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Ramanuja List Archive: Message 00089 Apr 2003

 
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Dear fellow prapannas,

for those of you who are still fascinated by caste issues, there is a short
Upanishad dedicated to the matter which makes interesting reading. In order
not to overload the forum I shall serialise it in three episodes. For those
of you who would like the Sanskrit text please contact me and I shall send
it in the PDF format.

Adiyen

Sri Rama

Vajra-sucika Upanishad (of the Sama Veda)

The Doctrine of the Diamond Needle

I shall teach the Vajrasuci ? the diamond needle doctrine which destroys
ignorance, condemns those who are devoid of the knowledge (of Brahman) and
exalts those endowed with enlightenment.

The Brahmin the Kshatriya, the Vaishya and the Sudra are the four classes
(castes). That the Brahmin is the chief among these classes is in accord
with the Vedic texts and is affirmed by the Smrtis.

In this connection there is a point worthy of investigation. Who is, verily,
a Brahmin? Is he the individual soul? Is he the body? Is he the class based
on birth ? Is he the [possessor of] knowledge ? Is he the [performer of]
deeds (previous, present or prospective) ? Is he the performer of the rites
? 

Of these, is the Jiva or the individual soul the Brahmin? No, it is not so;
for the Jiva is one and the same in the innumerable previous and future
bodies. Since the Jiva (the individual soul) is the same in all the various
bodies obtained through (past) karma, and in all these bodies the form of
the Jiva is one and the same. Therefore the Jiva is not the Brahmin. ? tobe
continued





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