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Re: the question of conversion into the "brahmin fold"

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tavaradhan • November 20, 2001 


dear srI. srIkAnth,

> I have a friend who is an Iyengar from Hassan.
> His great grandfather 
> seems to have told him they were "Jain converts" and
> that they joined the 
> gothram of their "Acharya" who was a gruhastha(a
> Swayamaacharya swamy). 

Caveat: The following is a possible scenario only -

The following is a possible scenario, probably a 
plausible scenario in the above case. I am assuming
that his grandfather was repeating what he heard
from his elders.

History shows that a lot of "hiNdus" converted into
Jainism. When that happened, some brahmin families
might have converted into Jainism. Given that the
Jains do not accept the vEdAs, these families might
have given up the vEdic practices common to brahmins.
When rAmAnuja was in karnAtakA and brought numerous
people into the srIvaishNavite fold, some of these
families might  have changed their religion to
srIvaishNavam. As a result of coming back into the
fold, they might have resumed the birth-based
practices (i.e. brahminism in this case).

Varadhan


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