About Us
What we stand for
For last many years, Brahmins have put kindness into action
Objective of our organisation is simple. For the Brahmins; Of the Brahmins; Made of Brahmins working by Brahmins in the UK and around the world get the support Brahmins need when crisis strike.
Our History
Brahmin (/ˈbrɑːmɪn/; Sanskrit: ब्राह्मण, romanized: brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within the Hindu society. The Brahmins were known as the “priestly class” as they were priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (acharya or guru). The other three Varnas were Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra.
The traditional occupation of Brahmins was that of priesthood at the Hindu temples or at socio-religious ceremonies and rite of passage rituals such as solemnising a wedding with hymns and prayers. Theoretically, the Brahmins have the highest ritual status of the four social classes. Their livelihood is prescribed to be one of strict austerity and voluntary poverty (“[A Brahmin] should acquire what just suffices for the time, what he earns he should spend all that the same day”). In practice, Indian texts suggest that some Brahmins became agriculturalists, warriors, traders and had also held other occupations in the Indian subcontinent.
Vedic sources
Brahmin (/ˈbrɑːmɪn/; Sanskrit: ब्राह्मण, romanized: brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within the Hindu society. The Brahmins were known as the “priestly class” as they were priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (acharya or guru). The other three Varnas were Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra.
The traditional occupation of Brahmins was that of priesthood at the Hindu temples or at socio-religious ceremonies and rite of passage rituals such as solemnising a wedding with hymns and prayers. Theoretically, the Brahmins have the highest ritual status of the four social classes. Their livelihood is prescribed to be one of strict austerity and voluntary poverty (“[A Brahmin] should acquire what just suffices for the time, what he earns he should spend all that the same day”). In practice, Indian texts suggest that some Brahmins became agriculturalists, warriors, traders and had also held other occupations in the Indian subcontinent.
Brahmin Priests
Purusha Sukta
The earliest inferred reference to “Brahmin” as a possible social class is in the Rigveda, occurs once, and the hymn is called Purusha Sukta. According to a hymn in Mandala 10, Rigveda 10.90.11-2, Brahmins are described as having emerged from the mouth of Purusha, being that part of the body from which words emerge.
The Purusha Sukta varna verse is now generally considered to have been inserted at a later date into the Vedic text, possibly as a charter myth. Stephanie Jamison and Joel Brereton, a professor of Sanskrit and Religious studies, state, “there is no evidence in the Rigveda for an elaborate, much-subdivided and overarching caste system”, and “the varna system seems to be embryonic in the Rigveda and, both then and later, a social ideal rather than a social reality”.
Shrauta Sutras
According to Kulkarni, the Grhya-sutras state that Yajna, Adhyayana (studying the vedas and teaching), dana pratigraha (accepting and giving gifts) are the “peculiar duties and privileges of brahmins”.
Definition of Brahmin as casteless renunciate
The term Brahmin in Indian texts has signified someone who is good and virtuous, not just someone of priestly class. Patrick Olivelle states that both Buddhist and Brahmanical literature repeatedly define “Brahmin” not in terms of family of birth, but in terms of personal qualities. These virtues and characteristics mirror the values cherished in Hinduism during the Sannyasa stage of life, or the life of renunciation for spiritual pursuits. Brahmins, states Olivelle, were the social class from which most ascetics came.
Dharmasutras and Dharmashastras
The Dharmasutra and Dharmashaastra texts of Hinduism describe the expectations, duties and role of Brahmins. John Bussanich states that the ethical precepts set for Brahmins, in ancient Indian texts, are similar to Greek virtue-ethics, that “Manu’s dharmic Brahmin can be compared to Aristotle’s man of practical wisdom”, and that “the virtuous Brahmin is not unlike the Platonic-Aristotelian philosopher” with the difference that the latter was not sacerdotal.
Vedic duties
The Brahmins were expected to perform all six Vedic duties as opposed to other twice-borns who performed three.
| Adhyayan (Study Vedas) | Yajana (performing sacrifice for one’s own benefit) | Dana Giving Gifts | Adyapana Teaching Vedas | Yaajana Acting as Priest for sacrifice | pratigraha(accepting gifts) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brahmin | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Kshatriya | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | No | No | No |
Vaishya | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | No | No | No |
History Saying
According to Abraham Eraly, “Brahmin as a varna hardly had any presence in historical records before the Gupta Empire era” (3rd century to 6th century CE), when Buddhism dominated the land. “No Brahmin, no sacrifice, no ritualistic act of any kind ever, even once, is referred to” in any Indian texts between third century BCE and the late first century CE. He also states that “The absence of literary and material evidence, however, does not mean that Brahmanical culture did not exist at that time, but only that it had no elite patronage and was largely confined to rural folk, and therefore went unrecorded in history”. Their role as priests and repository of sacred knowledge, as well as their importance in the practice of Vedic Shrauta rituals, grew during the Gupta Empire era and thereafter.
