Tag Upanayana

Brahmin An Outcast ,Vratya, Manusmriti

In this article we shall see how a Brahmin is declared as an Outcast in one instance, which is very serious.

That instance is Upanayana, wearing of the Sacred Thread)Ceremony)

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36. In the eighth year after conception, one should perform the initiation (upanayana) of a Brahmana, in the eleventh after conception (that) of a Kshatriya, but in the twelfth that of a Vaisya.

37. (The initiation) of a Brahmana who desires proficiency in sacred learning should take place in the fifth (year after conception), (that) of a Kshatriya who wishes to become powerful in the sixth, (and that) of a Vaisya who longs for (success in his) business in the eighth.

History Of Brahmins India

Such is the expectations from the Brahmins, the Manu Dharma Shastra sanctions 1000 times more severe punishment for Brahmin for similar offence committed by the other groups like Kshatriya, Vaisya and Sudras.

There are references to Brahmins from time of the Vedas, about 5000 years old, and in the Purans.

Pippalatha, Katyayani.Angiras,Bharadwaja,Maitri, Gargi are some of the Brahmins who composed the Veda sutras.

Maitri, Gargi and Katyayani were women.

The Brahmins were spread through out the world as were the Vedas.

Later after Sage Viswamitra consigned his sons beyond the Vindhyas to the Dakshina Desa, or Dravida, there appeared a distinction between the Brahmins of the North and those from the South.