"BRAHMANAN"

1. It is a tragedy of the decadent Hinduism that this divine word of sacred meaning has come to be misinterpreted  and put to endless abuses.

2. Today we have come to believe that brahmanan means the "son of brahmanan."

3. This interpretation was recognized to some extent, even in the time of Swami Sankracharya, because of the efficient hold of Sanatana-Dharma-Scheme of living,

4. which the brahmanas then strictly  followed.

5. But, once we have fallen away from those values of pure living, 

6. we have deteriorated  in our culture to such an extent, that today it is simply by birth.

7. The qualities required in a true brahmanan are not physical; they are, 

a). to an extent mental; b). to a larger degree intellectual; c). and in the main Spiritual.

8. One who has all these qualities ----Purity of thought, Clarity of reasoning, Sincerity of motives and insatiable eagerness to realize that Spiritual fullness----

9. whether he be in a butcher's seat or in front of sacrificial fire; 

10. whether he be in a Puja-room or on a railway station;

11. whether he be on the banks of river Ganga or on the streets of bazar; 

12 . he is a true brahmanan in the scriptural  sense of the term.

13. In short, the word brahmanan means a full grown and fully evolved human being who is sensitive enough to feel an urge for a greater existence and is continuously striving to gain it.

14. Mundakopanisad:- chapter-1, Section-2, Mantram-12.  explains the above well.