the various attributes of the sun, in Vishnu, Surya, Agni, etc. These gods were invoked for assistance in the common affairs of life, and were propitiated by offerings which, at first few and simple, afterwards became more complicated and included animal sacrifices. In the later Vedic hymns a philosophical conception of religion and the problems of being and creation appears struggling into existence; and this tendency is systematically developed by the supplements and commentaries known as the Brahmanas and the Upanishads. In some of the Upanishads the deities of the old Vedic creed are treated as symbolical. Brahma, the supreme soul, is the only reality, the world is regarded as an emanation from him, and the highest good of the soul is to become united with the divine. The necessity for the purification of the soul in order to its reunion with the divine nature gave rise to the doctrine of metempsychosis or transmigration.
This philosophical development of Brahmanism gave rise to a distinct separation between the educated and the vulgar creeds. Whilst from the fifth to the first century BC the higher thinkers amongst the Brahmans were developing a philosophy which recognized that there was but one god, the popular creed had concentrated its ideas of worship round three great deities - Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, who now took the place of the confused old Vedic Pantheon. Brahma, the creator, though considered the most exalted of the three, was too abstract an idea to become a, popular god, and soon sank almost out of notice. Thus the Brahmans became divided between Vishnu, the preserver, and Siva, the destroyer and reproducer, and the worshippers of these two deities now form the two great religious sects of India. Siva, in his philosophical significance, is the deity mostly worshipped by the conventional Brahman, while in his aspect of the Destroyer, or in one of his female manifestations, he is the god of the low castes, and was often worshipped with degrading rites. But the highly cultivated Brahman was still a pure theist, and the educated Hindu in general professes to regard the special deity he chooses for worship as merely a form under which the One First Cause may be approached
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The sharp division of the people of India into 'civilized' Aryans and crude non-Aryans had a great influence upon Brahmanism, and thus the spiritual conceptions of the old Vedic creed were mixed in later Hinduism with superstitions and customs belonging to the so-called aboriginal races. Suttee, for example, or the burning of widows, has no authority in the Veda, but like most of the darker features of Hinduism is the result of a compromise which the Brahmanical teachers had to make with the non-Aryan races in India. The Buddhist religion has also had an important influence on the Brahmanic.
The system of caste originally no doubt represented distinctions of race. The early classification of the people was that of 'twice-born' Aryans (priests, warriors, husbandmen) and once-born non-Aryans (serfs); but intermarriages, giving rise to a mixed progeny, and the variety of employments in later times, profoundly modified this simple classification. Innumerable minor distinctions have grown up, so that amongst the Brahmans alone there are several hundred castes who traditionally cannot intermarry or eat food cooked by each other.
The Brahmans represent the highest culture of India, and as the result of centuries of education and self-restraint have evolved a type of man considered by the West as distinctly superior to the castes around them. They still had great influence at the start of the 20th century, and occupied the highest places at the courts of princes. Many, however, were driven by need or other motives into trades and employments inconsistent with the original character of their caste. Research Brahmanism
A triad is an association of three kindred or correlated deities. In ancient Egypt, cycles of this type usually arose out of the association with the chief local god of other deities; in some instances the members were deemed to stand in the relationship of father, mother and child. Such were the Theban triad of Amen, Nut and Khons; the Memphite of Ptah, Sekhet and Nefertum; and the Osiris-Isis-Horus triad, which, n the Alexandrian form, comprised Serapis, Isis and Harpocrates.
In Babylonia, triads were derived from early conceptions of a cosmic trinity, such as Anu, Enlil and Ea representing sky, earth and water: and shin, Shamash and Ishtar, representing sun, moon and star. Early Aryan thought moved in the same direction in the Vedic triad of Agni, Indra and Surya, representing fire, wind and sun. out of this emerged the Brahman Trimurti, or three aspects, portrayed as a three-headed image in a famous sculpture at Elephanta, and comprising Brahma, the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Siva the destroyer.
Buddhism adopted the principle in the Triratna, or three jewels, which were at first the Sangha or monastic order, portrayed as a man holding a lotus, the Buddha, and the Dharma, or sacred law.
The Triad Society of China, denoting the union of heaven, earth and man arose in the 18th century and became a powerful anti-dynastic movement. Research Triad
The bo tree, lso called the Pipal or Prepul (Ficus religiosa) is an Indian fig tree held sacred to Buddha and of Vishnu. It is a tree of considerable size, with sap abounding in caoutchouc, while it also yields lac. Research Bo tree
Brahma is the Hindu supreme god and creator of the cosmos. He is the first person of the Hindu triad, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. He is represented as a man of a red colour with four faces and generally four hands each of which holds a portion of the Vedas, in one a lustral vessel, in one a rosary, and in one a sacrificial spoon. Research Brahma
In Hindu mythology Krishna is the supreme god, or to some people the only god. He was the eighth avatar of Vishnu and was sent into the world to kill the demon-king Kansa who had outlawed Vishnu- worship and upset the universal balance between good and evil. Research Krishna
Lakshmi or Lakshami, is the Hindu goddess of wealth, beauty, books and learning. She has three forms: Mahalakshmi the goddess of wealth and money, Mahasaraswati the goddess of books and learning, and Mahakali. Lakshmi is the consort of Vishnu and is celebrated during Divali. Lakshmi is said to adore cleanliness, and as such Hindus consider the brrom sacred to her. The worship of the goddess of wealth is known as Lakshmi Pooja and is very important to Hindus. Research Lakshmi
In Hindu mythology, Parashurama was the sixthavatar of Vishnu. He was the youngest son of a forest dwelling hermit with a family of sons. He was both a devout servant of the gods and a keen huntsman. In return for his prayers the gods gave him unerring skill with a bow, but demons afraid that he would use his archery against them stole his bow. Vishnu answered his prayers and entered him and gave him a battle-axe and told him to use it to fight the enemies of the gods. While Parashurama was praying on a mountain, his mother coming home saw two people making love in a forest pool and became sexually excited. Returning home her husband detected her impure thoughts and ordered each of his sons in turn to behead her, each refused and their father punished them by making them as stupid as the cattle they looked after. When
Parashurama arrived home with the battle- axe he understood his father's request, and cut off his mothers head. Immediately her head touched the floor she was restored to life cleansed of her impure thoughts, and
Parashurama's father rewarded him with immunity from death in war. Research Parashurama
In Hindu mythology, Rahu is the demon that causes eclipses. The story says that he drank some of the nectar of immortality, was caught by the sun and moon who informed upon him and Vishnu cut off his head, however the mouth having touched the elixir remained immortal and forever hunts the sun and moon, occasionally catching them and so causing eclipses. Research Rahu
In Hindu mythology, Vishnu is the second god of the triad. He appears as a manifestation of the sun, and is represented as having four arms. Whenever a great physical or moral disorder affects the world he sent a portion of his essence to set it right in the form of an avatar or incarnation. Research Vishnu
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
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