[Advaita-l] The source of the word Dvija in Vedas

[V Subrahmanian]

॥  जाग्र-त्येव सुषुप्तस्थः कुरु कर्माणि वै द्विज  ।  अन्तः सर्वपरित्यागी
बहिः कुरु यथा-गतम्  ॥  ११६    Annapurna Upanishad


यदि ते नेन्द्रियार्थश्रीः स्पन्दते हृदि वै द्विज  ।  तदा
विज्ञातविज्ञेयासमुत्तीर्णो भवार्णवात्  ॥  १७४


मुने नासाद्यते तद्धि पदमक्षयमुच्यते  ।कुतो जातेयमिति ते द्विज मास्तु
विचारणा  ॥  ११४


सप्तावस्था इमाः प्रोक्ता मया ज्ञानस्य वै द्विज  ।एकैका शतसंख्याऽत्र
नानाविभवरूपिणी  ॥  २०


तृष्णाविषूचि-कामन्त्रश्चिन्तात्यागो हि स द्विज  ।  स्तोकेनानन्दमायाति
स्तोकेनायाति खेद-----------------------४३३-

-ताम्  ॥


There are many references to Dvija  in Tirshikhi Brahmopanishat


Maybe in the Samhitas too there are references.


Dvi-ja,

‘twice-born,

’

as

an

epithet

of

the

Āryans

generally,

or

of

the

Brahmins

in

particular,

is

not

found

in

Vedic

litera

ture

except

in

a

quite

obscure

verse

of

the

Atharvaveda.^1

1

)

xix.

71,

1.

Cf.

Whitney,

Transla-

tion

of

the

Atharvaveda,

1008



In the Rg Veda khila sukta two references are found:
ऋग्वेदः खिलसूक्तानि/अध्यायः ४
https://sa.wikisource.org/s/16vf



On Tue, Jul 23, 2024 at 9:10 PM K Ram <karthik.bram at gmail.com> wrote:

> Thank you for all the wonderful Smriti references. I've seen similar
> references in other Smriti Granthas but somehow haven't seen come across
> one single reference in Shruthi yet. I'm just curious on the Apourusheya
> nature of the concept of Dvija.
>
> Pranams.
>
> On Mon, Jul 22, 2024, 23:34 V Subrahmanian <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Jul 23, 2024 at 6:09 AM K Ram via Advaita-l <
>> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>>
>>> Pranams to all the experts in the group. This maybe slightly off topic
>>> from
>>> a strict Advaitic or Vedantic standpoint, but I'm trying to find the
>>> source
>>> of the word "Dvija" being mentioned in Vedas either in Karma Kanda or
>>> Upasana Kanda.
>>>
>>> Since Dvija sets the tone for all of Purva Mimamsa practices and rituals,
>>> I'm trying find the Shastra Pramanam for it in Vedas. To be clear, I've
>>> seen it being mentioned in Manu Smriti but not in Shruthi (including the
>>> Upanishads) and hence the need for clarity.
>>>
>>> Can someone please throw some light on this?
>>>
>>
>> Namaste
>>
>> Shankara cites this Gautama Dharma Sutra which has that word dvija, in
>> the Brahma sutra bhashya:  ‘द्विजातीनामध्ययनमिज्या दानम्’(गौ॰ध॰सू॰
>> २-१-१) इति च ।
>>
>> Shankara cites a Mahabharata verse:  ‘तस्मादव्यक्तमुत्पन्नं त्रिगुणं
>> द्विजसत्तम’(म॰भा॰ १२-३३४-२९,३०,३१)
>>
>> Another:  Daksha smriti:   ‘अनाश्रमी न तिष्ठेत दिनमेकमपि द्विजः ।
>> संवत्सरमनाश्रमी स्थित्वा कृच्छ्रमेकं चरेत्’(द॰स्मृ॰ १-१०)
>>
>> Bhagavadgita  first ch.  अस्माकं तु विशिष्टा ये तान्निबोध द्विजोत्तम ।
>> नायका मम सैन्यस्य संज्ञार्थं तान्ब्रवीमि ते ॥ ७ ॥ There are many in the
>> Bh.Gita itself.
>>
>> ‘एतद्धि जन्मसामग्र्यं ब्राह्मणस्य विशेषतः । प्राप्यैतत्कृतकृत्यो हि द्विजो
>> भवति नान्यथा’ (मनु. १२ । ९३)   Manu Smriti, cited by Shankara.  Many more
>> in Manu smriti.
>>
>> “मोक्षाश्रमो यश्चरते यथोक्तं शुचिः सुसङ्कल्पितबुद्धियुक्तः ।
>> अनिन्धनज्योतिरिव प्रशान्तं स ब्रह्मलोकं श्रयते द्विजातिः ॥ “     Purana.
>>
>> In Veda/Upanishads too this word must be there.
>>
>> regards
>> subbu
>>
>>
>>
>>>
>>> Namaskaram
>>> -Karthik Ram
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