Question about Varna

[Srikrishna Ghadiyaram]

Hari Om !!

--- nanda chandran <vpcnk at HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:
> >rajan kulena vrttena svadhyayena shrutena va
> >
> >brahmanyam kenabhavati prabruhyetatsu nishcitam
> >
> >
> >King, how does one become a Brahmin: by birth?
> >
> >character? study of the Vedas? education? Tell me
> >precisely.
> >
> >
> >
> >shrnu yaksha kulam tata nasvadhyayo nacashrutam
> >
> >karanam hi dvijatve ca vrttameva na samshayha
> >
> >Listen, Yaksha, it is neither birth nor education,
> nor
> >even the study
> >
> >of the Vedas. Without doubt, it is character alone
> >that marks a Brahmin.
> >
> >Yudhishthira's answer is crisp, clear and
> unambiguous
> >when he replies, 'Na samshayaha ... there is no
> doubt
> >about it: it is not birth, it is not education, it
> is
> >not the study of the Vedas but it is vritta
> >(character) alone that determines a Brahmin."
>
> It is to be noted that attitudes and ideas were
> different in the days of
> Yudishtra than they are today. In those days it was
> pretty much clear that a
> brahmana is one who is born so. So Yudishtra's
> statement might only mean
> that though one can be born as a brahmana, be
> educated in the scriptures
> etc, still it is only due to one's character/conduct
> that one proves oneself
> as a true brahmana - character is what cements the
> caste status.
>
>

So, how do you interpret it in these days ?

Om Namo Narayanaya !!

Srikrishna

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