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Written by Sri Swami Chandrashekarendra
Saraswati |
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What about non- Brahmins? Is it not necessary for them too to become
pure within? Even if they do not have to perform Vedic rituals or chant
mantras, they too have to become cleansed inwardly by doing their
alloted work. Whatever his caste or jati, if a man performs his
hereditary
work in a spirit of dedication to Isvara he will become liberated. This
is
stated clearly in the Gita:"Svakaramana tam abhyarcya siddhim vindati
manavah. "
One man has the job of waging wars, another that of trading and rearing
cattle, a third has manual work to do. What work does the Brahmin do for
soceity?
Is not the grace of the Supreme-Being important even in worldly life?
The
Brahmin's vocation is doing such works as would enable all jatis earn
this
grace. The devas or celestials are like the officials of the Paramatman.
It is
the duty of the Brahmin to make all creatures of the world dear to them.
The work he performs, the mantras he chants are intended to do good to
all jatis. Since he has to do with forces that are extra-mundane, he has
to
follow a religious discipline of rites and vows more strictly than what
others have to follow so as to impart potency to the mantras. If it were
realised that he has to perform rituals and observe vows for the sake of
other communities also, people would not harbour the wrong notion that
he has been assigned some special [priveleged] job.
Apart from this, the Brahmin has to learn the arts and sastras that
pertain
to worldly life, the traits and vocations of all other castes and
instruct
them in such work as is theirs by heredity. His calling is that of the
teacher and he must not do other jobs. His is a vocation entailing great
responsibility and is more important than the job of affording bodily
protection to people, or of trade or labour. For the Brahmin's duty is
to
preserve the arts and crafts and other skills by which other communities
maintain themselves to nurture their minds and impart them knowledge.
If the man discharging such a responsibility is not mentally mature, his
work will not yield the desired results. If he himself is not noble of
mind
he will not be able to raise others to a high level. At the same time,
he has
a handicap which he does not share with others. If he believes that he
is
superior to others because he does intellectual work, he will only be a
hindrance to himself. That is why the Brahmin has to be rendered pure.
Since there are reasons for him to feel superior to others, there must
be
the assurance that he does not suffer from the least trace of egoism and
arrogance. That is why he is tempered by means of the forty samskaras
and his impurities wrung out.
If the mantras are to be efficacious, the one who chants them must be
disciplined and must observe a variety of vows. There is, for instance,
the
mantra to cure a person stung by a scorpion. The man who chants it must
observe certain strict rules. If he is lax in the matter, the mantra
will have
no effect- this is what the mantrikas themselves say. There are rules
for
the recitation of each mantra, a time when it is to be chanted and when
it
is not to be. If the rules are violated it will have no effect. It is
said that
the mantras are more efficacious when recited during eclipses.
A Vedic sakha contains all the rites needed to be performed by a Brahmin
to become pure within. |
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