Re: [INDOLOGY] Brāhmaṇa and Savarṇa

[Manu Francis]

Dear Palaniappan,
I find in my files 10 hits of inscriptions mentioned in the ARE that use
the word savar.na. I have not checked all, but most are from TN and indeed
seem to confirm that this word is used mostly for physicians.
I can check thoroughly, if needed.
Best.
--

Emmanuel Francis
Chargé de recherche CNRS, Centre d'étude de l'Inde et de l'Asie du Sud (UMR
8564, EHESS-CNRS, Paris)
http://ceias.ehess.fr/
http://ceias.ehess.fr/index.php?1725
http://rcsi.hypotheses.org/
Associate member, Centre for the Study of Manuscript Culture (SFB 950,
Universität Hamburg)
http://www.manuscript-cultures.uni-hamburg.de/index_e.html
https://cnrs.academia.edu/emmanuelfrancis


On Thu, Jul 17, 2014 at 10:27 PM, <palaniappa at aol.com> wrote:

>  Thank you for the information. This is interesting. Given that Savarṇas
> are most often seen as physicians, I would have expected savarṇa-vṛtti to
> be glossed as a grant for the livelihood of a physician instead of a
> scribe. Is the posted interpretation given by Sircar or T. N. Subramanian?
> Is there any reference to an inscription or SITI reference?
>
>  Regards,
> Palaniappan
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dmitriy <july2307 at yandex.ru>
> To: indology <indology at list.indology.info>
> Sent: Thu, Jul 17, 2014 2:09 am
> Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] Brāhmaṇa and Savarṇa
>
>
> Possibly, it is a question of a rather late inscriptions.
> In any case, I didn't find "savarNa" mentions in my base (and don't
> remember such definitions) in texts of inscriptions till the V-VIII
> centuries.
> Interestingly, that D. Ch. Sircar in his Epigraphical Glossary mentions
> savarNa only once (savarNa-vRtti = profession of writing the document).
> And just refers to a South Indian Temple Inscriptions by T.N. Subramanian
>
> Dmitriy N. Lielukhine
> Oriental Institute
> Moscow
> http://indepigr.narod.ru/index_1.htm
>
> 17.07.2014, 10:13, "palaniappa at aol.com" <palaniappa at aol.com>:
>
>     In an inscription of ca. 1009, Brahmin villages, Vaikhānasa villages,
> and Savarṇa villages are mentioned separately. (E. Hultzsch, the editor of
> the inscription corrects the reading of 'Cavaṇṇar' as 'camaṇar' and
> interprets them as Jains. This correction was not necessary.) There are
> other inscriptions where individuals mentioned as Savarṇa are listed with
> their Brahminical gotras and at least in one inscription a Savarṇa is
> described as belonging to Bhāradvāja gotra and Bodhāyana sūtra. One
> inscription mentions 32 Savarṇas being given 32 house sites as an agrahara.
> These Savarṇas seemed to have functioned as physicians. It is clear that
> they were Brahmins but are classified as separate from 'Brāhmaṇa'. K. V.
> Subrahmanya Aiyer mentions (without citing the specific reference)
> Yādavaprakāśa as explaining in his work Vaijayanti that Savarṇa was an
> offspring of a Brahmin father and a Kṣatriya mother. To me this explanation
> seems to be suspect. It looks like a section of Brahmins was willing to
> engage in professions such as being musicians, physicians, etc.,
> notwithstanding any objections from the orthodox Vedic Brahmins who  seemed
> to have reserved for themselves the designation 'Brāhmaṇa' (without any
> modifier), at least in the beginning.  Inscriptions also differentiate
> Brāḥmaṇa from Śiva-Brāhṃaṇa. (The Tamil epic Cilappatikāram mentions the
> music-loving Brahmins as having their own quarters separate from Vedic
> Brahmins.)  This is similar to the adoption of the Tamil classical dance
> form by the Brahmins in the 20th century. In spite of the earlier
> objections from orthodox Brahmins, that dance form has become very popular
> among all Tamil Brahmins nowadays. Tamil Brahmins serving as physicians
> also seem to have gained acceptance from the orthodox over time. I would
> like to know if 'Savarṇa' as a Brahmin was known to texts/inscriptions
> outside the Tamil region.
>
>  Thanks in advance.
>
>  Regards,
> Palaniappan
>     ,
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