New member introduction: V. Krishnamurthy

[ravi chandrasekhara]

Dear All,

I visited the website of Shri Krishnamurthy and some
questions about varna-ashrama.  He is referring to
Bhagawad Geeta 18-42:

 The words 'born of their own nature' (svabhaavajam)
are important. These qualities must be inherent in
him; then only he is a braahmana. If they are not his
natural qualities, then he is not a braahmana even
though a parent of his may be a braahmana. At the dawn
of the twenty-first century it is ridiculous to
interpret the verse in any other way. The verse should
be taken as a definition of a braahmana thus: those
who have these qualities as their own svabhaava (=
one's own nature) are braahmanas. . A Mahatma Gandhi,
a Mother Teresa, a Srinivasa Ramanujan, a Martin
Luther King Jr., are the braahmanas. Does this mean
that above-mentioned individuals based on their
"Braahmana-like" qualities be entitiled to
upanayana/recitation of Gayatri Mantra/intermarriage
with Braahmans by birth/officiate in yagnas and
vaisyas meet such qualities, should be temple purohits
? (Gandhji was a Gujarati Modh Vaisya by birth and
entitled to upanayana and Ramanujan was a Braahmana by
birth)

Also one could argue that Durvasa rishi based on his
temperment, did not always exhibit "Braahmana-like"
qualities (probably didnt meet any varna's qualities
but rather his anger was to avoided by all beings),
now does that mean he should refrain from performing
sandhya-vandana ?

Now this below is taken from Hindu Dharma part 20
chapter 2 at www.kamakoti.org:

If such an argument is correct, what about the
character of Dharmaputra (Yudhisthra)? From the very
beggining he is averse to war and anxious to make
peace with the Kauravas. Does he not go so far as to
say that he would not insist on half the kingdom but
he would be satisfied with just five houses? Krsna
goes to the Kauravas as his envoy [of peace] but is
himself dragged into war by them. Earlier he
encouraged Yudhisthra to subjugate all his
neighbouring kingdoms to become an imperial ruler and
perform the rajasuya. Does Dharmaputra desire such
glory? His inner character and temperament show that
he is not warlike by nature nor do they suggest that
he desires the status of a mighty imperial ruler. Sri
Krsna Paramatman makes such a man practice his dharma
of a Ksatriya. All this shows that by svadharma it is
jati dharma that the Lord means. Men like Dronacarya
were born Brahmins but they took up the duty of
Ksatriyas. Bhagavan does not deprecate them since they
were otherwise great men, but all the same he does not
show any displeasure when Bhima taunts Dronacarya for
having forsaken the dharma of his birth. Thus we have
confirmation that by svadharma the Lord means the jati
dharma of birth.

It would seem based on the above references to BG
18-42, that our Shastras dont state when ones
qualities are different from their birth based varna
whether that changes one's sacraments/rituals/diet
(veg versus non-veg)/ rules regarding marriage, etc.

I welcome list members opinions on this with regards
to what Shastras declare on this issue.

Dhanyavaad, Ravi Chandrasekhara MD




>
> =====
> Prof. V. Krishnamurthy
> My website on Science and Spirituality is
> http://www.geocities.com/profvk/
> You can  access my book on Gems from the Ocean of
> Hindu Thought Vision and Practice,  and my father R.
> Visvanatha Sastri's manuscripts from the site.
>
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