[world-vedic] Arya Is NOT a Racial Term

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"One who is neither snobbish nor exploits others,

nor despises good deeds and dedications, is said to have

the distinct features of an Arya." Mahabharata 8.82,83,

 

Aside from above see below:

 

Srimad Bhagavatam 7.2.60 T Hiranyakasipu, King of the Demons

atah socata ma yuyam

param catmanam eva va

ka atma kah paro vatra

sviyah parakya eva va

sva-parabhinivesena

vinajnanena dehinam

SYNONYMS

atah--therefore; socata--lament for; ma--do not; yuyam--all of you;

param--another; ca--and; atmanam--yourself; eva--certainly; va--or;

kah--who; atma--self; kah--who; parah--other; va--or; atra--in this material

world; sviyah--one's own; parakyah--for others; eva--indeed; va--or;

sva-para-abhinivesena--consisting of absorption in the bodily concept of

oneself and others; vina--besides; ajnanena--the lack of knowledge;

dehinam--of all the embodied living entities.

 

TRANSLATION

Therefore none of you should be aggrieved for the loss of the

body--whether your own or those of others. Only in ignorance does one make

bodily distinctions, thinking "Who am I? Who are the others? What is mine?

What is for others?"

PURPORT

In this material world, the conception of self-preservation is the first

law of nature. According to this conception, one should be interested in his

personal safety and should then consider society, friendship, love,

nationality, community and so on, which have all developed because of the

bodily conception of life and a lack of knowledge of the spirit soul. This

is called ajnana. As long as human society is in darkness and ignorance, men

will continue to make huge arrangements in the bodily conception of life.

This is described by Prahlada Maharaja as bharam. In the materialistic

conception, modern civilization makes enormous arrangements for huge roads,

houses, mills and factories, and this is man's conception of the advancement

of civilization. People do not know, however, that at any time they

themselves may be kicked out of the scene and forced to accept bodies that

have nothing to do with these enormous houses, palaces, roads and

automobiles. Therefore when Arjuna was thinking in terms of his bodily

relationships with his kinsmen, Krsna immediately chastised him, saying,

kutas tva kasmalam idam visame samupasthitam anarya justam: "This bodily

conception of life is befitting the anaryas, the non-Aryans, who are not

advanced in knowledge." An Aryan civilization is a civilization advanced in

spiritual knowledge. Not merely by stamping oneself an Aryan does one become

an Aryan. To keep oneself in the deepest darkness concerning spiritual

knowledge and at the same time claim to be an Aryan is a non-Aryan position.

In this connection, Srila Madhvacarya quotes as follows from the

Brahma-vaivarta Purana:

 

ka atma kah para iti dehady-apeksaya

 

na hi dehadir atma syan

na ca satrur udiritah

ato daihika-vrddhau va

ksaye va kim prayojanam

 

yas tu deha-gato jivah

sa hi nasam na gacchati

tatah satru-vivrddhau ca

sva-nase socanam kutah

 

dehadi-vyatiriktau tu

jivesau pratijanata

ata atma-vivrddhis tu

vasudeve ratih sthira

satru-nasas tathajnana-

naso nanyah kathancana

 

The purport is that as long as we are in this human form of body, our

duty is to understand the soul within the body. The body is not the self; we

are different from the body, and therefore there is no question of friends,

enemies or responsibilities in terms of the bodily conception of life. One

should not be very anxious about the body's changing from childhood to

boyhood, from boyhood to old age and then to apparent annihilation. Rather,

one should be very seriously concerned about the soul within the body and

how to release the soul from the material clutches. The living entity within

the body is never annihilated; therefore one should surely know that whether

one has many friends or many enemies, his friends cannot help him, and his

enemies cannot do him any harm. One should know that he is a spirit soul

(aham brahmasmi) and that the constitutional position of the soul is

unaffected by the changes of the body. In all circumstances, everyone, as a

spirit soul, must be a devotee of Lord Visnu and should not be concerned

with bodily relationships, whether with friends or with enemies. One should

know that neither we ourselves nor our enemies in the bodily conception of

life are ever killed.