Thursday, August 24, 2006
GITA 108 DAYS DAY 35
35. Who is a Brahmana? What is ‘karma’ and ‘akarma’?
The particular verse in the Bhagavad Gita: “chatur varnnyam maya srishTam…” is a highly misunderstood and mis-interpreted one. Even if one explained it as referring to the four castes - Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaisya and Sudra, the question remains – who is a brahmana?. “Vasoochokopanishad” is a scripture based on this very question. The life force, body, caste, knowledge, occupation or righteousness do not make one a brahmana.
Every body has one life force and so, that cannot make one a brahmana. All bodies are made up of the five elements and so, the body cannot give one the title of brahmana. According to scriptures, creatures other than human beings gave birth to even sages. Sage Rishya Srimga was born from a deer and the Sage Kausika was born from a type of grass. Sage Jambooka was born from a fox and Sage Agasthya from a pot. These instances tell us that the birth and caste of a person do not have anything to do with his “Brahmana-hood”. People of all walks of life get educated and do their karmas. They also live righteously. So Brahmana-hood does not depend on them either. Brahmana is the one who has gone beyond the influences of castes, characteristics (three gunas), karma, thirst, hunger, ageing, death, birth, growth, depletion, and destruction, etc. and devoid of sorrow, delusion, transformation, etc. He has realized the ultimate – that is the essence inside and outside of everything like space is; that is the substratum of all; that is of the nature of truth, existence, consciousness, knowledge and bliss. He is adept in the “science of the self" as one would be fully knowledgeable of the gooseberry held in one’s own palm. He is at peace with himself. The four-fold classification can also be done based on the work we do for a living- intellectuals, protectors, business men and service men. One should look at all jobs as virtuous.
Take our body- various parts of it can be divided in to four. Head, as the seat of intelligence is Brahmana; the hands that protect us are Kshatriyas; the thighs that sustain us are Vaisyas; and the legs that support us are Sudras. Here, think of the action of hands massaging the legs when they get tired after a hard days work! Think also about the lotus feet of the Lord that we prostrate. One can understand truth in four ways through the senses- smell by nose, effulgence by eyes, air by ears and the dampness through skin. If we put a lamp inside a pot with a number of holes, people would see and perceive light in the shape of those holes. The light inside the pot is the reason behind the shape, but the light itself is devoid of any shape.
The Lord says- due to the variety of characteristics and forms, I appear in four different ways. I am the 'doer' as well as the 'non-doer' of this arrangement. This is the meaning of the verse in Bhagavad Gita. The inner consciousness (the Lord) explains to us that, all that are perceived through the sense organs are created by me; but they are not me.
The particular verse in the Bhagavad Gita: “chatur varnnyam maya srishTam…” is a highly misunderstood and mis-interpreted one. Even if one explained it as referring to the four castes - Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaisya and Sudra, the question remains – who is a brahmana?. “Vasoochokopanishad” is a scripture based on this very question. The life force, body, caste, knowledge, occupation or righteousness do not make one a brahmana.
Every body has one life force and so, that cannot make one a brahmana. All bodies are made up of the five elements and so, the body cannot give one the title of brahmana. According to scriptures, creatures other than human beings gave birth to even sages. Sage Rishya Srimga was born from a deer and the Sage Kausika was born from a type of grass. Sage Jambooka was born from a fox and Sage Agasthya from a pot. These instances tell us that the birth and caste of a person do not have anything to do with his “Brahmana-hood”. People of all walks of life get educated and do their karmas. They also live righteously. So Brahmana-hood does not depend on them either. Brahmana is the one who has gone beyond the influences of castes, characteristics (three gunas), karma, thirst, hunger, ageing, death, birth, growth, depletion, and destruction, etc. and devoid of sorrow, delusion, transformation, etc. He has realized the ultimate – that is the essence inside and outside of everything like space is; that is the substratum of all; that is of the nature of truth, existence, consciousness, knowledge and bliss. He is adept in the “science of the self" as one would be fully knowledgeable of the gooseberry held in one’s own palm. He is at peace with himself. The four-fold classification can also be done based on the work we do for a living- intellectuals, protectors, business men and service men. One should look at all jobs as virtuous.
Take our body- various parts of it can be divided in to four. Head, as the seat of intelligence is Brahmana; the hands that protect us are Kshatriyas; the thighs that sustain us are Vaisyas; and the legs that support us are Sudras. Here, think of the action of hands massaging the legs when they get tired after a hard days work! Think also about the lotus feet of the Lord that we prostrate. One can understand truth in four ways through the senses- smell by nose, effulgence by eyes, air by ears and the dampness through skin. If we put a lamp inside a pot with a number of holes, people would see and perceive light in the shape of those holes. The light inside the pot is the reason behind the shape, but the light itself is devoid of any shape.
The Lord says- due to the variety of characteristics and forms, I appear in four different ways. I am the 'doer' as well as the 'non-doer' of this arrangement. This is the meaning of the verse in Bhagavad Gita. The inner consciousness (the Lord) explains to us that, all that are perceived through the sense organs are created by me; but they are not me.
# posted by Sukumar Canada @ 4:53 PM 
