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Brahma-nistham means brahmin, one who knows Brahman. Therefore knowledge has to be taken from a brahmin, not from a sudra

Expressions researched:
"brahma-niṣṭham means brāhmin, one who knows Brahman. Therefore knowledge has to be taken from a brāhmin, not from a śūdra"

Lectures

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet samit-pāṇiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham (MU 1.2.12). This word brahma-niṣṭham means brāhmin, one who knows Brahman. Therefore knowledge has to be taken from a brāhmin, not from a śūdra.

Brāhmin means knowledge, and śūdra means no knowledge. That is the difference. One who knows . . . just like in this age there are so many scientists, so many philosophers, but they have no perfect knowledge; therefore they are śūdras. One scientist putting forward one theory—after a few years this theory is changed. That means knowledge is not perfect. They take it as advancement in research, but actually the knowledge is imperfect. Otherwise, where is the necessity of research and advancement? Advancement means you are in the lower grade. So all their advancement, the same lower grade. Because it is going on, they do not know what is the end of advancement. Therefore all their knowledge is imperfect; they are all śūdras. We cannot accept knowledge from śūdras. Knowledge must be taken from a brāhmin.

tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet
samit-pāṇiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham
(MU 1.2.12)

This word brahma-niṣṭham means brāhmin, one who knows Brahman. Therefore knowledge has to be taken from a brāhmin, not from a śūdra.

So reformatory system is to make one first of all a brāhmin. Janmanā jāyate śūdraḥ saṁskārād bhaved dvijaḥ. Every person is born a śūdra, a rascal. Then by reformatory process . . . just like we send our children to school, college, to teachers for reforming. That is reformation. The animals, they are unable to accept this reformatory process. You cannot send a cat or a dog to the school and become educated. That is not possible. All human beings, although they are born śūdra, he can be made a brāhmin by the process. Saṁskāra means by reformatory process, bhaved dvijaḥ. Dvija means second birth. Second birth means by reformatory process, when he is eligible, then he is initiated by the spiritual master. That is second birth. Then initiation means he is allowed to study Vedic literature to achieve real knowledge. Because real knowledge means Vedic knowledge, and any knowledge which is not corroborated with the Vedic version, that is not knowledge; that is imperfect knowledge.

Therefore whenever we speak something, we quote from the Vedas, from Vedic literature, to support it. Otherwise it is useless. When you speak something and corroborate it by the quotation from the Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Upaniṣads—there are so many Vedic literatures—then it is correct. That is the Vedic system. Not that I create knowledge by my research. What is the value of your research? Because you are imperfect, your senses are imperfect, you cannot even see properly. Even you cannot see your eyelids, so what is the value of your seeing? You cannot see something from a distant place, the nearest place. There must be some adjustment, there must be light under so many conditions you can see. Then what is the value of your eyes?

Vedic knowledge is therefore not seen, it is heard. Therefore it is called śruti. Just like actually we do not understand what is the position of different planets by seeing. But when you hear from authorities, from astrologists, from astronomers, then you can understand, "The sun is so great, bigger." That means hearing is perfect knowledge, not seeing. Therefore Vedic knowledge is received through the ear. To hear from the authorized persons, that is knowledge.

Page Title:Brahma-nistham means brahmin, one who knows Brahman. Therefore knowledge has to be taken from a brahmin, not from a sudra
Compiler:Nabakumar
Created:2023-06-02, 04:01:10
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=1, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:1