I am a Brahmin

I am a Brahmin

By

P.R.Ramachander

(I am by birth a Brahmin and I introduce myself   to my  Brahmin  elders as  the follower of Yajurveda, who follows the rituals as codified by Apasthamba , belonging to the  Kaundinya Gothra , with Vasishta  , Maithravaruna   and Kanudinya lineage.  I  am by profession a   scientist   and wanted to know  , what is it all about ? I have been reading and searching  and I have adopted  the philosophical method  of  “No this is not it”, and eliminating  it. Here   are my scrambled  thoughts which I have  learnt .)

Once   all the   truths   of Vedas   were  floating in the atmosphere,

And some  great    sages   could   hear  parts  of it  ,

And since   they had still not developed   alphabets  to their language .

Each sage   learned   by heart  what he heard    and  wanted  to teach it  to some one interested

There   were   many  great sages like him who knew   what  they have heard ,

And they   chose    disciplined   intelligent   human beings  ,

Who were  prepared    to give   up all the  pleasures  of the world  ,

To learn  by heart , these  chapters  of That Knowledge( Vedas)  so that  posterity would have it.

Since   these sages chose   to   call   their concept    of godhead “Brahmam”.

They  chose to call  those  intelligent  self sacrificing   students as Brahmanas,

And from reading  the Vedas  it looks    as if they  were nomadic people ,

Whose   only wealth    was   cows and bulls  as no where land is mentioned as wealth.

No one   is clear  whether  all children of Brahmanas   were also called   as Brahmanas.

Because   there are   several instances in Vedas   where this   fact   is not  true ,

But soon they  found that, apart from    study of Vedas  , they could undertake other jobs,

Many of them were engaged in study of stars   and medicinal  properties  of Plants.

Then they    started  living  in permanent homes and so   they needed  to formulate,

Rules  governing   domestic lives  and their sages wrote  Gruhya   suthras    for this purpose,

And though   they had started   using copper , they    had only knives    and not scissors,

And also   needle and  art  of stitching    was    still   not invented  though   weaving was known to them.

Because of this  they never    wore   any stitched   cloths  and they did not cut their hair,

And by this time  very many  seekers of spiritual knowledge   grew  up among   them,

And   these seekers  composed   one  hundred   eight  Upanishads,

Which were  all discussion  on spiritual  matters   among   very wise  people.

It was at this time the first   epic  of the world    was  written about life of Rama,

And interestingly   it was  not written by a  Brahmin   sage but   a hunter   sage.

This great epic also mentions    about a  vysya(merchant)    sage whom a  king killed by mistake.

And it is a matter  of interest   that  most of the characters  of this  epic   were  not Brahmins.

Except for the sages  who were  Gurus   of Royal   families , there  was  a Brahmin called Rishya Sringa ,

The son in law   of a king ,  there  was   the son of Ahalya   and Gauthama  who was minister of Janaka,

And there was   sage Visravas    who married  a Yaksha   lady   and then   a   Rakshasa  lady.

Lord Rama  is mentioned  to have given    his wealth   to citizens   including    Brahmins

Most probably   it looks as if even this epic     was not written down  and it was,

Taught to Lava And Kucha, who sang it in all   places     and made  it popular,

It is interesting to note   that  a monkey called  Vali   did sandhyavandhana ,

And Hanuman    waited   near a river expecting Sita   would come there  to do Sandhyavandana.

The next big epic Mahabharatha   says that  sage Vyasa  who was born to a fisherwoman,

Dictated    it and  Lord   Ganesa  , who  wrote   it down on the   stones  of Himalaya  mountains,

And  this clearly shows    that  people   had started    writing    down what   they composed,

And the fact   that Balarama   carried a plough   goes on to prove   that cultivation has begun.

It is also clear  from the epic     that   Brahmanas   always were  not parents  of Brahmanas,

But   many stories   leads  us to believe   that children of Brahmin  couple   were Brahmins.

