Brahmana by birth?

[Guest guest]

On Sat, 19 Jan 2002, M. Tandy wrote:

 

>

>       By the way, since you mentioned it, the traditional argument

> defending caste by birth is that one's guna (qualities) and karma

> (actions) determine one's birth (cf. Gita 4.13).  In light of

> Bhagavata 3.31.1, it's diffiicult to explain why and how a

> brahminically qualified person would take birth in a low caste or

> outcaste family--even though many sastras tacitly acknowledge the

> possibility.  While Srila Prabhupada propounds the pancaratrika

> brahminical initiation intended for this age, as well as the fact that

> the potency of bhakti can elevate anyone through Hari-kirtana and

> bhakta-seva, I've never seen him deny the above argument. 

 

Excellent post. For more information on this topic, I recommend the paper

 

"The Ontological Position of the Vaisnava Over the Brahmana" at

 

http://www.gosai.com/dvaita/madhvacarya/Brahmana-Vaisnava.html

 

dnyaanesha