Posted on: 21 May 2024
[Ms. Thrylokya asked:- Swami, I strongly believe that You are the author of the Veda. Hence, kindly give me the details of the incident of Satyakaama Jaabaala and Sage Gautama.]
Swami replied:- Jaabaala belonged to Shudra caste by birth (Janma Shudra), but, she was Brahmana by qualities (Karma Brahmana). She was extremely poor and for the sake of living, she used to work in several houses. She had to satisfy the owner of every house to protect her work in the house. She became like a prostitute due to the force of circumstances. She became pregnant and gave birth to a boy called Satyakaama. Satyakaama went to sage Gautama seeking admission into his asylum-school (Gurukula). Sage Gautama asked the caste of the boy because in those days, there was hope of some Brahmana qualities at least if the born child grew in the atmosphere of Brahmana parents. Qualities are always the strongest thoughts, which are picked up from the atmosphere of surrounding people. To pick up such Brahmana qualities, not only the surrounding atmosphere shall be filled by Brahmanas, but also the child also should have inherent Brahmana qualities (gunas) in the soul. If the child is not having inherent Brahmana qualities, at least there will be a superficial layer of Brahmana qualities due to the influence of Brahmana atmosphere. At least, something is better than nothing. But, these superficial Brahmana qualities picked up from the Brahmana atmosphere are only temporary because the inherent Brahmana qualities of the child alone are permanent. Hence, the caste was always decided by the inherent qualities and deeds and not by birth that imbibes a temporary superficial layer of qualities of that caste.
Based on this background, following the general procedure for the admission, sage Gautama asked for the caste of the boy by birth. Satyakaama was having inherent Brahmana qualities even though he was not exposed to the Brahmana atmosphere of Brahmana parents. The most important quality of Brahmanas is speaking truth because their profession is preaching spiritual knowledge from the Veda and other scriptures. The preacher shall not speak a lie in the spiritual knowledge fearing some audience or attracted by the gifts given by some other type of audience. The audience will be pleased if the preacher preaches the concept that is liked by them. Then only, the audience will not become angry with the preacher and also give some material offerings to the preacher. The preacher shall neither have the fear nor attraction and shall seek only the truth spoken in the scripture. Hence, speaking the truth is the most important professional quality of the caste of Brahmanas. Satyakaama told that he does not know his caste by birth. Then, Gautama asked Satyakaama to go to his mother and enquire about his birth. He went to his mother and enquired about his caste by birth. Jaabaala told all the truth to Satyakaama. Then, Satyakaama returned back and told the same truth. The quality of the truth of Jaabaala was imbibed by Satyakaama since he grew only in the atmosphere of his mother. Gautama was very much pleased for the quality of speaking truth of the boy again and again. The boy did not mind his loss of admission and told the truth only. Hence, Satyakaama was 100% Brahmana because he had the perfect and complete qualities of Brahmana.
The tendency to speak the truth is quality and the action of speaking the truth is the deed. Hence, Satyakaama was an absolute Brahmana by qualities and subsequent deeds. God says that the caste is created by Him only based on qualities and deeds and not by birth. Hence, Gautama admitted Satyakaama into his school since Satyakaama was a Brahmana by qualities and deeds and his birth details were unnecessary and was neglected. Hence, birth by caste is never considered. If you take the case of king Janashruti, the details of his birth as Kshatriya was well known to the entire public. His case was not like the unclear birth of Satyakaama. Even then, sage Raikva called him a Shudra since Janashruti was having worldly mental worries. Hence, in this example, even if the birth was clearly known, the caste was not decided by birth and was decided only by qualities and deeds. Which soul has the guts to oppose God when He clearly said that He created the caste system based on qualities and deeds only? The Veda says that a bad soul will be born in the womb of a bad lady only (Kapūya caraṇāḥ kapūyāṃ yonim…). The Veda did not say that a bad soul will be born in a bad caste because in a caste, an individual may be bad and not the whole caste. Hence, a bad soul is born to a bad mother and the mother is bad by her qualities and deeds only and not by her birth in a caste. If this point is understood, you can be convinced that both the Veda and the Gita are speaking about the one and the same concept!