What was the reason of Brahmins journey?
Villages increased the expanse of cultivated lands, hence the income of kings. Thus, kings or ambitious warlords in different parts of India would invite Brahmins to come to their kingdoms to establish temples, transforming village gods into local forms of mainstream Puranic gods.
What is meant by the loss of caste status?
1Descend in the caste system, e.g. by taking employment regarded as of lower status. ‘Indian soldiers were only too happy to go to war on behalf of the Empire, even though, for Hindus, crossing the dark ocean meant losing caste.
What did Brahmins do in Vedic period?
Because of this Lord Vishnu tells Brahma that a special race of humans should be created to protect the entire human race. The Rig Veda contains a different story of origin for the varnas. In this Hindu scripture, Brahmin originated from the mouth of Brahma, while Kshatriya originated from the arms.
Why don’t Brahmins travel by sea?
The reason is Brahmins are required to perform trikala sandhyaavandhanam amd you can only do it on land. Not in sea. You can skip Sandhyaavandhanam for 3 days and do a praayaschittam on the 4th day. So Brahmins did travel by sea to places they’d reach under 3 days of voyage like Srilanka, Malaysia, Burma, Arabia and Indonesia.
Did Hindus have a religious objection to crossing the seas?
Debunking the commonly held belief that all Hindus had a religious objection to crossing the seas, he says, “It was never true of the people of the South.” Panikkar then recounts the continuum of colonisation as well as cultural and religious osmosis by sea from India’s east coast to SE Asia.
What problems did the East India Company face with Brahmins?
The East India Company faced a lot of problems with the Brahmins they recruited in their army, who refused to cross the sea.
Is samudrayana (ocean voyage) forbidden in Hinduism?
According to this article in Hinduism Today (July/August/September 2008), samudrayana (ocean voyage) is forbidden in the Shastras, but it may not be binding on current followers — instead they may go through ritual purification after travel. The relevant passage is below: