Tag: Smriti

The Smarta or smaarta community

In Andhra Pradesh state area, the brahmins who follow some residual vedic traditions are found only among the Smaartas, i.e. followers of the Smritis, who follow Adi Sankaracharya‘s reforms after Buddhism faded away. They don’t take sectarian sides as other sects do. The old vedic families, including the numerous migrations seem to have merged into smaartas, with additions from other local communities and (…unemployed) buddhist teachers. The Smaartas in the peninsula (maharashtra-karnataka-andhra) are traditionally associated with the old Sringeri monastery of sankaracharya.

(* Please note there is no clear unbroken link to any genuine “vedic” time. It is most likely several UNRELATED groups at various times got “promoted” to status of “brahmins” after they fulfilled the then-accepted relevant criteria. This also explains the several layers of interpolation in the old books. )

These smaartas were divided in medieval times (probably chalukya) into secular bureaucrat brahmins called Niyogi and temple brahmins called Vaidiki. Those of the Vaidikis who retain the vedic school traditions and are highly accomplished in scholarship are considered top of the hierarchy. .The niyogis are of lesser ritual rank. The niyogis were the civil servants of most of the medieval kingdoms. Until recently they were also the karnams (village accountant) for many centuries. They have left most of the villages today. The niyogis are progressive and insist on education (modern education). many are erudite scholars and since they are quite aware of the development down the centuries of Indian society, thought and culture they are conseqently sceptical of various exaggerated claims and rituals too.

In the case of Vaidikis, however, most are actually from very poor temple servants who follow the later medieval reformers, and are not connected to any vedic tradition. In many cases, their idea of education, learning and wisdom is often mere superstition and fabricated symbolic and clueless ritual. But they too are getting out of the villages and migrating to the cities, and their children also are emphasising higher education rather than ritual. Now in Andhra pradesh, Hindus seem to prefer “conservative” rituals in matters like weddings, festival observances, funerals etc. This is particularly so in rural areas, and ritual priests are in demand. But apparently there is a shortage (?!).

Subsects :-
Two divisions of subsects are found among the Smaartas, Vaidiki and Niyogi. Further some geographical differences are seen. For instance niyogis—Arvela ( also written aruvela), Telagaanya,Nandavaarika, Paakalanati, and Yaagnavaalkya : Most of the stories explaining the terms are false. Telagaanya indicates hailing originally from Telangana. Some researchers say Arvela is not aru-vela “6000 village” but Aar-vela ie greater velanadu ( expanded velanadu. i.e. northern and southern bank of Krishna river.)
A section of Telangana niyogis seem to have a marathi origin and are called Golkonda vyaapari. There is a small section called prathama sakhi, they are not part of the main Apastamba group, but instead follow the sukla yajurveda. Now the schools of the sukla yajurveda are many, and yagnavalkya was one of the early founders. Many irregular ‘brahmins’ also claim affiliation to yagnavalkya, and the good hearted yagnavaalkis merely shrug, smile and remain silent. So in the enumeration of the schools of the sukla yajurveda, yagnavalkya clan is called ‘prathama sakhi’ i.e. the first among the sukla yajurvedic schools. (the bulk of the AP brahmins belong to Apastamba sakha of Black Yajyurveda and not the various sukla yajurvedic schools )

Among vaidikis are , Mulakanadu ,Telagaanya or Telanga, Kaasalnaadu and Yaagnavaalkya—most of these seem to be regional in origin…e.g. Mulkinadu is old Mulaka, somewhere around today’s Medak district or to its north.

Andhra Brahmin Surnames.Sarma, Sastri, Somayajulu

Deshastha Bramins,Maharashtra Surnames.

A large number of Deshastha surnames are also derived by adding the suffix -kar to the village from which the family originally hails.^[2] For example, Bidkar hails from the town of Beed,Dharwadkar hails from the town of Dharwad, and the Marathi poet V.V. Shirwadkar (colloquially know as Kusumagraj) hails from the town of Shirwad.

Some surnames describe personal characteristics, such as Buddhisagar meaning “ocean of intellect,”^[3] Dharmadhikari meaning “one who is fit for religious duty,”^[4] and Vyavahare meaning “learned or prosperous.”

As detailed in the table below, Deshastha Brahmins are subdivided into Rigvedi and Yajurvedi subsects. They are also subdivided into lineages based on their descent from the original sevenVedic rishis (Saptarishi): Atri, Angiras (forefather of Bharadwaj), Bhrigu (forefather of Bhargava and Jamadagni), Gautama, Vasistha, Visvamitra (forefather of Kaushik), and Agastya or Kasyapa(there is conflicting interpretations between the Brahmanas and Upanisads with respect to Agastya‘s and Kasyapa‘s inclusion in the original Saptarishi). Lastly, each Deshastha Brahmin family worships a particular family deity and originally hails from a particular town or village.

Table of Deshastha Surnames

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Deshastha_Brahmin_surnames

http://indculture0.tripod.com/brahmins.htm

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