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* BBAHMANISM. 410 BBAHMS. which have contributed much to bring Hindu morals into disrepute, are comparatively modern innovatiims. Thus, the rite oistitlec (prop, .w/i, 'the faitliful wife"), or the voluntary immolation of widows, which was formally abolislied with considerable dillieulty in 182!), seems to have spriuif; up originally as a local habit among the Kshatriyas, and, on becoming more and more prevalent, to have at length received Bralnnani- cal sanction. There is no authority for it in ancient (Vedie) literature, but it is recognized in later epic poetry. Cases of infanticide are still frequent in many parts of India, especially among the Rajputs. The priests have never sanc- tioned the i)raetice, but they have never tried to suppress it. Its origin has to be sought in the enormous extravagance of wedding feasts, and in a notion that parents are disgraced by their daughters remaining husbandless. The practice of early marriage is, however, sanctioned by the early codes. The cow has been held in high honor in India from early times; but the abhorrence of slaughtering and eating the llesh of kine is of comparatively late origin. It has been conclu- sively sliownthat in former times beef formed a staple article of food. Consult: Monier- Wil- liams, lirahmaitism (nid Hinduism (London, 1887) ; A. Barth, Religions of India (3d ed., London, 1890) ; and Hopkins, Religions of India (Boston, 1895). For particulars and varieties of Hindu doctrines, etc., see Buddhism; India; J.i.ism; Marut; Sats-as; Saktas ; SiKUs; Slrya; AIetempsycuosis ; Upa-nlshad: Usuas; Vaishnavas; Veda; Vedanta. BBAHMAPTTTBA, brii'ma-poo'tra ( Skt. linihinii + putra, son, offspring). A river of Asia, rising as the Sanpo, on the table-land of Tibet, in about latitude 30° 30' X. and longitude 82° E. Its source, which is near to the head- waters of the 8utlej and (Janges, lies at an eleva- tion of nearly 10,000 feet. The stream takes a gen- erally easterly course to beyond the 94th merid- ian, when, as" the Dihong, it is detlected south- ward, traverses the Himalayas, and enters upon the lowland plains of Assam. Shortly after leav- ing the mountains it receives from the east the Lohih or Brahmakunda, which was for a long time considered to Ik- the main river. In latitude 2.5° 10' X. and longitude 89° 43' E. it throws off the Konaie, and after a cimrse of 180 miles is named the Jlegna. Xinety miles from the sea it combines with the Ganges in cutting up their common delta into a network of inland navigation. A regular steamer service is main- tained between Calcutta and Dibrigarh. 800 miles up the river, and vessels of large burden can ascend as high as Gauhati. Total length, about 1800 miles. BRAHMO-SOMAJ, brii'm6-s6-m"aj', or, bet- ter written. Bkahma-Samaj (Hind. Brahma. Skt. Brahma, Brahma, i)rayer + samaj, a.ssembly for worship). {Thcislic Church.) A religious and social association in India, originated by the cele- brated Hindu Kajah. Rammohun Roy (q.v.), in 1830, under the title Society of God. The conver- sion of Del)endra Xath Tagorc, a rich Brahman of Calcutta, in 1842, gave the movement a strong impetus, which, with the spread of English edu- cation, succeeded in emancipating it from Vedan- tism. The latest and most advanced stage in the development of the BrahnioSomaj took place under Babu Keshub Chunder Sen, who joined theChureh in 18.58. Theaim of Sen and his follow- ers was to apply the principles of the sect to prac- tical every-day life, and under his direction the more progressive meinlH^rs withdrew from the original organization and formed the "Brahnio- Som.aj of India.' Their fundamental beliefs are as follows: That there is but one supreme God, the object of worship; that nature and reason are the sources whence we derive our knowledge of God, and that religion allows progi'cssive devel- opment. They have renounced all the distinc- tions of the caste system with which India has so long been fettered, and they consider all men as equally the children of God; they have given up all the old Vedic and Brahmanical sacrifices; they believe In no sacred hooks or places, but ac- cept whatever is true and good in any religion. In 1880 there were 149 somajcs .scattered throughout India, and of these 44 have mandirs, or places of worship. They have established schools, and have published at different times eighteen periodicals, of which si.x were in Eng- lish, nine in Bengali, and three in minor vernacu- lars. They have reformed the abuse of child- marriage and have done much to promote female education. In 1878, some of Sen's followers who disajiproved of certain of his tenets, and of his conduct in marrying his daughter at the age of 13 to a Hindu maharajah, seceded and formed the Sadharan (or Universal) Brahmo-Somaj, which soon took the first place among the theis- tic cliurches of India. The Arya-Somaj, founded by Dayananda Sarasvati (died 1882), differs from the Brahmo-Somaj in considering theVedas as divine revelation in which everything true and useful, even the recent discoveries of science, could be found. Consult: ISrahmo Dharma, or Re- ligion of the Brahmos (1850) ; Keshub Chunder Sen, Vindication of the ISrahmoSomaj (Calcutta, IStiO) : Ghose (editor), ^Vorks in Ihiglish of Rammohun Roy (Calcutta, 1888) ; Mozoomdar, Life and Teachings of Keshub Chunder .Sen (Cal- cutta, 1887); ¥. Max .Miillcr, Rama Krishna: Uis Life and Sayings (New York, 1SU9) ; id., Auld Lang Syne, Second Series (New York, 1899) ; and the Theistic Quarterly Review, the official organ of the Brahmo-Somaj, published in Bengal since 1880. BRAHMS, briims, Johannes (183.3-97). An eminent German composer of music, distin- guished from his contemporary, Wagner, by his adherence to established forms, which caused the anti-Wagner party to make him their champion. He was born in Hamburg, May 7, 1833. His father, a double-bass player, was liis first teacher, but he derived his princijial instruction from Edward Marxsen, of Altona. His debut as a pianist was made in Hamburg, at the age of 14, when he played a set of variations of his own. In 1853 he made a concert tour with Remfnyi. the violinist, during which he was 'discovered' hy Schumann, who in the Neue Zeit.schrift fur Musil: published his famous AVkc Bahnen, an eloquent welcome to the yoiing nuisician. An anecdote, delightfully Brahmsian, tells how Braffins was brought to Schumann's notice. In Giittingen the pitch of the piano was a half-tone low. Beethoven's Kreut:cr Sonata for violin and piano was on the programme. Without the notes before him, Brahms played the jiiano part in a key half a tone higher than the original. This unusual feat was witnessed bv Joachim, whc