08 Jul 2018
Shri Anil Anthony asked:- Padanamaskaram Swami;
1) Regarding caste I have few queries
a) A soul after millions of births will have a certain solidified quality. In such case taking birth in a Brahmana family or any other caste out of 4 castes, it will make that soul either brahmana or other castes respectively? I meant to say is that a brahmana by birth (due to his qualities attained in past birth) will born in a Brahmana family itself where he gets congenial atmosphere?
b) All 4 castes are equal as they have classified based on profession? So a sudra is equivalent to Brahmana etc? Only 5th (untouchables) caste is inferior?
Swami Replied:- One thing is very clear that a group of qualities come under a single headline called as Brahmana etc. This classification was done by God Himself and there is nothing wrong up to this point. It is just a classification like all the elements are classified into various groups having similar properties in the periodic table. The first group is called as ‘alkaline’ elements and the second group is called as ‘alkaline earth’ elements. A group of elements have similar properties. The first group called as Brahmana group is based on preaching spiritual knowledge to the entire society to lead all of them towards God so that everybody is blessed by the divine grace of God. This duty is highly precious and divine in view of this spiritual side. Kshatriyas have the quality of fighting the war against injustice. Vysyas are based on the quality of business involving transport of all required items to every place. Shudras are based on the quality of doing agriculture. Shudra means the person, who is always worried about materialistic progress (shochati iti). Brahmana is to guide the people towards God (Brahma nayati iti). The qualities prescribed under the headline Brahmana are very holy since they are directed towards God and are considered as good qualities. The other three qualities are not bad, but are directed towards materialistic progress and not towards spiritual progress. Hence, qualities of the souls make the souls to come under the four castes. The souls without bodies possessing the qualities are already classified into four castes or groups. When the soul takes birth on this earth, the soul gets simply an external body, which has nothing to do with the qualities of the soul. The caste is decided by the qualities of the soul and not by the birth of the body. The body may be born in any caste. The caste of the soul based on its inherent qualities decides the caste of the human being, which is a soul with the body. Soul has no birth and death whereas the body has birth and death. The caste is not related to the body and hence, the place of the birth of the body is not at all related to the caste. Only the qualities of the soul decide the caste irrespective of the birth of its body. The superiority of Brahmana caste (don’t misunderstand that Brahmana is by birth of the body) is due to the fact that a Brahmana is directed towards God and also tries to direct other people towards God. You have to accept such superiority provided you are a theist agreeing that God is far greater than this world. You understand the simple basic fact that caste system is based on various souls having different qualities. The deeds expressed through bodies are according to the qualities of inner souls only. Hence, caste system is simply based on the different groups of qualities and deeds and this is the classification done by God. These souls having different qualities are classified into the four castes even though these souls are in energetic bodies in the upper world. Whenever I mention the word caste, you must not misunderstand Me that the word caste mentioned by Me belongs to the birth of the body of the soul in a specific caste. Whatever may be the place of birth of the body of the soul, the soul gets the caste based on its qualities only. The caste system is not external related to the bodies, but it is internal related to the qualities of souls.
There is no untouchable fifth caste mentioned in the Veda or the Gita. The sinners of all the four castes were boycotted by the human beings and this punishment is only for the reformation of the soul and not for revenge. An undisciplined student is boycotted from the school or college and such punishment is for his early reformation and not for permanent vengeance. If the soul is reformed from its sins, it shall be admitted back into the caste based on its inner qualities. The son/daughter of the boycotted student is also not boycotted from the institution. Similarly, the issue of untouchable can’t be untouchable. Untouchability is not a caste but only a temporary punishment for the sake of reformation. Any human being from any caste can become untouchable by doing several sins. Shankara fell on the feet of untouchable accepting Him as His preacher. Ramanuja gave the holy hymn of God Narayana to the so-called untouchables. If you understand the basic intention, you will not misunderstand this concept. This was the basic intention of the ancient sages. But, in the middle age, blind reciting priests have misunderstood and misinterpreted this concept. The present revolution from the untouchables is based on such misinterpretation only.
THE MAIN CONCLUSION IS THAT THE CASTE IS BASED ON THE QUALITIES OF THE INTERNAL SOUL ONLY AND IS NOT BASED ON THE BIRTH OF THE EXTERNAL BODY OF THE SOUL.
2) A person asked how to justify the statement that there cannot be two unimaginable?
Swami Replied:- If there are two unimaginable items, how can you distinguish them when their boundaries are unimaginable? Two imaginable items with their imaginable boundaries can only be recognized as two items. You can’t say that an unimaginable person having unimaginable cap on his head is hunting an unimaginable deer in an unimaginable forest! You can only say that an imaginable hunter having imaginable cap is hunting imaginable deer in an imaginable forest.
3) Many people wanted to know the solution to overcome depression?
Swami Replied:- Absence of spiritual knowledge is the main reason for suffering with tensions. Of course, tensions are attacking the soul as punishments of their sins. If the soul gets reformed by realization, repentance and by non-repetition of sin from today onwards, I surely tell all of you that such reformed soul will not face any tension in future since its pending punishments of sins get cancelled by God. Punishment in the form of tension is only for reformation of the soul and if the reformation is attained, there is no need of punishment anymore. Even a devotee is blessed by God to attain this reformation and get relieved from the miseries, which cause depressions.
Shri Kishore Ram asked:-
4) Sometimes we find a soul having qualities of Brahmana is born in a caste of chandaala (by qualities) and not by birth. This violates the rule that a soul having certain group of qualities will be born in the caste having such qualities only for its encouragement.
Swami Replied:- Such an exceptional case takes place when a soul having the qualities of Brahmana does a sin and the fruit of the sin is its birth (its birth means the birth of its body) in a caste having different qualities. Such a stray example serves another purpose also, which is:- If you say that all the souls are born in series (grandfather-father-son-grandson etc.) in a caste having the qualities of Brahmana only, it leads to say that all the members of the Brahmana caste always have the qualities of Brahmana only. In such case, you may establish that the caste is by birth and not by qualities since both these concepts (birth and quality) are superimposed on each other so that the real point (that the caste is by quality and not by birth) is not isolated. You will say that a Brahmana is always born to Brahmana only and hence, the caste is not by qualities, but by birth only. Such stray example disproves your concept as wrong. Now the main point is that whether you call such a soul having the qualities of Brahmana born in the caste of chandaala as Brahmana or chandaala? If you say that since such person is born to chandaala, such person must be a chandaala only, we oppose this as wrong concept. Even though such soul is born as an issue of a chandaala, such soul is Brahmana only by virtue of its inner qualities of the soul. Similarly, a chandaala soul may be born in Brahmana caste due to some of its merit. In this case, the soul born is of chandaala caste only due to its inherent chandaala qualities. Our concept is very simple and straight, which is that the caste is based on the inner qualities of a soul and not based on the place of birth of its body.
[Note to Hrushikesh:- Please send this entire message to Mr. Raghavender Rao]
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