Dec 13, 2020 - Grade 9 (Sunday AM)

Hari Om Parents,

We began with the Opening Prayers. We continued to learn Lingashtakam.                                              We again spent some time in the class today to discuss and practice for our monthly program initially slated on Dec 20^th; now will happen either in Jan of Feb – we will keep you posted. Students had opportunity to present their parts, brain storm and come up with new ideas .. it is work in progress.

Recap  - Brahmacharya asrama or the life as a student is a period for gaining as much knowledge as possible. Cultivate the discipline of a student to have a glorious future by imbibing eight noble inner qualities, namely, kindness, forbearance, absence of jealousy, cleanliness or purity, free from mental strain, auspiciousness, generosity and free from desire (greed).

 The Four Castes

 How do we describe an object, a person, or a quality?

We describe anything according to its attributes. We have seen in sciences how plant kingdom or animal kingdom are classified or grouped, how in material sciences, minerals and elements are grouped according to similar qualities. Stretching this idea, when you look at mankind, we also exhibit different attributes, qualities, features and so on. From spiritual standpoint it is absolutely true we are all born equal, yet based on our attributes etc. our scriptures have classified mankind into four groups or Caturvarna. Varna means to describe or that by which a thing is described. It also means color, quality, form, relationship and so on. Caturvarna is the popularly known four castes - Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas and Sudras.

This division is universal, not just limited to Hindus or India. You will see these four classes in all societies - Indian, western, middle eastern and so on. Our scriptures say that this fourfold classification is based on KARMA, action and GUNA, qualities (definitely not based on region, color, wealth etc.) and definitely not by virtue of birth. Lord Krishna states in fourth chapter of Bhagavad Gita that the four castes were created by Him based on guna and karma. Unfortunately this caste division has been misunderstood and has led to division or disintegration in our society. 

 

Based from Karma standpoint fours classes are 

1. Brahmins   -  The thinking class
2. Kshatriyas  -  The Leader class
3. Vaisyas       -  The business class
4. Sudras        -   The labor class

 Before we go further, let's look at a simple example which mirrors this division – a modern manufacturing company: 

-       the experts or brains behind the creation of a product – Brahmanas

-       the Managers or Admin team who execute or lead the business – Kshatriyas

-       the Sales team that takes care of sales and bring in money/profit – Vaisyas

-       the factory workers who work in production - Sudras

 Any organization or set up will have these divisions. Can we blame the company, for example, General Motors, that they are discriminating against people? So then should they rotate their jobs? It will lead to chaos in the company and production will not run smoothly. With this in mind let us revisit the four varnas - 

 Brahmin – is one who is capable of studying and teaching, and of an intellectual nature.Their karmas are – to study, teach, perform rituals for themselves and others, receive gifts and give charity.

Kshatriya - is one who is capable of leading the society and protecting the people. Their karmas are: protect the people, give charity, perform yagnas, study scriptures and not to hanker after sense objects. 

Vaisyas - is one who has a capacity to produce wealth. Their karmas are: perform yagna, study scriptures, give charity and conduct business. They produce wealth for themselves and others. 

Sudras – is one who can perform work or seva without having any jealousy. His karma is to serve. 

 So it is clear that the above division is purely based on capabilities, and no one category is superior to another as each one has their unique role which other is less capable of performing. 

Looking at the four classes from Guna standpoint, that is, based on one's inner mental qualities, our inner personality is a combination of these three gunas or thought processes:

Sattvaguna – it of nature of knowledge; desire for knowledge, kind, compassionate, faith

Rajoguna     - it of nature of activity; numerous desires, ambitious, competitive

Tamoguna   - it of nature of inertia; dull, lack of ambition or interest

A brahmin is predominantly sattvik, some rajas and little tamas – eg scientists, philosophers, think tanks, board members..

Kshatriya is predominantly rajasik, some sattva and little tamas – eg political leaders, army personnel, police, CEO's..

Vaisya is predominantly rajasik, as much tamas and less of sattva – eg businessmen, traders, financial advisors ..

Sudra is predominantly tamas, some rajas and little sattva – eg laborers, production personnel, restaurant workers..

 All four varnas are need for smooth functioning of the society. No one class is superior. In fact each one of us exhibit these four varnas – in one field we may have ideas (Brahmin), in other we may excute the work but have no ideas (sudras) so on .. In fact our body also embodies these four varnas – head: is the thinking faculty, Brahmana part; hands & shoulders – defend and act, Kshatriya part; stomach and fat – store and distribute, vaisya part and the legs and feet – support and carry us, sudra part of our body. We need all the four parts to work in cooperation for the body to function smoothly. Similarly all four classes are needed for smooth functioning of the society and no one is superior to other; each having their own unique function and contribution to make. Also from the above discussion it becomes clear that these four classes exist universally from small organizations to various societies. Another simple example to show we need all four! Coffee -it needs milk, water, coffee bean and sugar (assuming we are talking about Indian coffee and not American which is black!!). Each ingredient has its own quality and one is not superior to the other. You need all four to make the coffee taste just right. Manusmriti says we are all born as Sudra (janmanaa jaayate sudrah:), because we are just raw material then and we can be moulded into anything - based  on nature, nurture and culture! A so called born brahmin can be a sudra and a sudra can be a kshatriya depending on their action and gunas exhibited. 

The underlying Dharma is, whatever be your class or varna, perform your duty with an attitude of selflessness and full of devotion, for the benefit of the entire society. This leads to purity of mind and eventually one attains Perfection. 

 

Pranam,

Rukmani Sriram

Devender Akula