Castes Dictionary

Brahman (Brahamana): the highest of the four Hindu castes. The priestly caste consists of many sub-castes depending on the area the priest comes from and the duties he performs, such as temple priest, family priest, astrologer, teacher, cook, etc. [Brahman is written in italicized letters in the text.]

(See also: Brahman , Hinduism, Yoga, Body Mind and Soul)

Chandala candala (Sanskrit) A member of a mixed caste, or people without caste, an outcaste. Especially in ancient India the term applied to one of the lowest and most despised status (sometimes described as being born from a Sudra father and a Brahmin mother).

Commonly applied now to anyone of mixed caste "but in antiquity it was applied to a certain class of men, who, having forfeited their right to any of the four castes -- Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras -- were expelled from cities and sought refuge in the forests.

Then they became 'bricklayers,' until finally expelled they left the country, some 4,000 years before our era. Some see in them the ancestors of the earlier Jews, whose tribes began with A-brahm or 'No-Brahm.' To this day it is the class most despised by the Brahmins in India" (TG 323-4).

(See also: Chandala, candala , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

varna dharma: (Sanskrit) "The way of one's kind."

The hereditary social class system, generally referred to as caste, established in India in ancient times. Within varna dharma are the many religious and moral codes which define human virtue. Varna dharma is social duty, in keeping with the principles of good conduct, according to one's community, which is generally based on the craft or occupation of the family.

Strictly speaking it encompasses two interrelated social hierarchies:  1) varna, which refers to the four classes: brahmin, kshatriya, vaishya and shudra; and  2) jati, the myriad occupational subgroups, or guilds, which in India number over 3,000. Hence this dharma is sometimes called jati dharma.

The class-caste system is still very much a part of Indian life today. Many modern Hindus propose that social status is now (and was originally) more properly determined by a person's skills and accomplishments than by birth. Mobility between jatis, or castes, within Hindu communities worldwide is limited but not impossible, and is accomplished through marrying into a new jati, or changing professions through persistence, skill and education. Shastris say that once a person breaks out of his varna or jati of birth and changes "caste," it takes three generations for his family to become fully established in that new strata of society, provided the continuity is unbroken.

(See also: Varna dharma , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

Adi Granth: (Sanskrit) "First book." The central Sikh scripture, compiled 16031604 from the writings of Sikh, Moslem and Hindu holy men, most importantly the beautiful hymns of adoration, called Japji, by Guru Nanak, the first Sikh Guru. In 1699, Gobind Singh, the tenth preceptor, decreed that the living succession would end with him, and this scripture would henceforth serve as Sikhism's guru. Its eloquent teachings are in harmony with Hinduism, but for the rejection of the Vedas and disavowal of image worship and caste. The Adi Granth is enshrined in all Sikh temples (gurudwaras). See: Sikhism.

(See also: Adi Granth , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

Varna (Sanskrit). Caste; lit., "colour". The four chief castes named by Manu - the Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaisya and Sudra - are called Chatur-varna.

(See also: Varna , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Brahman (Sanskrit) The highest of the four castes in India, one supposed or rather fancying himself, as high among men, as Brahman, the ABSOLUTE of the Vedantins, is high among, or above the gods.

(See also: Brahman , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Brahmin

The highest of the four Castes in Hinduism. They served Brahma, his offering, the keepers of the Vedas, i.e. priestly.

 (See also: Brahmin , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

Arahat: (Arahant) One who has reached the final stage of spiritual progress, meaning "the worthy." This is a Pali word used in Buddhism, ranking an individual equivelantly to the brahmin caste of Hinduism. That means that the arahat is capable of moksha, nirvana, the escape from samsara.

 (See also: Arahat , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

Chandalas, or Chhandalas (Sanskrit). Outcasts, or people without caste, a name now given to all the lower classes of the Hindus; but in antiquity it was applied to a certain class of men, who, having forfeited their right to any of the four castes- - Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas and Sudras - were expelled from cities and sought refuge in the forests. Then they became "bricklayers ", until finally expelled they left the country, some 4,000 years before our era. Some see in them the ancestors of the earlier Jews, whose tribes began with A-brahm or " No Brahm ". To this day it is the class most despised by the Brahmins in India.

(See also: Chandalas, Chhandalas , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Brahmana (Sanskrit) Also Brahman, Brahmin. As a noun, a member of the highest of the four orthodox Hindu castes during the Vedic and post-Vedic periods. The other three Hindu castes are Kshattriya, Vaisya, and Sudra.