However, the knowledge about actual history of Brahmins or other varnas of Hinduism in and after the first millennium is fragmentary and preliminary, with little that is from verifiable records or archeological evidence, and much that is constructed from ahistorical Sanskrit works and fiction. Michael Witzel writes,
Toward a history of the Brahmins: Current research in the area is fragmentary. The state of our knowledge of this fundamental subject is preliminary, at best. Most Sanskrit works are a-historic or, at least, not especially interested in presenting a chronological account of India’s history. When we actually encounter history, such as in Rajatarangini or in the Gopalavamsavali of Nepal, the texts do not deal with brahmins in great detail.
Actual occupations
Historical records from mid 1st millennium CE and later, suggest Brahmins were agriculturalists and warriors in medieval India, quite often instead of as exception. Donkin and other scholars state that Hoysala Empire records frequently mention Brahmin merchants “carried on trade in horses, elephants and pearls” and transported goods throughout medieval India before the 14th-century Adi Shankara a proponent of Advaita Vedanta, was born in a Brahmin family, and is credited with unifying and establishing the main currents of thought in Hinduism.
Historical records from mid 1st millennium CE and later, suggest Brahmins were agriculturalists and warriors in medieval India, quite often instead of as exception. Donkin and other scholars state that Hoysala Empire records frequently mention Brahmin merchants “carried on trade in horses, elephants and pearls” and transported goods throughout medieval India before the 14th- century
Historical records, state scholars, suggest that Brahmin varna was not limited to a particular status or priest and the teaching profession. Chanakya, a Brahmin born in 375 BCE, was an ancient Indian polymath who was active as a teacher, author, strategist, philosopher, economist, jurist, royal advisor, who assisted the first Mauryan emperor Chandragupta Maurya in his rise to power and is widely credited for having played an important role in the establishment of the Maurya Empire
Historical records from mid 1st millennium CE and later, suggest Brahmins were agriculturalists and warriors in medieval India, quite often instead of as exception. Donkin and other scholars state that Hoysala Empire records frequently mention Brahmin merchants “carried on trade in horses, elephants and pearls” and transported goods throughout medieval India before the 14th- century
Brahmins, the Bhakti Movement and Social Reform Movements
Many of the prominent thinkers and earliest champions of the Bhakti movement were Brahmins, a movement that encouraged a direct relationship of an individual with a personal god. Among the many Brahmins who nurtured the Bhakti movement were Ramanuja, Nimbarka, Vallabha and Madhvacharya of Vaishnavism, Ramananda, another devotional poet sant. Born in a Brahmin family, Ramananda welcomed everyone to spiritual pursuits without discriminating anyone by gender, class, caste or religion (such as Muslims). He composed his spiritual message in poems, using widely spoken vernacular language rather than Sanskrit, to make it widely accessible. The Hindu tradition recognises him as the founder of the Hindu Ramanandi Sampradaya,[50] the largest monastic renunciant community in Asia in modern times.
Other medieval era Brahmins who led spiritual movement without social or gender discrimination included Andal (9th-century female poet), Basava (12th-century Lingayatism), Dnyaneshwar (13th-century Bhakti poet), Vallabha Acharya (16th-century Vaishnava poet), Chaitanya Mahaprabhu(14th-century Vaishnava saint) were among others. Many 18th and 19th century Brahmins are credited with religious movements that criticised idolatry. For example, the Brahmins Raja Ram Mohan Roy led Brahmo Samaj and Dayananda Saraswati led the Arya Samaj
Historical figures
- Balaji Bajirao, peshwa of Maratha
- Basava,12th-century Indian statesman, philosopher, poet, social reformer and Lingayat saint. Basava Jayanthi is celebrated after him
- Bhattadeva (1558–1638), acknowledged as the father of Assamese prose and known for Katha Bhagavat and Katha Gita
- Bhai Mati Das, martyr in Sikh history
- Bhai Sati Das, was martyred with his brother Bhai Mati Das
- Chanakya, teacher of Chandragupta Maurya and also an ancient Indian philosopher, economist, jurist and royal advisor of the Maurya Empire.
- Gopana – was the General of Kumara Kampana II who was the son of Bukka Raya the founder of Vijayanagara Empire
- Kaundiya, earliest disciple and follower of Gautama Buddha. He was the first to become an Arhat. Koundiny Asana was named after him
- Kumārila Bhaṭṭa, was a Hindu philosopher and a scholar of Mimamsa school of philosophy from Kamarupa (present-day Assam)
- Mohan Lal Kashmiri, Indian diplomat who played a central role in the First Anglo-Afghan War of 1838–1842
- Moropant Pingle -was the Peshwe in Shivaji’s Asthapradhan mandal
- Nana Fadnavis, Influential minister and Statesman of the Maratha Empire during the Peshwa administration.
