All 3 Uses of
Brahmin
in
Leaves of Grass
- I see the place of the idea of the Deity incarnated by avatars in
human forms,
I see the spots of the successions of priests on the earth, oracles,
sacrificers, brahmins, sabians, llamas, monks, muftis, exhorters,
I see where druids walk'd the groves of Mona, I see the mistletoe
and vervain,
I see the temples of the deaths of the bodies of Gods, I see the old
signifiers.†Chpt 6 *Brahmins = members of the highest caste of Hindu society
- 43
I do not despise you priests, all time, the world over,
My faith is the greatest of faiths and the least of faiths,
Enclosing worship ancient and modern and all between ancient and modern,
Believing I shall come again upon the earth after five thousand years,
Waiting responses from oracles, honoring the gods, saluting the sun,
Making a fetich of the first rock or stump, powowing with sticks in
the circle of obis,
Helping the llama or brahmin as he trims the lamps of the idols,
Dancing yet through the streets in a phallic procession, rapt and
austere in the woods a gymnosophist,
Drinking mead from the skull-cap, to Shastas and Vedas admirant,
minding the Koran,
W†Chpt 3
- from your Western
golden shores,
The countries there with their populations, the millions en-masse
are curiously here,
The swarming market-places, the temples with idols ranged along the
sides or at the end, bonze, brahmin, and llama,
Mandarin, farmer, merchant, mechanic, and fisherman,
The singing-girl and the dancing-girl, the ecstatic persons, the
secluded emperors,
Confucius himself, the great poets and heroes, the warriors, the castes,
all,
Trooping up, crowding from all directions, from the Altay mountains,
From Thibet, from the four winding and far-flowing rivers of China,
From the southern peninsulas and the demi-continental islands, from
Malaysia,
Thes†Chpt 18
Definitions:
-
(1)
(Brahmin as in: Brahmin caste) the highest caste of Hindu society -- responsibility for maintaining and communicating cultural tradition; hence providing priests, scholars and teachers
or: any member of that casteWord Confusion: Brahmin is often confused with Brahman (concept of the supreme spirit found in Hinduism) because in Sanskrit they are spelled "bráhman" and "brahmán" respectively. -
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Less commonly, Brahman can refer to any of several breeds of Indian cattle.
Much less commonly, Brahman can refer to a member of a social and cultural elite (especially a descendant of an old New England family).