Shukla
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2008-07-12T14:23:02Z
Akashiii
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'''Shukla''' ([[Devanagari]]: शुक्ल) is [[Sanskrit]] for "white" and is also found as a surname in India. The term is used in various contexts in [[Hindu]] and [[arabic]] cultures -
*The bright [[lunar]] fortnight (''shukl paksh''), as opposed to "[[krishna]]," (''krishna paksh'') the dark phase.
*A class of [[Brahmin]]s who have completed thorough knowledge in all four [[Vedas]] and have completed extensive further education while travelling for up to eleven years. This surname is found primarily in North [[India]].
*Shuklas belong either to the [[Kanya-Kubja]] [[Brahmin]] category, [[Bhumihar]] [[Brahmin]] category, [[Shakdwipi]] [[Brahmin]] category or the [[Saryuparin]] [[Brahmin]] category.
For the last several centuries, Shukla Brahmins have been located in and around [[Kanpur]], [[Unnao]] (and the adjoining hinterland), regions of [[Bihar]], in the fertile Gangetic plains of [[Awadh]], which presently forming part of the state of [[Uttar Pradesh]] and some parts of present Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh, India. The Shukla Brahmins can also be found in [[Gujarat]], mainly in the Kathiyawad region.
The popular belief is that those Brahman families who specialized in all 4 vedas came to be known as [[Chaturvedi]] (''chatur'' means 4 in Sanskrit), those who specialized in 3 vedas came to be known as [[Trivedi]] or [[Tripathi]] (''tri'' means 3 in Sanskrit), [[Dwivedi]] specialized in 2 vedas (''dwi'' means 2 in Sanskrit), those who only studied the vedas but didn't specialize in them came to be known as [[Pathak]] i.e ''the reader'', while those who specialized in [[Upanishads]] were known as [[Upadhyaya]].
The name Shukla (aberration of su-kul meaning, from good lineage or of higher family tree), [[Pandey]] (meaning pundit) and [[Mishra]] (meaning mixed knowledge of Vedas and Puranas) indicated Brahmins who specialized in all Vedas plus Puranas in Northern Indian states. However, Shukla brahmins were usually gurus by profession, and thus lived prominent, respectable lives in society.
==Notable Shuklas==
[[Ram Chandra Shukla]]