[INDOLOGY] Brahmin?

[Lubin, Tim]

… but of course the English term is definitely just an Anglo-phonetic representation of brāhmaṇa, pronounced in NIA (Hindi, etc.) fashion with the final -a dropped.  The schwa quality of the Indic short -a- has led to a particularly wide array of transcriptions, using every vowel other than a, it would seem.  Thus, Wm. Jones's "Ordinances of Menu,"  or the old work called "The Christian Brahmun" (about a convert from Hinduism).  I find it useful pedagogically in undergraduates classes precisely to avoid confusion with Vedic bráhman.
Tim

Timothy Lubin
Professor of Religion
Washington and Lee University
Lexington, Virginia 24450

http://home.wlu.edu/~lubint
http://wlu.academia.edu/TimothyLubin
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=930949



From: Dan Lusthaus <vasubandhu at earthlink.net<mailto:vasubandhu at earthlink.net>>
Date: Thursday, February 20, 2014 3:42 PM
To: Indology <indology at list.indology.info<mailto:indology at list.indology.info>>
Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] Brahmin?

Dear Jarrod,

You can answer those questions for yourself by checking Monier-Williams,
where you will discover that Brahmin is indeed a bone fide Sanskrit term, at
least as old as the āraṇyakas.

See
http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/cgi-bin/monier/serveimg.pl?file=/scans/MWScan/MWScanjpg/mw0741-brahmodumbara.jpg

for Braahma.n, this would follow the modern habit of dropping the final -a,
since braahma.na is another term with a long history.

>From Monier-Williams:

brahmin [p= 741,1]
mfn. belonging or relating to brahma or brahmā (Taittirīya-āraṇyaka)
"possessing sacred knowledge " N. of viṣṇu (Mahābhārata).

brā́hmaṇa [p= 741,2]
mfn. relating to or given by a Brahman , befitting or becoming a Brahman ,
Brahmanical (atharva-veda, Taittirīya-brāhmaṇa, Mahābhārata)
brā́hmaṇá m. one who has divine knowledge (sometimes applied to agni), a
Brahman , a man belonging to the 1st of the 3 twice-born classes and of the
4 original divisions of the Hindu body (generally a priest , but often in
the present day a layman engaged in non-priestly occupations although the
name is strictly only applicable to one who knows and repeats the veda)
(ṛg-veda &c)
brā́hmaṇá m. = brāhmaṇācchaṃsin (Kātyāyana-śrauta-sūtra)
brā́hmaṇá m. a Brahman in the second stage (between mātra and śrotriya)
(Hemādri 's Caturvarga-cintāmaṇi)
brā́hmaṇá m. N. of the 28th lunar mansion
brā́hmaṇa n. that which is divine , the divine (Brāhmaṇas)
brā́hmaṇa n. sacred or divine power ib. (āśvalāyana-gṛhya-sūtra).
brā́hmaṇa  n. Brahmanical explanation , explanations of sacred knowledge or
doctrine (esp. for the use of the Brahmans in their sacrifices) Br.
brā́hmaṇa n. the brāhmaṇa portion of the veda (as distinct from its mantra
and upaniṣad portion) and consisting of a class of works called brāhmaṇas
(they contain rules for the employment of the mantras or hymns at various
sacrifices , with detailed explanations of their origin and meaning and
numerous old legends ; they are said by sāyaṇa to contain two parts: 1.
vidhi , rules or directions for rites ; 2. artha-vāda , explanatory remarks
; each veda has its own brāhmaṇa , that of the RV. is preserved in 2 works ,
viz. the aitareya , sometimes called āśvalāyana , and the kauṣītaki or
śāṅkhāyana-brāhmaṇa ; the white yajur-veda has the śata-patha-brāhmaṇa ; the
black yajur-veda has the brāhmaṇa which differs little from the text of its
saṃhitā ; the SV. has 8 brāhmaṇas , the best known of which are the prauḍha
or pañca-viṃśa and the ṣaḍviṃśa ; the AV. has one brāhmaṇa called go-patha)
Nir. Gr2S3rS. &c
brā́hmaṇa n. the soma vessel of the brahman priest RV. AV.
brā́hmaṇa n. a society or assemblage of Brahmans , a conclave W.

Dan Lusthaus
Harvard University


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