Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Srimad Bhagavatam 9.16.28

gadher abhun maha-tejah

samiddha iva pavakah

tapasa kshatram utsrijya

yo lebhe brahma-varcasam

SYNONYMS

gadheh -- from Maharaja Gadhi; abhut -- was born; maha-tejah -- very powerful; samiddhah -- inflamed; iva -- like; pavakah -- fire; tapasa -- by austerities and penances; kshatram -- the position of a kshatriya; utsrijya -- giving up; yah -- one who (Visvamitra); lebhe -- achieved; brahma-varcasam -- the quality of a brahmana.

TRANSLATION

Visvamitra, the son of Maharaja Gadhi, was as powerful as the flames of fire. From the position of a kshatriya, he achieved the position of a powerful brahmana by undergoing penances and austerities.

PURPORT

Now, having narrated the history of Lord Parasurama, Sukadeva Gosvami begins the history of Visvamitra. From the history of Parasurama we can understand that although Parasurama belonged to the brahminical group, he circumstantially had to work as a kshatriya. Later, after finishing his work as a kshatriya, he again became a brahmana and returned to Mahendra-parvata. Similarly, we can see that although Visvamitra was born in a kshatriya family, by austerities and penances he achieved the position of a brahmana. These histories confirm the statements in sastra that a brahmana may become a kshatriya, a kshatriya may become a brahmana or vaisya, and a vaisya may become a brahmana, by achieving the required qualities. One's status does not depend upon birth. As confirmed in Srimad-Bhagavatam (7.11.35) by Narada:

yasya yal lakshanam proktam

pumso varnabhivyanjakam

yad anyatrapi drisyeta

tat tenaiva vinirdiset

"If one shows the symptoms of being a brahmana, kshatriya, vaisya or sudra, even if he has appeared in a different class, he should be accepted according to those symptoms of classification." To know who is a brahmana and who is a kshatriya, one must consider a man's quality and work. If all the unqualified sudras become so-called brahmanas and kshatriyas, social order will be impossible to maintain. Thus there will be discrepancies, human society will turn into a society of animals, and the situation all over the world will be hellish.

<<< >>>

Copyright (c) The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness