Historical Brahminism

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Brahminism or Brahmanism is a doctrine developed from the Vedic religion, which incorporates non-Vedic religious religious ideas; and expanding to a region stretching from the northwest Indian subcontinent to the Ganges valley.[1][2] Originally the doctrine arose out of the concept of Brahman, the ultimate reality, but eventually evolved into the doctrine of Brahminism.[1]

Heesterman mentions that Brahmanism included the Vedic corpus, but also the inclusion of post-Vedic texts such as Dharmasastras, gave prominence to the Purohita or Brahmin class of society.[1] Heesterman also mentions that the post-Vedic Smriti,[1] which are also included in later Smarta tradition. Emphasis on rituals and the dominant position of Brahmins developed as a developed ideology in the Kuru-Pancala realm, and expanded into the Aryavarta region after the end of the Kuru-Pancala kingdom.[2] It co-existed with local religions, such as the Yaksha cults.[3][4][5]

History[edit]

The term Brahmanism was coined by Gonçalo Fernandes Trancoso in the 16th century.[6] Historically, it has been considered synonymous with Hinduism.[7][8] In the 18th and 19th centuries, Brahmanism emphasized Brahman in the early Upanishads, because it developed out of the post-Vedic ideas of the late Vedic period.[9][10][11][12] Brahmanism declined during the Vedic period following the Second Urbanization.[13][14] With the growth of political entities, which threatened the income and patronage of rural Brahmins; Conquests of eastern empires from Magadha, including the Sramani movement, the Nanda Empire and the Maurya Empire,[15][16] and invasions and foreign rule in the northwestern Indian subcontinent that brought new political entities.[17] The new political entity provides new services,[18] and includes the non-Vedic Indo-Aryan religious traditions and local religious traditions of the eastern Gangetic plains, and simultaneously gave birth to contemporary Hinduism.[17][19][3][20][2][1][note 1] This "new Brahmanism" appealed to rulers attracted to supernatural powers, and the Brahmins are able to give practical advice on this power,[18] this resulted in a resurgence of Brahminical influence, which dominated Indian society from the classical period of Hinduism to the early 17th century AD.[17]

Nowadays, the term Brahmanism, used interchangeably with Brahminism, which sees Brahmins as privileged people who naturally rule and dominate society.[23] The term is often used by anti-Brahminists, who object to their dominance in Indian society and their exclusive ideology.[24] In the view of 19th century colonial rulers, the doctrine was derived from Christian doctrine, the original "God-given religion" corrupted by priests, in this case the Brahmins and their religion, "Brahmanism", which was supposedly imposed on the Indian people.[25] Reformist Hindus, such as Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, supported their criticism.[25]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Scholars such as Jan Gonda have used the term ancient Hinduism, distinguishing it from "recent Hinduism". Stephanie W. Jamison and Michael Witzel (1992) "... to call this period Vedic Hinduism is a contradictio in terminis since Vedic religion is very different from what we generally call Hindu religion – at least as much as Old Hebrew religion is from medieval and modern Christian religion. However, Vedic religion is treatable as a predecessor of Hinduism".[21]
    According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, from the Vedic religion emerged Brahmanism, a religious tradition of ancient India. It states, "Brahmanism emphasized the rites performed by, and the status of, the Brahman, or priestly, class as well as speculation about Brahman (the Absolute reality) as theorized in the Upanishads (speculative philosophical texts that are considered to be part of the Vedas, or scriptures)."[22] From Brahmanism developed Hinduism, when it was synthesized with the non-Vedic Indo-Aryan religious heritage of the eastern Ganges plain and with local religious traditions.[19][3][20][2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e Heesterman 2005, pp. 9552–9553.
  2. ^ a b c d Witzel 1995.
  3. ^ a b c Samuel 2010.
  4. ^ Basham 1989, pp. 74–75.
  5. ^ "yaksha". Encyclopædia Britannica. 30 November 2023.
  6. ^ Županov, Ines G. (2005). Missionary Tropics: The Catholic Frontier in India (16th–17th Centuries). University of Michigan Press. pp. 18ff. ISBN 0-472-11490-5.
  7. ^ Maritain, Jacques; Watkin, E. I. (2005). An Introduction to Philosophy. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-7425-5053-7.
  8. ^ Robinson, Catherine A. (2014). Interpretations of the Bhagavad-Gita and Images of the Hindu Tradition: The song of the Lord. Routledge. page 164, footnote 9. ISBN 978-1-134-27891-6.
  9. ^ "Vedic religion". Encyclopedia Britannica. 21 October 2023.
  10. ^ Maritain, Jacques (2005). An Introduction to Philosophy. Rowman & Littlefield. pages 6–7 footnote 1. ISBN 978-0-7425-5053-7. This [the primitive religion of the Vedas] resulted, after a period of confusion, in the formation of a new system, Brahmanism (or Hinduism), which is essentially a philosophy, a metaphysic, a work of human speculation, ...; [footnote 1]... the neuter, Brahman, as the one impersonal substance.
  11. ^ Leaman, Oliver (2002). Eastern Philosophy: Key Readings. Routledge. pp. 64–65. ISBN 978-1-134-68918-7. The early Upanishads are primarily metaphysical treatises concerned with identifying the Brahman, the ground of the universe. ... The essence of early Brahmanism is the search for the Absolute and its natural development is in Vedantin monism which claims that the soul is identical with the Absolute.
  12. ^ Biardeau, Madeleine (1994). Hinduism: The anthropology of a civilization. Oxford University Press. pp. 17–22. ISBN 978-0-19-563389-4.
  13. ^ Michaels 2004, pp. 37–39.
  14. ^ Bronkhorst 2017, p. 363.
  15. ^ Bronkhorst, Johannes (2011). Buddhism in the Shadow of Brahmanism. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-20140-8. OCLC 729756183.
  16. ^ Chande, M. B. (1998). Kautilyan Arthasastra. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers and Distributors. ISBN 81-7156-733-9. OCLC 71205138.
  17. ^ a b c Bronkhorst 2016, pp. 9–10.
  18. ^ a b Bronkhorst 2015, p. 2.
  19. ^ a b "Vedic religion". Encyclopedia Britannica. 21 October 2023. It [Vedic religion] takes its name from the collections of sacred texts known as the Vedas. Vedism is the oldest stratum of religious activity in India for which there exist written materials. It was one of the major traditions that shaped Hinduism.
  20. ^ a b Bronkhorst 2007.
  21. ^ Jamison, Stephanie; Witzel, Michael (1992). "Vedic Hinduism" (PDF). Harvard University. pp. 2–4. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  22. ^ "Brahmanism". Encyclopedia Britannica. 26 October 2023.
  23. ^ South Asia Scholar Activist Collective, Hindutva Harassment Field Manual, Wikidata Q108732338
  24. ^ 'Hindutva Is Nothing But Brahminism', Outlook, 5 April 2002.
  25. ^ a b Raf Gelders, Willem Delders (2003),Mantras of Anti-Brahmanism: Colonial Experience of Indian Intellectuals, Economic and Political Weekly 38(43):4611–4617. DOI:10.2307/4414197

Sources[edit]

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