You are here: SriPedia - SriRangaSri - Archives - Feb 2003

SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00174 Feb 2003

 
Feb 2003 Indexes ( Date | Thread | Author )
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]


Dear All,

adiYen has heard from the learned that Lord Krishna
has said in the Bhagavad Geetha:

"chAturvarNyam mayasrushtam guNa karma.."

Seems like God created 4 classes (not castes) defined
by (predominant) inclinations (guNAs) and the kind of
activity engaged in (karmA).

Here is one point of view:

Based on karmA (the physical), not birth alone:
----------------------------------------------

1. People engaged in predominantly mental work or
bringing about mental peace in society= BrAhmin
(Scientists, Teachers, IT professionals, philosophers,
priests, etc.)
2. Those engaged in defense services = KshatriyAs
(army, navy, etc.)
3. Those engaged in business = VaishyAs
(restaurant-owners, gas station owners, entrepreneurs,
etc.)
4. Those engaged in physical labor = ShudrAs
(construction workers, etc.)

Based on guNAs (the discarnate) alone:
-------------------------------------

1. Spiritually inclined, desiring God-Realization,
welfare of society, etc. = BrAhmin (sAtvikam)
2. Passion for activity with the aim of achieving
physical prowess, power, control, name and fame =
KshatriyA (rajas)
3. Passion for activity with the primary aim of
achieving or hoarding wealth = VaishyA (rajas)
4. Desire for inertia, sloth, negative emotions, etc.
= ShudrA (tamas)

Though one may be a BrAhmin by birth, one could be a
KshatriyA by karma + a VaishyA by guNA; one might even
say that during different parts of the 24-hour day,
one could be any combination of the above.

1 + 1 = A true BrAhmin
2 + 2 = A true KshatriyA
3 + 3 = A true VaishyA
4 + 4 = A true ShudrA

(Implied in the above is the rejection of the
hypothesis in the quote from 'Deivattin Kural' that
BrAhmins should live only by pure 'Unjavritti' - in
the olden days, people gave freely to alms-seekers
without expecting anything in return; today, people
want something in return for the alms they are willing
to give: so one might say that the BrAhmins (1 + 1) of
today still live by 'Modern Unjavritti' - only
difference is that the alms are given by CEOs of
companies proportionate to the work they receive in
return)

A recurring question that adiYen has is this: BrAhmins
(by birth) are few in number compared to the whole
populace - yet they are the ones entrusted with the
gargantuan task of keeping the vEdAs alive, keeping
DharmA alive, looking after the spiritual welfare of
society, etc. Why don't all the BrAhmins (not by
birth alone) in society take up this noble cause?