Pepople like Kuchela, Daumya , Uthunga  , Akroora   and the Brahmin    messenger  of Rugmani ,

Are  mentioned   as householder  Brahmins   apart    from  Drona, Kripa    and other sages.

Vyasa   also called   as Krishna  Dvaipayana , the black one   born in an island  ,

Who is an important character   as well as   author   of the story  of Maha Bharatha,

Is stated   to have collected   all  the spiritual   knowledge with very many   sages ,

And  it is known that  he codified it and divided  in to four  Vedas, Yajur, Rig, Sama  and Ahrvana.

For some reason    even these  classified   and edited   books    were  not written down,

And was taught  in Guru Kulas  , probably   due  to  importance  in pronunciation,

Which would change   the meaning  and implication  of their great  inheritance ,

Somehow  Atharva Veda dealing with magic  had no followers  and   was almost  neglected.

After   the end of  Mahabharata , the Kali   age started possibly around  5000  years back ,

The major   literature  in Sanskrit  which  were not necessarily  religious  were produced ,

And this was again the period  when great  religious  thought  processes ,

Which did not agree   with Vedic  principles like Budhism  and Jainism   were  established.

It was again the  period when great  Brahmin interpreters of Veds   like  ,

Adhi Sankara  ,Ramanuja  , Madhwa  , Vallabhacharya ,Nayanmars , Azhvars,

And many more   saints  were  born  and  started  vehemently  opposing  ,

The  new  founders of  new religion  and also started  the  Bhakthi marga

It was after   this that   great scientists   , mathematicians  ,

Doctors as   well as  surgons  came in to the   fore India,

And the most   interesting   aspect was that    ,

All  of them without   exceptions    were Brahmins.

This was   followed   by wave of great  intellectuals,

Majority of whom were  Brahmins  but  very many of them,

Were not Brahmins   and at this time  our country  ,

Was conquered  by   rulers from middle  east and west.

They all waned intelligent local people  to help them,

And when they searched   that they could employ Brahmins,

Who would be extremely intelligent  as well as,

Sincere  , truthful   as well   as  very honest,

(From then on   the history of  Brahmin migration   is not at all clear . Adhi SAnkara   born in Kerala   travelled   in the  length and breadth of the country    for reforming and reestablishing  Hindu religion.  Indications are that  he  did not give much importance  of the Non Brahmin   religious thought  which  had reached  its acme  in Tamil Nadu   as well as Kashmir. He is supposed   to have established   four Mutts  in  four corners  of India and  made it a rule that  only a Brahmin Sanyasi can head  .Great religious leaders  like Ramanuja who  felt that  Vedas and religion  can be learnt  by people    who are not Brahmins also  . travelled  throughout India,)

I am a Brahmin , I used  to  tell it loudly ,

Not only    to you  but to the entire  world.

There  were  kings and the rich who   used to ,

Look after  me royally , so that I can continue to learn.

Things changed

To all  those  who are Brahmins , you are telling an axiom,

Then you   give  us  several  great lectures about it.

If we  learn Agama  you say it is  injustice,

If we learn Vedas , you say  I do it  for  selling it.

Suppose I leave  my caste’s profession and become a clerk,

You are introducing  reservation and pushing us  in darkness,

Suppose  we  learn law so that  we can achieve  something,

You  are announcing our caste   and  lashing us   with a whip.

Suppose  we   say  we do not want  anything  and go abroad,

You   term us   as the   slaves   of White men,

Even  though we   study   day   and night ,

All our   efforts   are  needlessly wasted.

The government   which is not bothered  about intelligence,

Is embracing   all others   and saying to them, “bad marks   are enough”

But if we   then decide   that  we  would   ring the  bell in temples,

And fill half our belly  , They  say ,” All castes  can become priests.”

We can accept our fate   but do cancel  your concept of “reservation”,

If we do a crime  the punishment  is seven times   than the  others,

Says   the great Veda , but in spite   of that,I only   tell the name of God ,

I have  forsaken everything , Come and tell me   what more  I can forsake  in this life