Varna and one more, Question by Ravi Chandrasekhara MD

[Vaidya Sundaram]

--- "K. Sadananda" <sada at ANVIL.NRL.NAVY.MIL> wrote:
> It is the classification of human behavior based on the texture of
> vaasana-s - that reflect in terms of satva rajo tamo guNa-s.  Four
> combinations are predominately the classification intended for ones
> evolution.
(some sectiones snipped)
> Ones birth is related to ones vaasana-s.
(some more sections snipped)
> We have several questions in the scriptures that declares that one is

> Brahman not by birth but by guNa and Karma -

namaskaram.
 I hope that even by taking only sections of your post, I still retain
the context ... I believe you are making an implicit statement that
gunas are fixed in the person, and hence his birth is determined by
that - I belive it is not; guna is only an attribute of the state of
the mind ... in a discourse, Shri Anantarama Dikshidhar mentions that
guna is like, say water in a pond ... it can be clear and still, or it
can be agitated making all the dusst to move, or it can be so murky
that nothing can be made of it; we can always take a steady and calm
water and make it murky and disgusting by disturbing the dust that has
settled, even when we actually trying to drink the water. So also with
the "attributes" called gunas on the mind - the mind is categorised as
having the different attributes of sattwa or rajas depeding on how
murky the mind appears due to its agitation. If one can let the dust
settle, the mind is sattwa and nothing else. Svadharma is the way to
still the inherently unsteady mind, because the rishi's who laid down
these "duties" had a much better understanding of this topic than any
of us discussing it role today.

> Ones birth is related to ones vaasana-s.

 If the guna had determined his birth, in your example of Vidura, he
should have been born a brahmana - he was not; although not considered
a brahmin by birth, he was certainly one of the wisest and noblest in
the entire epic; hence I fail to see how the vasana will determine
birth.
 And in the epic, the very interesting thing about Vidura was this -
Shri Krishna, who has instructed us to think of Him and Him alone at
the time of death, that Shri Krishna Himself was thinking of Vidura
when was ready to leave this world and go back to His own abode. If
Vidura was so great, how is it that his vasanas were not able to give
him a brahmin birth? So, I think it has to be some thing else ... that
something else perhaps also depends on vasan, I don't know!
 In this respect I would like to add that I **definitely believe** that
some how birth matters in this "classification" system - if Vidura was
classified on a "technicality", then that "technicality" is certainly
important.

> we have started a poor Brahman Vasati
> Gruham. The construction of the building was completed three years

 In response, Sada-ji, I hope I can make a comment in reply, nto as a
moderator, but a reader - without sounding hypocritical! By building a
"Brahman Gruham" are we not propogating more of the same divisions in
society - would it not be sufficient to build a house for them to stay,
let others stay if they are needy as well, and provide the education
for all ?? Just my 2 cents ...

bhava shankara desikame sharaNam
Vaidya.


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