Originally an individual became a Brahmana through personal merit and initiation, but gradually priestcraft by degrees entered in, so that the son of a Brahmana became a Brahmana by right or family protection first, then by that of descent. The rights of blood-descent in time replaced the nobler rights of genuine merit, and thus arose the rigid cast of the Brahmanas. Blavatsky says that a true Brahmana is one who has become a dvija (twice-born or initiate) and one "whose seven forefathers have drunk the juice of the moon-plant (Soma),' and who is a 'Trisuparna' ("three-leaved or -winged" or active in the highest three principles)

, for he has understood the secret of the Vedas" (SD 1:209-10). Dvija and trisuparna, although still used in India, are used merely by courtesy and ancient custom; in archaic ages the titles were properly borne, because merited, and were descriptive rather than complimentary.

A second meaning as a noun is one of the portions of Vedic literature containing rules for the proper chanting and usage of the mantras or hymns at sacrifices, and explanations in detail of what these sacrifices are, illustrated by legends and old stories. These Brahmanas are "pre-eminently occult works, hence used purposely as blinds. They were allowed to survive for public use and property only because they were and are absolutely unintelligible to the masses. Otherwise they would have disappeared from circulation as long ago as the days of Akbar" (SD 1:68).

Though the Brahmanas are the oldest scholastic treatises on the primitive hymns, they themselves require a key for a proper understanding of them which Orientalists have hitherto failed to secure. Since the time of Gautama Buddha, the keys to the Brahmanical secret code have been in the possession of initiates alone, who guard their treasure with extreme and jealous care. There are indeed few, if any, individuals of the present-day Brahmanical cast in India who are even conscious that such keys exists; although no small number of them, possibly, have intimations or intuitions that a secret wisdom has been lost which is uniformly understood to have been in the possession of the ancient Indian rishis.

Brahmana is also the adjectival form for the two uses given above.

See also CHATUR-VARNA

(See also: Brahmana , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Brahmin:

A member of the priestly caste, the highest caste in Hindu society.

(See also: Brahmin , Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V X Y Z

Brahmin:

A priest or teacher. First of four castes of Indian social order.

(See also: Brahmin , Body Mind and Soul)

Sudra (Sanskrit) A member of the lowest of the four castes or social divisions made in the Vedic period in India. In the Laws of Manu, the Sudra was regarded as a servant to the three other castes: the Brahmins or priest-philosophers, the Kshattriya or administrator-king and soldier, and the Vaisya or agriculturist or trader. The Sudra is said to have sprung from the feet of Purusha, while the Rig-Veda gives his origin as coming from the feet of Brahma.

See also CHATUR-VARNA

(See also: Sudra , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body mind and Soul)

Upanishad (Sanskrit) [from upa according to + ni down + the verbal root sad to sit]

Following or according to the teachings which were received when sitting down; esoteric doctrine. "Literary works in which the rahasya -- a Sanskrit word meaning esoteric doctrine or mystery -- is imbodied. The Upanishads belong to the Vedic cycle and are regarded by orthodox Brahmans as a portion of the Sruti or 'Revelation.' It was from these wonderful quasi-esoteric and very mystical works that was later developed the highly philosophical and profound system called the Vedanta" (OG 179).

The Upanishads belong to the third division of the Vedas and are appended to the Brahmanas. The number of Upanishads hitherto known is about 170, though probably only a score are now complete without evident marks of excision or interpolation. These Upanishads belong to different periods of antiquity, some being of a much later date than others. Although the Upanishads are usually considered by modern scholars to be as a whole of later date than the Brahmanas, the original Upanishads were composed in an antiquity which anteceded that of the Brahmanas, and are probably coeval with the composition of the Vedas themselves.

"The Upanishads must be far more ancient than the days of Buddhism, as they show no preference for, nor do they uphold, the superiority of the Brahmans as a caste. On the contrary, it is the (now) second caste, the Kshatriya, or warrior class, who are exalted in the oldest of them. As stated by Professor Cowell in Elphinstone's History of India -- 'they breathe a freedom of spirit unknown to any earlier work except the Rig-Veda . . . The great teachers of the higher knowledge and Brahmans are continually represented as going to Kshatriya Kings to become their pupils.' The 'Kshatriya Kings' were in the olden times, like the King-Hierophants of Egypt, the receptacles of the highest divine knowledge and wisdom, the Elect and the incarnations of the primordial divine Instructors -- the Dhyani Buddhas or Kumaras. There was a time, aeons before the Brahmans became a caste, or even the Upanishads were written, when there was on earth but one 'lip,' one religion and one science, namely, the speech of the gods, the Wisdom-Religion and Truth. This was before the fair fields of the latter, overrun by nations of many languages, became overgrown with the weeds of intentional deception, and national creeds invented by ambition, cruelty and selfishness, broke the one sacred Truth into thousands of fragments" (TG 354).

