Period of Brāhmaṇa (lectured by Mr. Udita Garusiṅgha) 2011

 
            The Brāhmaṇa clan is believed to be born from Āryan people. It is mentioned in the Pṇli and Sanskrit sources that they were white in color. And they introduced themselves as the highest class in the Indian society. And they told others that they were born from the mouth of the Mahā Brahma.

             The Brahmins were influenced much on various aspects of the Indian society such as politics, culture, economy, philosophy, religion and so on. It was decided that Brahmins had to learn Vedic script including  the three Vedas since their childhood. Education was compulsory for the Brahmin priests. Therefore, the Brahmin class enjoyed the highest position in education as well as the power of ruling. All that because the Brahmins were educated people. They were the advisers of the king as well as the leaders of the society. The terms “vedānaṁ pāragu, vedesu kovido” etc. entitle some as experts in the field of education.

              They had to learn ancient lore and astrology, science of letters, compendiums and poetics, byākaraṇa, sophistry, great signs of man, etymology, etc. We can find the names of very famous Brahmins who seemed to be the educators. Some of the Brahmins had thousands of students and followers. Soṇadaṇḍa, Assalāyana, Kūṭadanta, Poṭṭhapāda, Jānussoni, Pokkharasāti and Todeyya were some of them.

              A Brahmin priest started his education with the action of Upanayanakarma, Sacred Thread. As we mentioned before, the learning of Veda was compulsory for the Brahmin students. The meaning of Veda is knowledge. The term “Veda” derived from the root “vid”. It means “to know or to understand”. The Veda is a revelation of sages (ṛṣi). The ṛṣi heard the Veda from Mahā Brahma. The Brāhmaṇa caste maintained the Veda by learning by heart from generation to generation. This Brahmin tradition received the knowledge by listening. It is called as “anussava” or “suti”.

             There are means of searching knowledge listening traditional hearsays, depending on texts, etc. According to their belief, the pupil should follow the teacher without any change. The pupil must maintain unchanged letters, words, phrases as teacher teaches. There is no criticism, no question, no examining of teacher’s preaching, no argument, no controversy. The Brahmin tradition maintained the four Vedas for a long time in this way. In these four Vedas a man can find four values, such as artha, dharma, kāma, mokṣa.

             The foundations of the teachings of Brahmins was this fourfold Vedic text. One of the main characteristics of this tradition was the chanting of hymns. By chanting hymns they expected prosperity of cultivation. The growth of animals such cattle, defeating enemy, curing of diseases and giving births to infants, etc.

              As we mentioned before, the Brahmins were accepted by the society as well-educated people. Therefore, they got the highest position in the society, such as chaplains of king. They were the spiritual leaders of the society. They engaged in every important occasion of the society. They were the soothsayers, commentators of astrology etc. One part of the Brahmins enjoyed the spiritual leadership in the society, while the other part enjoyed a secular, mundane life.

       There were special requirements which a person should have fulfilled in order to be a Brahmanic spiritual leader:

      (1) Both generations, father’s and mother’s, should be pure. They must be clean up to seven generations.
      (2) It should be an educated person in history, literature, logic, drama, three Vedas and author in relevant subject.
      (3) He should be a handsome person with fair complexion.
      (4) He should be a virtuous person.
      (5) He should be a wise person.

                This kind of Brahmanic spiritual leader was called as a deity of the earth.

             Their main teaching was about the creator God, whose name was Mahā Brahma, Pajāpati etc. The Mahā Brahma created everything in the universe including human beings and he is supposed to be controlling everything. The Brāhmanic teaching was organized into religious concepts, rites and rituals and beliefs depending on this concept of Mahā Brahma.

              They practice doing sacrifices chanting hymns etc. which was called as karmamārga and it was also their main way of searching knowledge. They introduced various kinds of yāga (sacrifices). Some of the names of them are aśvamedha, puruṣamedha, sammāpāsa, vājapeyya, nirjara, and they emphasized that this practice of yāga should be done correctly - hota, udgata, adhvaryu, yajñakāraka etc. are some of the methods.