Humbly,

Ashok Krishnamurthy


--- "M.K.Sudarshan" <sampathkumar_2000@xxxx>
wrote:
> Dear friend,
> 
> (1)Being a brahmin or a SriVaishnava has nothing to
> do with caste.
> Anyone -- repeat, anyone -- who dedicates his life
> wholly (not
> "part-time") to the pursuit of Brahman (the ideal of
> the Upanishads)
> is said to be a 'brAhmanan'. A brahmin is obliged
> to pursue Brahman
> in life through the Vedic pathway. That is his
> "karma-yOga".
> 
> (2) SriVaishnavam is not separate or distinct from
> the Veda. It is an
> offshoot of the Vedic tradition. SriVaishnavism is
> "rAmAnuja
> darsanam". 
> "rAmAnuja darsanam" has its roots wholly in the
> Vedas. 
> 
> (3) The DivyaPrabhandhams of the AzhwArs are also
> not separate and
> distinct from the Vedas. They owe their roots and
> inspiration to the
> Vedic 'sruti'. The AzhwArs were all well-versed in
> the Vedas -- you
> only have to take the example of Tirumazhisai and
> NammAzhwAr to
> confirm that they were Vedic adepts in their own
> right, although they
> were not 'brahmin' by birth. The AzhwArs, who
> belonged variously to
> many caste-backgrounds and occupations, were all
> brAhmanA-s too in
> the larger Upanishadic sense of the term.
> 
> (4) The Prabhandams do not and cannot compete with
> the Vedas. They 
> complement it. They are the equal of the Vedas in
> the same way that
> one eye of ours is the equal of the other. This is
> why "rAmAnuja
> darsanam" or SriVaishnavism has always been called
> the tradition of
> "ubhaya-vedanta" -- the royal path of Vedanta paved
> on both sides: on
> one side, is the gilded Vedic 'marai' and on the
> other, is the gilded
> Tamil 'marai'.
> 
> (6) To think therefore, as you seem to be doing,
> that we can all do
> very well with just the Prabhandhams and abandon the
> Vedas, or the
> Vedic way of life, is like saying "Who needs the
> cane-stalk when I
> have the cane-juice at hand?". Let's not forget that
> the elixir of
> Prabhandham was extracted from the cane-stalk of the
> Vedas. 
> 
> (7) Cultivating cane-crop, unfortunately, is far
> more difficult than
> drinking cane-juice. Farming is hard, back-breaking
> labour. And Vedic
> learning and Vedic-living is precisely like that.
> Just as no one
> wants to be engaged in farming these days, the
> brahmin community too,
> over the centuries, got away from the hard Vedic
> life. And now since
> we find it so difficult to go back to farming we
> come up with clever
> rationalizations as to why farming is an outdated,
> outmoded
> occupation. 
> 
> But let us then ponder deeply about the fact of
> life: If there is no
> one to raise the crop, where will future supplies of
> cane-juice come
> from?
> 
> Sir, the points you have raised are also very valid.
> Can we all
> abandon our professions and way of life now and go
> back to the
> 'agrahAram'? For what purpose? There seems to be no
> wisdom in that at
> all. But see what the Kanchi AchArya had to say to
> that too (which is
> also in the original passage I quoted):
> 
> (QUOTE):
> ?People ask me: ?What is the remedy then today? Do
> you expect all
> brahmins to leave their new life-style and return to
> vedic learning??
> 
> ?Whether or not I expect them to do so and whether
> or not such a step
> seems possible, I must ask them to do so.
> 
> ?Where is the need for a ?guru-peeTam? or a seat on
> which an AchAryA
> is installed if I am to keep my mouth shut and watch
> idly as the
> dharma that is the source of everything is being
> endangered?
> 
> ?Even if it seems impossible for brahmins to return
> to their
> varnAshrama-dharma it must be shown to be possible
> in practice? that
> is the whole purpose of the institution called
> ?mutta-s?. They must
> harness all their energies towards the attainment of
> this goal.
> 
> ?It is not for me to say that the return of the
> brahmins to their
> vedic dharma is not possible. To take such a view
> would be contrary
> to our very dharma. It is up to you all to make it
> possible in
> practice or not to make it possible. All I can do is
> to keep
> reminding you of the message of the dharmasAstrA-s?.
> (UNQUOTE)
> 
> Regards,
> 
> dAsan,
> Sudarshan 
> 
> 
> --- Mugundhan Varadanarayanan <mugundv@xxxx>
> wrote:
> > Respected Sir,
> > I agree with the points you raised. When we say a
> Brahmin, being a
> > part
> > time Brahmin is not good. When a Brahmin moves
> away from his
> > profession
> > because his faith is weakened on Vedas, then we
> have a serious
> > problem
> > and its manifestation is very much obvious
> nowadays....
> > 
> > But my view point is that Srivaishnava and Brahmin
> are not exactly
> > the
> > same. Most of the Azhvars are non-brahmins but
> they are sri
> > vaishnavas.
> > There are lots of Brahmins who do not subscribe to
> the Vaishnava
> > philosophy. Lots of kings were srivaishnavas
> (Pandavas from
> > Mahabharatham are good eg, same with Kulasekara
> Azhvar etc). In
> > these
> > cases, I feel what Kanch Acharya said is not
> applicable. His
> > Holiness
> > spoke of people who took Brahmin profession and
> who did not do
> > justice
> > to the same. In this case for people outside
> Brahmin fold, is
> > giving up
> > material pursuits and seek exclusively knowledge
> the right thing to
> > do?
> > 
> > I am not sure. Karma Yoga is as important as
> other yogas... I am
> > an
> > engineer, I love my field. I have deep faith in
> Sriman Narayana. I
> > enjoy listening to Tamil Prabhandhams and feel
> humbled by the fact
> > only
> > endless devotion can produce such profound and
> interesting verses
> > and
> > this only increases my faith... 
> > 
> > But am I a Brahmin? I come from a very traditional
> Brahmin family
> > with
> > Ahobil Mutt Acharya as our Acharya and my home
> village of
> > Thuvariman is
> > a devout Vaishanva village. But me learning or the
> desire to learn
> > Tamil Prabhandhams is not because of my family
> background but
> 
=== message truncated ===


__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Tax Center - forms, calculators, tips, more
http://taxes.yahoo.com/




[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index ] [Thread Index ] [Author Index ]
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia
srirangasri-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To subscribe to the list