Bengali Brahmins
The Bengali Brahmins are those Hindu Brahmins who traditionally reside in the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent, currently comprising the Indian state of West Bengal, Tripura, Assam and Bangladesh. When the British left India in 1947, carving out separate nations (see partition), a number of families moved from the Muslim-majority East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) to be within the borders of the newly defined Republic of India, and continued to migrate for several decades thereafter.
Bengali Brahmins are categorized as Pancha-Gauda Brahmins (the Brahmins who traditionally lived to the north of the Vindhyas).
History
Brahmin
Brahmin is a varna (caste) in Hinduism specialising as priests, teachers (acharya) and protectors of sacred learning across generations.
Brahmins traditionally were responsible for religious rituals in temples, as intermediaries between temple deities and devotees, as well as rite of passage rituals such as solemnising a wedding with hymns and prayers. However, Indian texts suggest that Brahmins were often agriculturalists and warriors in ancient and medieval India.
Vedic sources
It must be emphasised that attempts to interpolate references from the Rigveda with contemporary social groups that identify as "Brahmin" is entirely speculative.
Purusha Sukta
The earliest inferred reference to "Brahmin" as a possible social class is in the Rigveda, occurs once, and the hymn is called Purusha Sukta. According to this hymn in Mandala 10, Brahmins are described as having emerged from the mouth of Purusha, being that part of the body from which words emerge.
मुखं किमस्य कौ बाहू का ऊरू पादा उच्येते
बराह्मणो अस्य मुखमासीद बाहू राजन्यः कर्तः
ऊरूतदस्य यद वैश्यः पद्भ्यां शूद्रो अजायत
Brahmin (disambiguation)
Brahmin are traditional Hindu societies of India, Nepal and The Far East.
Brahmin may also refer to:
See also
Bethesda's "Fallout" Game series creature
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