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WHO IS A BRAHMIN?



SADHU PROF. V. RANGARAJAN

Bharatamata Gurukula Ashram &

Yogi Ramsuratkumar Indological Research Centre

SISTER NIVEDITA ACADEMY

"Sri Bharati Mandir", Srinivasanagar, Krishnarajapuram, Bangalore 560 036

(Phone: 091-80-5610935, 5613716; e-mail: sadhurangarajan@xxxx



The Purusha Sookta of the Rig Veda, when it says, "Braahmano asya mukham 
aaseet, baahoo raajanya kritah, uroo tadasya yad vaishyah, padmyaakum shoodro 
ajaayata", it speaks about the four main limbs of Rashtra Purusha-- the 
brahmanas or the men of realization who are the guides of the nation's destiny 
and its spokespersons, compared to the mouth, the kshatriyas, the men in whom 
strength and valour is predominant to protect the nation, compared to the 
shoulders, the vaishyas who are the producers of wealth, compared to the 
stomach which supplies energy to the whole body, and the shoodras, the common 
masses who are the foundation of the society, compared to the feet on which 
this body stands. Nowhere it is said one is superior to the other and that the 
varna is determined by birth. "Chaaturvarnyam mayaa srishtham guna karma 
vibhaagashah"--"the four varnas are determined by me on the basis of quality 
and temperament", says Lord Krishna. Krishna Dwaipayana Vyaasa, who is the 
compiler of the Vedas and to whom the authorship of Brahmasutras, Mahabaharata 
and the Puranas are attributed, was the son of a fisherwoman. Satyakaama 
Jaabaali, the great Upanishadic seer, was the son of a prostitute. Narada, who 
has given us the Bhakti sootras, was the son of a servant maid. Valmiki was a 
hunter-cum-dacoit. But they all rose to the status of the highest brahmins of 
the land by their sadhana and self-realisation. Ravana, son of a brahmana and a 
scholar in the Vedas, fell to the realm of Raakshasa by his sensuality and 
self-forgetfulness.



The Vedas are the ultimate authority and the statements in the Smritis and the 
Puranas, if they do not follow the dictum and message of the Vedas, are to be 
discarded. There are a lot of interpolations in the Smritis, Itihasas and 
Puranas, made by some vested, so called brahmin, interests in different 
periods. They have no authority or sanction and Hindu society should discard 
them. Even otherwise, we now live in the age of science and reason and anything 
that is superstitious, ridiculous and irrational is irreligion or anti-religion 
and no religious sanction should be accorded to it on any account.



A true 'knowledgeable person' is a Brahmana. Vajrasoochi Upanishad defines who 
is a Brahmana. It poses the question whether Brahmana is Jiva or Jnana or Karma 
or the doer of Dharma and answers that none of these is Brahmana and asserts 
that Brahmana is one who has realized the Atman--the 
Existence-Consciousness-Bliss. To such a Brahmajnani, Vedas are 
redundant--"Yatra Vedaa avedaah!" Then why should a true Brahmin recite or 
study Vedas? They are needed only for those who are yet to attain the state of 
a Brahmin. How can there be discrimination of caste, creed or sex among the 
seekers of Wisdom or Jnana?



The first and foremost question that we would like to raise is who is the true 
Brahmin or Dharmacharya in the Hindu society today who is eligible to interpret 
the ancient Dharmashastras or give new injunctions.



A Brahmana, according to Manu Dharma Shastra is one who does not keep food for 
the next meal. Any one who engages himself in any profession earning income or 
trading in religion by performing religious rites etc. for remuneration is a 
Shudra. Could you find a Brahmin priest today who lives just on daily Bhiksha 
and performs his duties expecting nothing at all in return? Can you point out 
one Dharmacharya who lives like the rishis of yore in any remote forest 
hermitage, surviving on fruits, roots and nuts that Mother Nature provides and 
runs Gurukulas to impart religious and spiritual education to aspirant 
disciples? What right or eligibility the Brahmins of the present day and the 
so-called Dharmacharyas trading in religion and making fortunes have to speak 
about Dharma Shastras?



The ancient Varna Dharma clearly indicated the qualities and functions of the 
members of the four Varnas. "Janmanaa jaayate shoodrah, samskaaraat dwija 
ucchyate"--"By birth all are Shoodras, only by Samskara one becomes a Dwija 
(twice-born)"--Atri Smriti, 141-142. By this definition, ninety-nine point nine 
nine nine percent of the Hindus today are Shoodras, not eighty percent. If you 
recognize as Brahmin any one who has a surname like Aiyar, Ayyangar, Sarma, 
Namboodiri, Dwivedi, Vajpayee or Tripathi who works as a doctor, engineer, 
lawyer, professor, tradesman or government servant or a staff in any private 
concern and earns his monthly salary, and who has no time even to do his 
'Sandhyaavandana', not to speak of study of Vedas or scriptures, sometimes 
whose Yagnopaveeta is also performed as a formality on the eve of his marriage, 
and if you call his descendants also as Brahmins, whose fault it is? Do the 
Dharma Shastras recognize them as Brahmins?



(Extracted from From A Sadhu's Epistles-12 published in TATTVA DARSANA 
Quarterly of SISTER NIVEDITA ACADEMY)



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





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