varnas

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Visnupada,

please accept my most humble obeisances.

 

I would like to reformulate my question from the class. I'm trying hard to

get a clear picture about varnas.

 

You said there is not such a thing as mixed varnas. Devotees objected that

they do not have all the qualities of a brahmana, only some, or that they

have some qualities of a brahmana but also some qualities of a ksatriya.

 

If I understood properly your answers were:

- One may be a lazy brahmana, who could develop all the qualities if he

would try but is too lazy to do so.

- One may have lacked the proper training to develop all qualities of the

particular varna. Therefore varnasrama colleges are important.

- One has to see what he likes to do the most, and that will determine what

varna he is in.

- Vaisnavas automatically develop brahminical qualities, no matter which

varna they fit in, and this is the meaning of "to become a Vaisnava one

must become a brahmana." That does not mean however that they will like

to take up the particular activities of a brahmana.

 

Then my thought was that it seems unlikely that vaisyas and sudras do not

have any of the qualities whatsoever of brahmanas and ksatriyas. For

instance, the sudras that assist on the battlefield must have sufficient

courage to remain on the battlefield and not run off. Another example was

Jahnu who said he has some brahmana qualities like liking to preach, to

keep things clean, etc., but does not feel like he is a brahmana.

 

Therefore I asked if it is so that if one does not have *all* the qualities

of a brahmana or *all* the qualities of a ksatriya, then he is either a

vaisya or a sudra. In other words, unless he has all the qualities of a

brahmana, he will not like to do the activities of a brahmana.

 

Using the same logic, a brahmana may also have one or two qualities of a

ksatriya, and a ksatriya may also possess one or two brahmana qualities to

some degree, but it will never happen that someone has all qualities of both

varnas, and therefore there is not such a thing as mixed varnas.

 

Does this make sense?

 

Your humble servant