When applied to Brahmans it probably refers to their assumed spiritual powers to enhance life, deal with the gods, and to practise medicine and astrology. This idea crystallized into that of Brahma the Creator, the first deity of the Hindu 'trinity' of Brahma, Siva and Vishnu. He is rarely worshipped individually, but he is the ultimate deity. Both concepts are integral to Brahmanic religion. Brahman resides in the human soul and becomes it.
Brahmanic religion divides life into four stages or ashramas .
His parents implore him to stay, give him presents and make arrangements for study, traditionally with a guru or teacher. The second stage is as householder, the principle purpose of marriage being to maintain domestic sacrifices and to raise children. At each stage he may put on the ochre-coloured robe of an ascetic and take a vow of celibacy to attain enlightenment more rapidly by austerities. Whichever pattern is followed, it is the way of knowledge, gnana marga . Women may also become nuns, or devotees of a particular guru, but generally they do not adopt an ascetic life until they are widowed grandmothers, no longer responsible for domestic arrangements at home.