Brahmin

A Brahmin (also Brahman; Brāhmaṇa) is a member of the priestly class in the Indian subcontinent and belongs to the upper caste society. According to the Manusmṛti, there are four "varnas", or classes: the Brahmins (poets, priests, teachers, scholars), the Kshatriyas (kings, agriculturists and nobility), the Vaishyas (merchants), and Shudras (artisans, service providers and laborers). In Hinduism, Brahmins were charged with performing religious duties as priests and preaching Dharma (as "one who prays; a devout or religious man; a Brāhman who is well versed in Vedic texts; one versed in sacred knowledge"). The Brahmins held authority over interpretation of Vedic and Puranic spiritual texts like the Vedas, Upanishads and Bhagavad-Gita, and were the teachers of the Vedic period.