Brahmi
The most commonly used script in the
inscriptionsof the emperor Ashoka(r.
269–232 B.C.E.), the greatest figure in the
Maurya dynasty. Ashoka’s empire
encompassed all of the subcontinent
except the deepest parts of southern
India and went west into modern
Afghanistan. Brahmi script was used in
all regions of the Mauryan empire
except in the northwest, where the
Kharoshthi script was used. Ashoka’s
rock edictsand pillar edictsare the ear-
liest significant Indian written docu-
ments and give invaluable information
about contemporary social, political,
and religious life. Brahmi is the ancestor
of the modern Indian scripts, including
Devanagari. It is also the ultimate
source for all indigenous southeast
Asian alphabets, which developed from
trade with southern India in the early
medieval period. Over the course
of time, Brahmi was replaced by
later scripts, was forgotten, and
became unreadable. Although Ashoka’s
inscriptions ensured that Europeans
were aware of Brahmi, their content was
a mystery until 1837, when James
Prinsep deciphered the Brahmi
alphabet by working backward from
later, known scripts.
Brahmin
In the traditional Hindu theory of the
four major social groups (varnas), the
brahmins are the group with the high-
est status, based on the belief that they
are purer than all others. This belief is
based on the creation story known as
the Purusha Sukta, in which the brah-
mins are created from the Primeval
Man’s mouth. The mouth is part of the
headand thus the highest part of the
body, and it is also associated with
speech, one of the definitively human
faculties. From the earliest Hindu
recorded history, brahmins have been
associated with speech and the sacred
word; they were the scholars, priests, rit-
ual technicians, and protectors of sacred
learning. This is still true in modern
times, although there are also many
brahmins who have other occupa-
tions, such as trade, business, and
government service.
Aside from their traditional associa-
tion with sacred learning, their other
source of social status is their ritual
purity, which is believed to be greater
than that of all other human beings. This
ritual purity is inherent, conferred by
birth. According to tradition, even an
uneducated brahmin should be consid-
ered a “god on earth,” whereas a learned
brahmin is more sacred still. This ritual
purity makes brahmins preferable for
service to many of the gods of the Hindu
pantheon, since they are considered
the best intermediaries to “insulate”
the deities from ordinary people.
Although brahmins as a whole have the
highest status, within the brahmin com-
munity there are highly defined sub-
groups (jatis), which are often defined
by region of origin.Brahmo Samaj
The earliest of the Hindu reform groups,
founded in Calcutta in the early nine-
teenth century by Ram Mohan Roy
(1774–1833). His purpose was to purge
contemporary Hinduism of its “corrupt”
practices, such as sati(widowburning),
the ban on widow remarriage, image
worship, and caste. In his effort to find a
traditional authority for such reforms,
he chose the Upanishadsas his key reli-
gious texts. After his death the move-
ment was eventually headed by
Debendranath Tagore (father of the
Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore)
and later by Keshub Chander Sen; dis-
agreements over ritual matters split the
movement under both leaders. By the
late 1800s the Samaj’s influence had
largely passed, although in an interest-
ing twist, it became the vehicle through
which the mystic Ramakrishna met
many of his disciples.
The Brahmo Samaj’s social program
reflected and responded to contempo-
rary European critiques of popular
Hinduism, some levied by ChristianBrahmo Samaj