นิตยสาร สารคดี: ฉบับที่ ๒๑๕ เดือนมกราคม ๒๕๔๖ นิตยสาร สารคดี: ฉบับที่ ๒๑๕ เดือนมกราคม ๒๕๔๖ "มายาแห่ลูกปัด"
  นิตยสาร สารคดี: ฉบับที่ ๒๑๕ เดือนมกราคม ๒๕๔๖ ISSN 0857-1538  

Little Brahmin

  Story: Niramon Moonchinda
Photos: Pravej Tantrapirom
 
Click to Bigger      At a glance, 12-year-old Bhishma Ransibrahmanakul does not look different from his school peers. He wears the same uniform, attends the same classes and plays football just like other students.
     The only visible difference is perhaps the boy's long hair, pulled up into a neat bun. Bhishma is a Brahmin, the youngest one in the country.
     While young Brahmins are quite common in India where Brahminism is practiced widely, in Thailand, where the number of Brahmins is small, Bhishma, the little Brahmin, is quite an extraordinary phenomenon.
     The boy was born in the family of high-ranking Brahmins. His uncle, Shawin or Phra Rajaguru Vamadevamuni, is Royal Priest of Devasthan Bosth Brahmana in Thailand. Like his grandfather, uncle and father who walked the path before him, Bhishma was introduced to the world of Brahminism since childhood through participation in rituals. 
Click to Bigger      "Brahmin's children learn the essence of the religion through practice. The knowledge has always been passed through direct experience throughout the ages," said Srill, Bhishmažs father, also a Brahmin. 
     While Bhishma, or Luk Kaew, listens to such contemporary music as DaJim and Silly Fools, watches A Bug's Life and Pokemon as well as plays computer games during leisure, he also has to study to be an ideal Brahmin. He has to learn to put his hair up into a bun, practice the proper way of krab and refrain from alcoholic drinks. Every Saturday, he has to study Sanskrit, the language used in the Veda or the sacred scripture. He has an English tutorial class every Wednesday's evening as well to prepare himself for further study in India next year. 
Click to Bigger      Being a young boy in the contemporary world filled with so many temptations, does the young Brahmin feel bored with his grooming? 
     "Sometimes, when I have to sit in a rite for a long time, I feel bored. I have to adjust my mind and be patient. We all feel bored if we have to sit in the same place for a long time. We feel bored if we read for a long time. I feel bored if I have to study for a long time, or listen to teachers for a long time. I am even bored with playing, eating or taking a bath. But there are things we have to keep with us even if we are bored with them. We canžt throw everything away," Bhishma said.