Brahmin

Brahmin is the class of educators, scholars and preachers; they are members of the highest of the four varnas, or social classes in Hinduism.

According to the Puranas, Brahmins were created from the mouth of Brahma so that they might instruct mankind. This was why they were considered the highest of the four castes, as they had the most to do with intellect. Since it was recognised that knowledge is the only thing that remains with a person throughout life, Brahmins, as teachers, were duly respected.

Since they were the teachers, preachers and priests they had to be proficient in sacred knowledge through the Vedas. They had to maintain a strict code of conduct and exemplify ideal behavior. They were to be kind and gentle. For this, they earned certain privileges.

They were regarded as the highest class and respected by all, to the extent that they were treated almost like gods by commoners and kings alike. They were given special gifts, dana, dakshina and were free from oppression and immune from capital punishment. It was considered to be the gravest of sins to kill a Brahmin. Only a priest could partake of the sacrificial Soma and eat the remains of the sacrifices, for no one else was regarded holy enough to eat the divine leftovers.

Initially, a person became a Brahmin on the basis of his knowledge of the Vedas. In time, the Brahmins began interpreting laws to their own advantage to maintain their privileges. And because of this unassailable social and moral authority, they were unchecked.

Thus, according to the Brahmins themselves, they were the chiefs of all created beings, entitled to all honour. The Shatapatha Brahmana declares that there are two kinds of divinities: gods and Brahmins who have learnt the Vedas. Only the Brahmins were allowed to read and teach the Vedas and hence monopolised the privilege of priesthood in the later Vedic period. They also established that one was born into a caste, which could not be changed except to be outcaste. This became the common practice, which survives till the present. 

Guru Granth Sahib Ji mentions the deeds of Brahmins, and encourages them to renounce their pride and develop love with God.

They give you donations and worship you.

You take from them, and then deny that they have given anything to you.

That door, through which you must ultimately go, O Brahmin - at that door, you will come to regret and repent. 

Such Brahmins shall drown, O Siblings of Destiny; they think of doing evil to the innocent. 

Within them is greed, and they wander around like mad dogs. They slander others and carry loads of sin upon their heads. Intoxicated by Maya, they do not think of the Lord. Deluded by doubt, they wander off on many paths.

Outwardly, they wear various religious robes, but within, they are enveloped by poison. They instruct others, but do not understand themselves. Such Brahmins will never be emancipated. 

O foolish Brahmin, reflect upon God. He watches and hears, and is always with you. Says Nanak, if this is your destiny, renounce your pride, and grasp the Guru's Feet.

Guru Granth Sahib Ji, page 372

O Brahmin, how can you forget the One, from whose mouth the Vedas and the Gayitri prayer issured forth?
The whole world falls at His feet; why don't you chant the Name of that Lord, O Pandit?
Why, O my Brahmin, do you not chant the Lord's Name?
If you don't chant the Lord's Name, O Pandit, you will only suffer in hell. 
You think that you are high, but you take food from the houses of the lowly; you fill up your belly by forcibly practicing your rituals.
On the fourteenth day, and the night of the new moon, you go out begging; even though you hold the lamp in your hands, still, you fall into the pit.
You are a Brahmin, and I am only a weaver from Benares. How can I compare to you?
Chanting the Lord's Name, I have been saved; relying on the Vedas, O Brahmin, you shall drown and die.

Guru Granth Sahib Ji, page 970

Kabeer, the Brahmin may be the guru of the world, but he is not the Guru of the devotees.
He rots and dies in the perplexities of the four Vedas.

Guru Granth Sahib Ji, page 1377

Guru Granth Sahib Ji tells the Brahmin that there is no caste in the womb, so there is no need to claim to be the highest of the high, because at the end we are all the same.

In the dwelling of the womb, there is no ancestry or social status. All have originated from the Seed of God.

Tell me, O Pandit, O religious scholar: since when have you been a Brahmin? Don't waste your life by continually claiming to be a Brahmin. 

If you are indeed a Brahmin, born of a Brahmin mother, then why didn't you come by some other way? 

How is it that you are a Brahmin, and I am of a low social status? How is it that I am formed of blood, and you are made of milk? 

Says Kabeer, one who contemplates God, is said to be a Brahmin among us. Guru Granth Sahib Ji, page 324

No one should be proud of his social class and status. He alone is a Brahmin, who knows God. 

Do not be proud of your social class and status, you ignorant fool! So much sin and corruption comes from this pride. 

Everyone says that there are four castes, four social classes. They all emanate from the drop of God's Seed. 

The entire universe is made of the same clay. The Potter has shaped it into all sorts of vessels. 

The five elements join together, to make up the form of the human body. Who can say which is less, and which is more? 

Says Nanak, this soul is bound by its actions. Without meeting the True Guru, it is not liberated.

Guru Granth Sahib Ji, page 1127

Brahmin was a person who had attained highest spiritual knowledge (brahmavidya). This was an extremely difficult path of discipline of body, mind , and intellect, and people irrespective of their birth or class, who dedicated to such an austere life were recognized as brahmins.
As such Guru Granth Sahib Ji declares who a real Brahmin is.

He alone is a Brahmin, who knows God. He chants and meditates, and practices austerity and good deeds.

He keeps to the Dharma, with faith, humility and contentment. Breaking his bonds, he is liberated. Such a Brahmin is worthy of being worshipped. 

Guru Granth Sahib Ji, page 1410

He alone is a Brahmin, who contemplates God.
He saves himself, and saves all his generations as well. 

Guru Granth Sahib Ji, page 662

He alone knows God, and he alone is a Brahmin, who walks in harmony with the Will of the True Guru.
One whose heart is filled with the Lord, is freed of egotism and disease.
He chants the Lord's Praises, gathers virtue, and his light merges into the Light.
How rare are those Brahmins who, in this age, come to know God, by lovingly focusing their consciousness on Him.
O Nanak, those who are blessed by the Lord's Glance of Grace, remain lovingly attuned to the Name of the True Lord. 

Guru Granth Sahib Ji, page 849