Who are Shakdwipiya Brahmins? : A tale of Divya Brahmins in India

The ‘Shakdwipiya Brahmins’ have descended on earth from the Sun. They came on earth as his very part called ‘Suryansh’ as per the famous Hindu scripture called ‘Garud Puran’.

The Bhavishya Puran also confirms that Shakdwipiya Brahmins are born directly from the body of Sun as his part (‘Ansh’) and not from any Manu, Dakchha or Prajapatis, which is the case for any other human beings on earth. The following verses prove the connotation.

सृजामि प्रथमं वर्णं मगसंज्ञमनौपमम् इत्युक्त्वा तमहं वीर राजानं खगसप्तम् ॥22॥
जगाम परमां चिन्तां तस्य कार्यस्य सिध्दये । अथ मे चिन्तमानस्य स्वशरीराद्विनि:सृता: ॥23॥
शशि-कुन्देन्दु- संकाशा: संख्यडष्टौ महाबला: । पठन्ति चतुरो वेदान् सांगोपनिषद: खग ॥24॥

The term ‘Shakdwipi’ is also read, written and pronounced as Shakdwipiya, Shakdweepi, Shakdvipi, Sakaldwipi, Shakdweepiya, Sakadwipi and so on.

Historical Perspective

The term ‘Shakdwipi’ relates to people who resided during ancient times on the island called ‘Shakdwip’. Presently a sizable number of Shakdwipi brahmins are found in India.

When one reads about their story, their origin is traced back to the island called ‘Shakdwip’. They were brought in India during ‘Dwapar Yuga’ by Lord Krishna himself, to treat his son named ‘Samba’.

The term ‘Shakdwip’ can be broken into two parts, ‘Shaka’ + ‘Dwip’ which denotes to the ‘Shak’ island.

The Shakdwipiya are Brahmins by caste, who are known for worshipping the Sun god since ancient times.

They are known masters of alternative medicine ‘Ayurveda’, Tantra- Mantra Vigyan, religious hymns, performing religious ceremonies and have been famous as Acharya and priest of renowned temples in India. They were the pioneer of Astronomy, Astrology and mathematical science. The famous mathematician and astronomer, Varahmihir and Aryabhatta were Shakdwipiya brahmins.

Shakdwipiya as Unique Brahmins

They are also called ‘Divya brahmin’ because they have descended on earth directly from the Sun as his very part called ‘Suryansh’.

Their uniqueness or divine powers can be understood from the very fact that during the performance of ‘Shraddh karma’ if Sun sets down, ‘Shraddh Karma’ cannot be abandoned and thus should be completed by calling and in presence of a Shakdwipiya brahmin who will symbolize the very Sun god.

They are also called ‘Bhojak Brahmins’ or ‘Maga Brahmins’. We will talk about them when we will deal about their history in a separate post.

In modern times, the Shakdwipiya brahmins are mainly concentrated in the state of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan in India.

However in other states too, like Orissa, West Bengal, Assam, Maharastra, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, their presence can be traced. They have been residing in these places for many centuries but in smaller numbers.