Brahmin (; Sanskrit: ब्राह्मण, romanized: brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a major caste within the Hindu society
The Brahmins specialised as intellectuals, priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari), teachers (acharya or guru), and protectors of sacred learning across generations
The traditional occupation of Brahmins was that of priesthood at the Hindu temples or at socio-religious ceremonies and rite of passage rituals such as solemnising a wedding with hymns and prayers
Theoretically, the Brahmins have the highest ritual status of the four social classes
Their livelihood is prescribed to be one of strict austerity and voluntary poverty ("[A Brahmin] should acquire what just suffices for the time, what he earns he should spend all that the same day")
In practice, Indian texts suggest that some Brahmins became agriculturalists, warriors, traders and had also held other occupations in the Indian subcontinent