[Advaita-l] Trija?

[Ravisankar Mayavaram]

Thanks for posting this. It is easy to grasp.

The three births of a man presented in aitareyopaniSad (dvitIyodhyaya) 
is very different. It states the first birth as when he inseminates his 
wife and makes her pregnant. Then the second birth is when the child is 
born and nourished to take over the role of the man in taking care of 
the three debts. Finally the third birth is when he dies and born again 
in another womb. These according to the lecture of Ganapatigal is not 
about the child, but about three births of the father.   There is 
quotation here to "AtmA vai putra nAmAsi" - that the father is verily 
born again as the son.  Needless to say, this far more complicated to 
understand. The first question that popped in mind was, what then if he 
has more children?  Rather than taking it literally probably points to 
the goal of having progeny, then raising it, and finally passing on the 
next birth after having established the continuity to maintain the 
tradition.


On 5/9/2020 4:37 AM, Jaldhar H. Vyas via Advaita-l wrote:
> Most people are familiar with the term Dvija meaning a Brahmana 
> because he undergoes a second birth at the time of Upanayana.  
> Technically it could refer to a Kshatriya or Vaishya too but it is 
> only the Brahmanas for the most part who have maintained the tradition 
> consistently and completely.  Generally in Sanskrit Dvija is used as a 
> synonym for Brahmana only.
>
> Anyway while answering Raghava, I read an interesting shloka in the 
> same adhyaya of the Bhagavata.  The first pada is:
>
> kiṁ janmabhistribhirveha śauklasāvitrayājñikaiḥ |
>
> "Ones births are of three kinds: śaukla, sāvitra, and yājñika." 
> (4:31:10a)
>
> Shridharacharya explains:
>
> śaukla means from semen. It is the physical birth from father and mother.
>
> sāvitra means from the Gayatri mantra which is taught at the Upanayana.
>
> yājñika means from the Yajna.  When undergoing diksha in a soma yajna, 
> the
> yajamana is considered to have been born again.
>
>
> So there are some people who are Trijas not just Dvijas.
>