[Advaita-l] RE: Vedic Shakhas for kshatriyas and vaishyas?

[abhishek rk]

Namaste Shri Karthikji,

I have only gone through a kannada translation of the
manu smriti. I found it to be very good book if you
are looking for a *personal guide*, other than the
Gita of course. In it, brAhmanas are allowed to take
up the kshatriya and vaishya professions but shudra
profession (which i guess includes all kinds of
servile atitudes) is said to be out of bounds. Yes, it
also speaks of brAhmaNas living on begging. The best
brAhmaNa is the one who does not hoard up goods but
begs daily. And also picking up the fallen grains in
the fields is said to be even better!

I have also read the discourses by the late Kanchi
acharya. At the end he makes a profound remark: that
inspite of all the objections by the brAhmaNas
themselves to taking up vedic dharma, it remains His
duty as a pIthadipathi to exhort each brahmaNa *to
take up his own dharma*. So i guess we too can
conclude that inspite of whatever objectons we may
conjure up, it *still remains our duty*!!

Regards,
Abhishek

sarve janAh sukhino bhavantu

-------------------------------------------------------
Strictly speaking, according to the shAstras, the
BrAhmaNa should *beg*
for his food as well as for his Vedic sacrifices (read
the quote below
by the Late Kanchi Paramacharya if you have any doubts
in this regard),
so my suggestion should be welcomed by the BrAhmaNa,
since I'm willing
to provide what is required for his daily sustenance
so that he doesn't
even have to beg for his food -- it is on his table
already!

Also, do the dharma shAstras say anything about being
an intellectual
slave to mlechchhas -- accepting a mlechchha as a
boss, shaking hands
with them, eating with them, and being servile to
them?

Anyway, if you still think there is some servitude
involved, I don't
need to know the BrAhmaNa personally. If any BrAhmaNa
is so interested
in my proposal, all he has to do is to contact the
list administrators
about this matter, and the whole thing can be worked
out through them.
The BrAhmaNa and myself need have no personal contact
whatsoever, so
that eliminates all possibility of there being
servility of any kind.
BTW, my announcement is open for the next two years!

Discussions on BrAhmaNas and their occupations have
taken place in this
list several times already. e.g.:

http://www.escribe.com/religion/advaita/m6750.html


Quote from "Hindu dharma," by Chandrashekharendra
Sarasvati svaami, the
late pontiff of the Kanchi Math:
p. 639
--------
In the second part of daytime, the Brahmin must teach
his disciples the
Vedas...Since he is not expected to earn a salary --
and if he does not
own any land received as a gift -- he must beg for his
food and also
for
the materials for the conduct of various sacrifices.
The brahmin has
the
right to beg, but it is a restrictive right because it
means that he
can
take only the minimum needed for his upkeep and what
is required for
the
performance of rituals.
--------

But is this how the present-day Brahmin conducts
himself?
p.69
--------
The Brahmin...fell lure to the jobs offered by his
white master and
aped him in dress, manners and attitudes.
--------

After noting that the BrAhmaNas of today have neither
courage nor
spirit of sacrifice in them, the Paramacharya offers a
"small remedy": 
"I am prepared to ignore that they [the Brahmins] have
neither courage
nor the spirit of sacrifice necessary to come back to
their dharma..."

And then the Paramacharya admits that other kinds of
work can be done
by the Brahmins. Again, this is not because the
BrAhmaNas are permitted
to do so by the dharma shAstras, but because they
*lack* courage and
spirit of sacrifice!

-Kartik





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