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Brahmin is a varna (caste) in Hinduism specializing as priests, teachers (acharya). Brahmins traditionally were responsible for religious rituals in temples as well as in the homes of Hindus and is a person authorised, after receiving rigorous training, to recite the Vedas and perform sacred rituals that serve as a fundamental aspect of the relationship between humans and the deities of Hinduism. In general, as family vocations and businesses are inherited, priesthood used to be inherited among Brahmin priestly families, as it requires years of practice of vedas from childhood after proper introduction to student life through a religious initiation called upanayana at the age of about five. Some Brahmins were also warriors. ==Rigvedic sources== It must be emphasized that attempts to interpolate references from the Rigveda with contemporary social groups that identify as "brahmin" is entirely speculative. The earliest inferred reference to "brahmin" as a possible social class is in the Rigveda, regarded by linguists as the oldest of the four Vedas (dated to between 1500 to 1200 BCE). The masculine noun ''brâhmaná'' first appears in the Rigveda as a metaphor for the deity Agni and ''brâhmaná'' is listed as one among several enumerated roles within the Vedic priesthood (such as ''hotṛ'', ''adhvaryu'' and ''udgātṛ''). The second ''Mandala'' of the Rigveda contains a ''sūkta'' (lit. "well-formed, eulogy", a Vedic hymn) describing the Rigvedic deity Agni as a "Cleanser" and one who performs the "Herald's task". The metaphor "Brahman, Lord and Master in our home" is used to describe the relationship between Agni and the faithful: This use of the term ''brâhmaná'' is very similar, and in some stanzas identical, with those of another ''sukta'' in praise of Agni from the tenth Mandala of the Rigveda, where the same differentiated Vedic priesthood (''hotr'', ''potr'' and ''brâhmaná'') also serves to describe Agni: According to the Purusha Sukta, also in ''Mandala'' 10, Brahmins are described as having emerged from the mouth of Purusha, being that part of the body from which words emerge. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Brahmin」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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