84000 Glossary of Terms

Our trilingual glossary combining entries from all of our publications into one useful resource, giving translations and definitions of thousands of terms, people, places, and texts from the Buddhist canon.

དགེ་སྦྱོང་དང་བྲམ་ཟེ། | Glossary of Terms

  • དགེ་སྦྱོང་དང་བྲམ་ཟེ།

  • dge sbyong dang bram ze
  • śramaṇa­brāhmaṇa
  • Term
Publications: 1
  • mendicants and brahmins
  • དགེ་སྦྱོང་དང་བྲམ་ཟེ།
  • dge sbyong dang bram ze
  • śramaṇa­brāhmaṇa
Definition in this text:

A stock phrase used to refer broadly to two distinct systems of spiritual practice and religious orientation in early India. The term “mendicants” (śramaṇa; dge sbyong) refers to a person who follows religious systems that focus on asceticism, renunciation, and monasticism. Buddhism and Jainism, among numerous other such systems, are considered śramaṇa traditions. The term brahmin refers to a person who follows the Vedic tradition and its correlate religious systems that feature the ritual worship of brahmanical deities within the context of a householder lifestyle.