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Distinction between Daivajnya Brahmins and Vishwakarma Brahmins -Deepak shet Mangalore Daivajnya Brahmins belong to the Suryavanshi Aryan race and are totally different from Vishwakarma Brahmins in terms of their culture, language, and heritage and in different aspects. Since the beginning of the 2 th century a misconception has been spread that !aivajnya Brahmins are originally belonged to the Vishwakarma Brahmins class and they are derived by "VISHWAJNYA# who is one of the five sons of the god Vishwakarma. But this is an entirely wrong and baseless conception. !aivajnya Brahmins and Vishwakarma Brahmins belonged to different races, which have belonged to the Vedic period. !aivajnya Brahmins purely belong to the Suryavanshi Aryan race that performed the yajnas and other ritual duties at the period of $ig%Veda, on the banks of the rivers Saraswati% !rishdawati which was called "Bramhavartha#, at the region of &unjab and 'aryana of today and in the course of time some of those Aryans migrated to southward after following the river Saraswathi. (f course, there is no doubt that Vishwakarma Brahmins also belonged to the Vedic period and they have their own heritage and culture of the ancient period. )here is lot of descriptions of Virata Swaroopa *+ammoth feature, of the god Vishwakarma in the sacred books- rigveda, .agarakhanda, Skanda purana, +atsya purana and in the epic +ahabharatha. /n )aitiriya Shruthi &ancha Brahmopanishad regarding the Virata Swaroopa of the god Vishwakarma is like this 0"Vishwakarmana Vrittadhani1 )eneivana &ratishthani 1&anchamukhebhyah &anchashirsho +A.2 &rathamah1+A3( !witiyah, )$/S')A )ritiyah, S'/4&/ 5haturthah,V/S'6A7.A &anchamah1 iti severko vidhiyate1 Sanagaha, Sanatanobhoonah &ratnah, Suparna Shchetyate Sarve

9otra &urushah &rakriteshtadyadya#. +eaning: "Among the five faces of the lord Vishwakarma, +A.2, who has come out by the first face, he was followed by +A3A, who has come out through the second face, then )6AS')A, who has come out by the third face, S'/4&/, who has come out by the fourth face and lastly V/S'6A7.3A has come out. )hese are known as five +((4A &2$2S'AS of five arts respectively on iron, wood, bron;e, stone carving and gold. )hey also started the five gotras among the followers of Vishwakarma vi;. Sanaga *+A.2,, Sanathana *+A3A,, Ahabhoona *)6AS')A,, &ratna *S'/4&/,, and Suparna *V/S'6A7.A,. 8< th shlokha, fifth chapter of .agarkhandha of the Skandapurana says 0"+anurmayaschatwashta cha Shilpi Vishwajna =vacha &anchatai !evarushyo Vishwakarma +ukhodbhava#. +eaning: +A.2, +A3A, )6AS')A, S'/4&/ and V/S'6A7.A these five saints were derived by the faces of the lord Vishwakarma#. )he >? th Shlokha of "Sri Vishwakarmanvya &radeepika#,written by Varaha .arasimhacharya says: "Ayasi cha mano kashti mayasya khalu kanaski. )washta shaili Shilpino vai Vishwajna sya tu @anchani#. +eaning: +A.2 relates to the iron work, +A3A for the wooden work, )6AS')A for the bron;e, S'/4&/ for the stone carving and V/S'6A7.A for the gold work. 6ith the reference of the old Sanskrit literature there is no use of the word "!aivajnya# instead of Vishwajnya as the alternative .but since the beginning of the 2 th century some of the writers have used the "!aivajnya# word as the alternative word for AVishwajnyaB on their own accord . )his wrong conception has been continued and developed that A!aivajnyaB and AVishwajnyaB are the alternative words which come under the Vishwakarma culture. #!aivajnya# is purely independent word which was used for the Suryavanshi Aryans of Vedic culture who were performing the yajnas and other ritual duties concerned to the 7yothishya Shastra *Astrology, which is one of the siC Vedangas .

