What is Brahminism now?

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srimathE raamaanNujaaya nama:

 

 

>For example, how many brahmins do you know in this country who perform

"aupAsana"? How many do the >Panca-mahA-yajna? How many actively do

veda-adhyayana, with correct svara and pronunciation? Zero. Yet all

these are >absolutely required of a brahmin and were practiced by many

brahmins as recently as a 100 years. And the opinion of the

>traditional acharyas was that people who did not perform these rituals

were in no way fit to be called brahmins. One need >only look at the

'Ahnika' and 'dinacaryA' texts of our pUrvAcAryas to see what a real

brahmin lifestyle was like. So it is >foolhardy to think that people can

live in this country, go to work, and still maintan a lifestyle as

befits a brahmin.

 

Sriman Mani,

 

After reading your posting on Saturday (v.003.n.365) about modern day

brahmins, I get a message that it is very rare to see a brahmin who

still maintains rituals like "aupAsana etc.( I also feel that you are

upset about this!). I have few doubts to ask. If they are not part of

the flow of the discussions , I will be very grateful if you can kindly

send me a separate e-mail.

 

Should we not see the relevance of the practices and rituals with

respect to the Time Period and the context people lived in the past and

the time period we are living in. In those days, when science and

technology was not well developed, few rituals and practices were there

which are now seen with lot of scientific relevance. They were assigned

to the Brahmins( Roles were clearly defined in those days).

Scientifically it is known that the smoke out of yagams and yagjams

performed in the agni with ghee were catalytic to induce rain;

Apasthambam ( part of parisHEshanam ) was done to prevent insects and

ants coming on the plates or leaves while eating etc. as in those days

the floorings were mostly muddy.

 

So, isn't that the rituals need changes as we progress in time and

science. If we are to strictly adhere all these rituals from the "rule

book", virtually, as you pointed out, except few, presently , we do not

have anyone who would qualify as brahmins strictly.

 

Or, alternatively, is there a scope for redefining the rituals of

brahmins? How does one prescribe the rituals and practices for brahmins

to follow taking the present time since the roles of brahmins are mixed

up? Theoretically, aren't we following the previous so many generations'

rituals? The rituals you are mentioning have been in vogue at some point

in time taking into account the value system and other factors prevalent

at that time. Several years after our generations, are people expected

to stick to the same rituals as we are supposed to follow now? Or, Can

they be modified now by us to suit the future changes?

 

Or we are not supposed to touch any of those and leave it to the people

to redefine as they go(i.e. Cross the bridge when it comes approach). I

will be very grateful if scholars like you, Sri Sadagopan and other

scholars throw some light on this.

 

I apologise for any wrong choice fo words or any other apacharams. If

you find this point does not have any relevance, kindly keep it off the

discussion.

 

adiyEn

 

madhurakavi dhAsan

 

T.A.S.Vijayaraghavan

Associate Professor

XLRI, Jamshedpur,India

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[Guest guest]

Sri T.A.S. Vijayaraghavan wrote:

> After reading your posting on Saturday (v.003.n.365) about modern day

> brahmins, I get a message that it is very rare to see a brahmin who

> still maintains rituals like "aupAsana etc.( I also feel that you are

> upset about this!).

> Should we not see the relevance of the practices and rituals with

> respect to the Time Period and the context people lived in the past and

> the time period we are living in.

 

Dear Sri Vijayaraghavan:

 

I completely agree that we need to approach religious practices

and rituals with their time period and context in mind.

I apologize if I sounded upset about today's brahmins not

performing aupAsana; this is not the source of my frustration.

I *am* distressed that the tradition of Vedic learning is rapidly

dying away, fast being substituted by neo-Vedantic and

neo-Vaishnava movements that simply do not study the Vedas in

depth, or by a complete disregard for our tradition, both

philosophical and ritual.

 

I was mainly irked by the statement that acharya-purushas should

have brahma-jnAna (no argument here), and that such brahma-jnAna is

pursuant on being a brahmin, which is a consequence of

sandhyAvandana, etc., (both assumptions are untrue). There was

furthermore the statement that there are brahmins even in America

who go to work and perform all these rituals, and who therefore

have a right to this status.

 

This is a true misunderstanding of what was required by our

tradition of a brahmin. A brahmin is supposed to dedicate his

life to learning, particularly Vedic learning. This includes

learning some part of his Veda (with proper svara, etc.), daily

study of the shastras, imparting it to others after suitable

qualification, and performing *all* the daily and occasionaly

Vedic worship, according to his ability. SandhyAvandana is the

*bare minimum*. Just a few generations ago, the Vaidika

lifestyle was more the rule than the exception, unlike

today. Nowadays, simply doing sandhyAvandanam (learnt from a

book, with wrong svara, etc.) is supposed to reflect a

brahminical lifestyle. How far we have fallen.

 

My argument is that the shastras are a two-edged knife. If

anyone, including a brahmin, is to have any special privilege

(based on tradition or shastras), that someone also has to live

up to all their duties as ordained by the shastras. It cuts both

ways. Otherwise, if we are to reinterpret the shastras to mean

that some rituals are less relevant, the rules for hierarchical

privilege and status are subject to reinterpretation as well.

 

namo vedapurushAya,

Mani