Nambudris etc.

[zydenbos at flevoland.xs4all.nl]

Replies to msg 31 May 97: indology at liverpool.ac.uk

 vs> . I was under the impression that the ottillAta
 vs> nambUdiris were supposed to be a result of a curse that
 vs> SankarAcArya is supposed to have laid on some relatives
 vs> of his, barring them from Vedic study. Is this correct?

I have heard a similar explanation given for why the Muuguuru Karnaa.taka
brahmins in Karnataka are considered a.d.dapankti braahma.naru, i.e. why they
are considered not "full" brahmins and are not allowed to sit in the same
pankti (line) with other brahmins for their meals on public auspicious
occasions: according to the story, they had objected to Sankara as a sannyaasin
performing funeral rites for his mother, and Sankara had cursed them by giving
them this inferior status within the brahmin var.na.

Perhaps we have here a recurring motif in explanations of relative superiority
/ inferiority among brahmin groups?

Robert Zydenbos
zydenbos at flevoland.xs4all.nl