Brahmin vs Brahman

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

On Sat, 23 Mar 2002, swamy swarna wrote:

> (By the way Brahman is different from
> Brahmin, Brahman is used for the Creator, Brahmin to
> the one who knows Brahma (Brahma jnani).

<rant>

I spell the name of the priestly caste Brahman not Brahmin, and I would
like others to do also.  The reason is Brahmin doesn't match the
pronounciation of that word in any Indian language.  The only reason it
exists that way is because a couple of centuries ago some silly Englishman
mispronounced it.  Colonialism has been over for a long time, why are we
still mindlessly perpetuating a mistake like sheep?

Of course Brahman isn't completely accurate either.  (Brahmana is even
better but the last 'a' is elided in North Indian languages.)  100%
accuracy may be impossible because the 'n' sound doesn't exist in English
but that's no reason to accept a spelling which is obviously wrong.

</rant>

Also I would like to point out that Brahman (the supreme spirit), Brahman
(the priestly caste), Brahman (the knower of the supreme spirit), and
Brahman (the explanatory sections of the Vedas)  are phonetically exactly
the same.  The only difference is the first is neuter in gender while the
other three are masculine.

--
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>
It's a girl! See the pictures - http://www.braincells.com/shailaja/