BBAHMAN 148 BBAHMANI Lokesa, the ruler of the world, etc.; Brahm, the essence of the Supreme Be- ing in the abstract, devoid of personal individuality, to whose name so much reverence is attached that it is con- sidered criminal to pronounce it, is said to have given birth to Brahma, Vishnu and Siva simultaneously; and to have allotted to the first the province of cre- ating, to the second that of preserving, and to the third that of destroying. Ac- cordingly, ever since the creation of the world, Brahma has had little or nothing to do, and it will not be till the 10th querors of India, who discharged priestly functions, whose ascendency, however, over his fellows was intellect- ual and spiritual, but not yet political or supported by the caste system; also one of the four leading castes of India, the others, theoretically at least, beincr Kshatryas (warriors), Vaisyas (mer- chants), and Sudras (laborers), not reckoning outcasts beyond the pale. They are the most intellectual of all castes, having great mental subtlety They are admirably adapted for meta- physical speculation, and for mathema- BRAHMA, WITH CONSORT SARASVATI avatar, or incarnation, that his services will be put in requisition, when this world is to undergo total annihilation. Meanwhile, however, the other deities, Vishnu and Siva, are constantly en- gaged in their respective duties of pres- ervation and destruction; and the Hindus lavish chiefly their adoration upon those divinities from whom they expect to derive immediate advantage. In the mythological poems, and in sculpture, Brahma is represented with four heads, or rather faces, and holding m his four hands a manuscript book containing a portion of the Vedas, a pot for holding water, a rosary, and a sacrificial spoon. In the sculptures of the cave temple of Elephanta, he is rep- resented sitting on a lotus, supported by five swans or geese. BRAHMAN, BRAHMIN. BBAMIN, or BRACHMAN, one of th'- Aryan con- tical reasoning; but throughout their vast literature they have almost uni- formly told monstrous myths in lieu of history. Nor do they care much for natural science. BRAHMANA BEADS, a name given in India to the corrugated seeds of elxocarpus, used by the Brahmans and others as necklaces. BRAHMAN BULL, the zebu, a variety of the bos taurus, or common ox. It is distinguished by having a large, fatty hump on its shoulders. Divine honors are paid to it in India, and it is deemed an act of piety to turn one loose in the streets, without any provision for its maintenance. It, therefore, helps itself from grocers' stalls or from gardens. BRAHMANI, a female Brahman; the wife of a Brahman. Also written Brahminee.