Thirteen of the principal Upanishads are: Aitareya, Kaushitaki, Kena, Taittiriya, Maitri, Katha, Brihadaranyaka, Prasna, Mundaka, Mandukya, Isa, Chhandogya, and Svetasvatara.

(See also: Upanishad , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body mind and Soul)

brahmin:

brahmin (braahmana). First of four castes of social order, the priestly or teacher caste; a person belonging to this caste. See caste.

(See also: brahmin , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Sudra

The lowest of the four Hindi Castes at the time of Shakyamuni. They were peasants, slaves and serfs.

 (See also: Sudra , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

Brahmana - the highest of the four varnas or castes in the varnasrama system; a priest or teacher.

(See also: Brahmana , Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Orissa

Orissa is an eastern state belonging to the Indian sub-continent. The city of Bhubaneswar (temple city of India) is the state capital.

During the medieval times, the state corresponding roughly with now-a-days Orissa passed under the various names such as: Utkala, Kalinga, and Odra (Udra) Desa. The state boundaries varied from time to time and were sometimes much larger. These land names are associated with peoples. The Okkala or Utkala, the Kalinga, and the Odra or Oddaka were mentioned in literature as tribes. Ancient Greeks knew the latter two as Kalingai and Oretes. Eventually the names got identified with the territories. The land was inhabited by semi-Hinduized tribes (shabaras) in the hinterland, a group of farming Brahmins (halua brahmuna) who practised invincible Tantra method near Jajpur area (the place of Goddess Biraja), and people of other castes and trades as well. For centuries before and after the birth of Christ, Kalinga was a formidable political power, extending from the Ganga river to the Godavari river. Approximately between the 11th and 16th centuries the name was twisted; the name Odra Desa was gradually transformed into Uddisa, Udisa, or Odisa, which in English became Orissa. The language of Odisa came to be known as Oriya.

Kalinga was already famous at the dawn of Indian history. Buddhist sources refer to the rule of King Brahmadutta in Kalinga at the time of the Buddha's death. In the 4th century BC the first Indian empire builder, Mahapadma Nanda, conquered Kalinga, but the Nanda rule was short-lived. In 260 BC the Mauryan emperor Ashoka invaded Kalinga and fought one of the greatest and most bloody wars of ancient history. He then renounced war, became a Buddhist, and preached peace and non-violence in and outside India. In the 1st century BC the Kalinga emperor Kharavela conquered vast territories that collectively came to be called the Kalinga empire.

Kalinga became a maritime power beginning in the 1st century AD, and its overseas activities culminated in the 8th century with the establishment of the Shailendra empire in Java. Orissa was ruled during the 8th, 9th, and 10th centuries by the powerful Bhauma-Kara dynasty and in the 10th and 11th centuries by the Soma dynasty. The Lingaraj temple at Bhubaneshwar, the greatest Shiva monument of India, was initiated by the king Yayati.

Medieval Orissa enjoyed a golden age under the Ganga Dynasty. Its founder, Anantavarma Chodagangadeva (1078-1147), ruled from the Ganges to the Godavari with "Cuttack" city as the state capital. He began the construction of the temple of Jagannaatha (Lord of the Universe) at Puri. Narasimhadeva 1 (1238-64) built the Sun Temple (Surya Mandira) of Konarka, one of the finest and best creations of Hindu architecture all over the world. In the 13th and 14th centuries, when much of India was overrun by the Muslims, independent Orissa remained a citadel of Hindu religion, philosophy, art, and architecture. The "Veera Kalinga Putras" (brave sons of Kalinga) were the last to give up, till it was conquered by betraying.

The Gangas were succeeded by the Surya dynasty. Its first king, Kapilendradeva (1435-66), won territories from his Muslim neighbours and greatly expanded the Orissa kingdom. His successor, Purushottamadeva, maintained these gains with difficulty. The next and the last Surya king, Prataparudradeva, became a disciple of the naamayogi avataar Chaitanya mahaprabhu, the great medieval saint, and became a pacifist. After his death (1540) Orissa's power declined, and in 1568, when King Mukundadeva was killed by his own countrymen, Orissa lost its independence to the Afghan rulers of Bengal.