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"!aivajnya# means one who knows the "!A/VA# *ADA)=B or 9(! (D D($)2.=, that is "V/!'/#. Since the days of the Vedas, Shruthi and Sutra Vishwakarma Brahmins are known as $A)'A@A$A or &A.5'A4A Brahmins 0who do the works with gold, iron, bron;e, wood and stone . Since the olden days they have been respected Brahmins for these five arts. /n constructing the temples, preparing the idols, and Vidhi%mantras of the &ratishtapana of the idols they play the sacred role. )he words A$A)'A@A$AB or A&A.5'A4AB, do not apply to the !aivajnya Brahmins. Beside all these things Vishwakarma Brahmins have their own sacred muttBs and 9uru%&eethaBs since many centuries. But !aivajnya Brahmins are not followers of these muttBs. /n the beginning of the 82th century a great miracle person named, +2$27AV/ 5'/@@=S'6A$AS6A+/ took birth in vishwakarma family and led them in spiritual way. =ven today Vishwakarma Brahmins are worshipping him as their 7agadguru. But !aivajnya Brahmins are not followers of him. Since the old on day as Vishwakarma Brahmins have been influenced by the @A4A+2@'A Sampradaya . (f course !aivajnya Brahmins have never been influenced by the @alamukha Sampradaya. )he tradition of 9othras is different among !aivajnya Brahmins and Vishwakarma Brahmins. !aivajnya Brahmins are followers of ASapta $ishi 9othrasB*Seven Sages,among them Atri, Vashishta, @ashyapa, 9authama, Bharadwaj, Vishwamitra, 7amadagni and Agasthya , these are the eight main 9otra &ravaras. Beside of these there are additional 9othra &ravartakas. But among Vishwakarma Brahmins Sanaga , Sanathana, Ahabhuna, &ratna, Suparna these five are main 9otras . Among them also some additional 9othra &ravaras are present. Since E th century A.!, !aivajnya Brahmins have been using @onkani language as their spoken language which was derived by &rakrith Apabhransha language developed by Sanskrit language. But @onkani is not spoken language among the vishwakarma Brahmins. )hey speak the regional languages

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wherever they have been settled down. =.g. those are in +aharashtra use +arathi, in Andra &radesh use )elegu, in @arnataka use kannada, in )amilnadu use )amil like so this matter of mother tongue also helps us to justify the social and cultural differences between the two classes. As the !aivajnya Brahmin migrated from Saurashtra and finally settled down in 9oa% western coast permanently in F th% ?th century, they continued their gold and silver smithy occupation for their livelihood and lead the peaceful and prosperous life in 9oa till the invasion of &ortuguese in 8E8 A.!. According to their Vedic culture and heritage they established the temples of lord Vishnu, Shiva, !urga devi *Shakti devi 0@alika devi, and .agadevatha *9od of serpent,. !aivajnya Brahmins of the different 9otras began to worship different of these gods as their @uladevathas *family deities,. According to the name of the place of the particular @uladevatha, the @ulavi *follower, began to use the name of that place as the surname *family name, after adding "@ar# ,suffiC ,vi;, those were dwelled in "Verna#%"Vernekar# those were dwelled in "$ai# village "$aikar# , those were at "$evana# village "$evankar# like so "Shet# *Apabrhransha word of Sanskrit S$=S')A, is common surname for !aivajnya Brahmins which was started while they were in Saurashtra . Dor the class those are practicing the ritual deeds they use the word, B'A) as the surname. But among the Vishwakarma Brahmins there are different surnames as Acharya, !iCit, +ahamuni, @sheerasagar, Vedapathak, Advani, Stapathi etc. "Acharya# is the common surname among them. )here is no either matrimonial or cultural relationship between these two races. =ven there are some differences in ritual activities of the both. Vishwakarma Brahmins believe the fifth Veda 0 &$A.AVA V=!A but !aivajnya Brahmins do not. Vishwakarma Brahmins have been worshipping the @alika devi as their main deity but !aivajnya Brahmins have been worshipping the lord Vishnu *4aCmi narayan, , Sri 'ayagreeva diety of Sode

Vadiraj +utt, Shiva, !urga 0Shakti devi, @alika devi ,.agadevatha as their sacred gods since age long. 6ith these all references we can prove that these both races are basically belonged to the different races. )here is no evidence which can prove any type of inter relationship between these two races eCcept gold smithy occupation. Among the vishwakarma Brahmins the decedents of V/S'6A7.3A are practicing the gold smithy on their own accord and heritage. !aivajnya Brahmins are practicing the gold smithy on their own heritage. )his occupation of the both is not interrelated at any respect. 'ence further we have to get rid off all the misconceptions regarding this matter.

DEEPAK.SHET.. Arathi place.carsteet .mangaloreG ..HF<H<8>>28 !eepakshetI FJrediffmail.com