- Peshwa Bajirao I – Peshwa of Maratha Empire.
- Samarth Ramdas, Indian Hindu saint, philosopher, poet, writer and spiritual master.
- Sariputra, main disciple and First of the Buddha’s two chief disciples.
- Smarthavicharam, Kuriyedath Thāthri Woman who challenged Brahminism
- Vātsyāyana, author of Kama Sutra
What we do
Bhudev.co.uk part of Bhudev ltd currently register with the Companies House in England & Wales with registration no 14044193 Incorporated on 13 April 2022 is a not for profit company awaiting to be Charity registered in England soon.
We work for Brahmins from Gujarat, Gujarati speaking back ground spread worldwide. As our organisation grows and has establish team we shall include Brahmins from Non Gujarati speaking other parts of India including Gujarat too.
We shall target to work for, of and by Brahmins only.
We will take small steps at a time starting with helping post matrimonial issues resolution, then matrimonial introduction with in community; Jobs of community; support for business start up to Business expansion, Legal support and much more.
How we are run
We manage this from United Kingdom but our Volunteers, Councillors, Mediators, legal team of volunteers who based in various parts of Gujarat state, United Kingdom, Canada; USA, UAE and expanding slowly where Gujarati speaking Brahmin resides. We are not for profit organisation and will function with financial support from public, government authorities, other Charities donations, membership, sponsons and so on through legal chanals. We shall be also supporting other Brahmin organisation who will be staging various events for welfare of Brahmins like Group marriage, celebration of Holy events, visit to temples, supporting education or medical aid for Brahmins, Yagna pujas, temple building and so on.
Latest News & Events
See our Projects
We shall be also supporting other Brahmin organisation who will be staging various events for welfare of Brahmins like Group marriage, celebration of Holy events, visit to temples, supporting education or medical aid for Brahmins, Yagna pujas, temple building and so on.
We will take small steps at a time starting with helping post matrimonial issues resolution, then matrimonial introduction with in community; Jobs of community; support for business start up to Business expansion, Legal support and much more.
See our Impact to Brahmin Community
Impact should help Brahmins to support Brahmins and enrich our rich culture and back ground in ensuring Brahmins have its own stand with in Global community as it use to be in ancient age.
Get Involved
We call all Brahmins Child, Young; Adult, Elderly to get involved and contribute to assist Brahmin community at large while we are left over due to various personal and political reasons.
Our Team – Contact us :
Girish Trivedi
USA & Pandoli - Gujarat India
Kaushik Vyas
UK Milton Keynes - London
Ravindranath Gor
Midlands – United Kingdom
Bhadresh Trivedi
London – United Kingdom
Nirmala Jani
CANADA
Pragnesh Girishbhai Mehta
Scarborough - Canada
Pannaben Vrajlalbhai
UAE
Sandeep J Purohit
UAE / Ahmedabad India
Pramod J Bhagat
Nairobi Africa / Ahmedabad India
Amritbhai Trivedi
Tarapur – Kheda & Anand District – Gujarat - India
Girishbhai Shukla
Vadodra – Gujarat - India
Advocate Kiranbhai Trivedi
Gandhinagar – Gujarat - India
Dr.Ashwinbhai V Trivedi
Advocate & Special PP - Gandhinagar
Girishbhai Shukla
Vadodara – Gujarat - India
Dinesh C Trivedi
Surat – Gujarat - India
Bharatbhai V Upadhyay
Jamnagar - Gujarat state - India
Bhavanaben N Dave
Morbi – Gujarat - India
Pramod D Atri
Bhuj – Gujarat- India
Arunkumar Joshi
Kutch – Bhuj – Gujarat - India
Dinesh Joshi
Rajkot – Gujarat - India
Jaydeep Trivedi
Rajkot – Gujarat – India
Arunbhai L Dave
Bhavnagar – Gujarat - India
Bhagwatiben Jagdishbahi Trivedi
Amreli Gujarat, India & UK
Dharmendra Joshi
Himatnagar , Gujarat - India
Randhirbhai Trivedi
Ahmedabad & Mehasana District, Gujarat - India
Vandanaben Jani
Ahmedabad – Gujarat – India
Jagdish Dwivedi
Ahmedabad – Gujarat – India
Dr AAshay Dwivedi MD
Ahmedabad – Gujarat - India
Bhaviniben Trivedi
Ahmedabad – Gujarat - India
Dhirenbhai Trivedi
Ahmedabad – Gujarat - India
Naresh Sharma
Ahmedabad – Gujarat – India
Gaurang Bhagat
Ahmedabad – Gujarat – India
Kaushik Vyas
Ahmedabad – Gujarat – India
Sharad Anil Joshi
Kheda district – Gujarat - India
Hirendra Pandya
Vadodra Head of Doctor Cell Gujarat
Dr Bhavmik Upadhaya
Ahmedabad – Gujarat – India