The Mughal emperor Akbar conquered Orissa from the Afghans in 1590-92. When the Mughal Empire fell in 1761, part of Orissa remained under the Bengal nawaabs, but the greater part was snatched by the Marathas. The Bengal sector came under British rule in 1757 after the Battle of Plassey; the Maratha sector was conquered by the British in 1803. Although after 1803 the British controlled the entire Oriya-speaking area, it continued to be administered as two units. It was not until April 1, 1936, that the British heeded calls for unification on a linguistic basis and constituted Orissa as a separate province; 26 Oriya princely states, however, remained outside the provincial administration. After the independence of India in 1947, all these princely states except Saraikela and Kharsawan (which merged with Bihar) became part of Orissa.

Geography:

The state can be broadly divided into four natural divisions: (1) the northern plateau, (2) the eastern ghats, (3) the central tract, and (4) the coastal plains. The northern plateau (in the northern part of the state) is an extension of the forest-covered, lightly settled, and mineral-rich Chot-Nagpur plateau centred in southern Bihar. The eastern ghats, extending roughly parallel to the coast, are remnants of a very ancient line of hills in eastern peninsular India; rising to heights of 3,600 feet (1,100 metres), the eastern ghats are forest-covered, provide a home for a variety of wildlife, and are populated by several tribal groups. The central tract comprises a series of plateaus and basins occupying the inland area west and north of the Eastern Ghats; the plateau areas provide scant resources, but several of the basins--notably the Kalahandi, Balangir, Hirakud, and Jharsuguda--have the soil and the irrigation facilities to support local agriculture. The coastal plains are formed of alluvial soils deposited by the many rivers flowing to the Bay of Bengal; locally the area is known as the Baleshwar Coastal Plain to the northeast, the Mahanadi delta in the centre, and the Chilika Plain to the southwest. The coastal plains are heavily populated, have extensive irrigation, and are devoted almost entirely to the growing of rice during the rainy season.

The main rivers are the Subarnarekha, Burabalang, Baitarani, Brahmani, Mahanadi, Rushikulya, and Vamsadhara. Notable mountain ranges are the Mahendra Hill (Giri; rising to 4,924 feet [1,501 metres]), the Malaya Hill (3,894 feet [1,187 metres]), and the Megasini (3,822 feet [1,165 metres]). Orissa's Chilika Lake is the biggest saltwater lagoon in India.€€€

(See also: Orissa , Hinduism, Yoga, Body Mind and Soul)

Chatur-varna catur-varna (Sanskrit) (from chatur four + varna a caste, color, form, appearance)

The Hindu four castes as presented in the Laws of Manu: the Brahmana or priest, Kshatriya or warrior and administrator, Vaisya or merchant, and Sudra or agriculturalist and servant. These four castes, while very ancient, belonged to the archaic civilization. In the Hindu view karmic merit and demerit work to place a person in his position in life in repetitive incarnations on earth.

Thus a person might be a Brahmin, the highest of the castes, but if his life were such as to bring about a change in him, some subsequent incarnation would place him either in a higher or a lower position in life. A person might be a slave or beggar in one life, but if he lives in the higher part of his nature his next imbodiment might be that of a prince; or a prince in his palace might for karmic demerit, in his next life be born a slave.

The real person is the reimbodying ego, who carves its own destiny as and how it chooses, and its imbodiments correspond. It might readily happen that for the purposes of discipline and improvement of soul, a reimbodying ego might deliberately choose a body in which it would have to face, meet, and overcome a great many of what the world calls misfortunes.

It is not always therefore in the best interests of a learning and evolving soul to be born "with a silver spoon in its mouth," because with such surroundings as wealth and social position might bring, a weak soul could easily receive tendencies downwards because lacking the stern discipline urging it upwards and awakening the transcendent powers of the spirit within. Luxury, ease, power, and wealth are by no means always unmixed blessings, but quite frequently become positive misfortunes to weak souls.

Also, the four principal colors.

(See also: Chatur-varna, catur-varna , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Parasu-rama-avatara (Sanskrit) The avatara or descent of Vishnu known as Rama with the Axe who, according to the purely theological interpretation, terminated the Kshattriyas (warrior castes), which were disturbing and overruling the Brahmins (priestly and learned castes). Legends of avataras are based on cosmogonic, planetary, and even human history, and also on the principles of analogical repetitives in the unfolding aeons of time.

(See also: Parasu-rama-avatara , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

S’udra (Sanskrit). The last of the four castes that sprang from Brahma’s body. The "servile caste" that issued from the foot of the deity.

(See also: S’udra , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)