Vedantic Interpretation of Ramayana

The Ramayana is not a myth. It is actual historical event but we can find many Vedantic metaphors in Ramayana. Like a ring leader who puts up a show, Paramatma enacted Ramayana. By enacting Ramayana He has made it easier for us to learn the Vedantic meanings. In this day and age it is difficult for people to study the Vedas but it is easy for anyone to study the Ramayana. 

The human body can be compared to the city of Ayodhya with the nine gates. Like Ayodhya our body has nine openings through which the soul (we) can exit. King Dasharatha may represent our mind with the ten senses. With the help of our mind and by bringing our senses under control we must install Paramatma along with Goddess Sri Devi in our heart as our emperor. In the end Lord Rama takes all His citizens to Sri Vaikuntham. Paramatma when installed as the emperor in our heart will surely take us to Sri Vaikuntham at the time when we must leave our bodies behind.

The Ashwamedha Sacrifice: This a sacrifice in which a horse is sacrificed. The Brihadaranya Upanishad states that the creator under the name of Mrityu (Death) became the horse sacrificed in the Ashwamedha ritual. It is said that in the beginning nothing existed. He as Death made up his mind to become atmanvi. He brought forth water from which sprang earth. He got Fire by toiling the Earth and from Fire Air. Hankering Death wanted a second Atman to be born. By combining his mind with speech he brought forth the entire universe. Whatever he brought forth he began to eat. Desiring his body to be fit for sacrifice, he became the horse. He let the horse loose for a year; after the completion of one year, he sacrificed the horse to Himself. This analogy is modeled on the life of warriors who give up their life to protect many. 

This sacrificial rite indicates the self-sacrifice made by the creator to become the many forms by which he starts creation. It can also be said that, “He the Self, rides on the horse which is himself, to reach Himself”. By this He is also said to conquer recurring death. Hankering Death and His desire to eat all represent his wish for us to reach him. He shows us the way through his self-sacrifice by which he rides on himself to reach him. He is the sacrificial victim, the sacrificial fire and the enjoyer of the sacrifice. This teaches us about the way to reach the Supreme Brahman. We need to sacrifice ourselves unto him wholeheartedly. We also need to ride on him to reach him. That is He is the means as well as the end. The texts also say that Vak the wife of Brahma the creator went away from him and entered the sacrificial horse representing the fact that she is one with him. In the Sri Vaishnava belief the Goddess Sri is worshiped with Lord Vishnu and both of them together are the means as well as the end. 

King Dasharatha obtained Lord Vishnu the Supreme Brahman as his son by conducting the Ashwamedha Sacrifice. The word Ashwa has many meanings. It also refers to an empire or a nation. It refers to the Sun and letting the horse loose for a year symbolizes the Sun’s yearly travel. Ashwa also refer to our senses. The sacrifice of the horse mentioned in the Vedas is actually a sacrifice of the senses. The Vedas clearly state that animals are not to be slaughtered and actually sacrificed. The Srimadh Bhagawatam also clearly states that anyone who sacrifices animals will go to a special kind of hell where the sacrificed animals will come and torment the sacrificer. Lord Vishnu prohibits animal sacrifices. Since King Dasaratha and Queen Kausalya obtained Lord Vishnu himself as their son it can be safely claimed that they did not actually sacrifice a horse. If they had slaughtered a horse, they would have gone against the Vedas in which case they wouldn’t have obtained the divine grace of Lord Vishnu. The Valmiki Ramayana states that Queen Kausalya symbolically slaughtered the horse and spent a night with the dead horse. This verse actually means that she brought her senses under control and meditated on the Supreme Brahman throughout the night. The Valmiki Ramayana also states that in the morning “the horse flew away”. If the horse referred to here is an actual dead horse, how can it sprint away? The horse flying away could refer to the Queen who is the self; the self is released from the power of the senses and finds the Supreme-Self. Only substitutions in the form of plant matter is used in the enactment of this ritual. King Dasaratha performed this sacrifice properly as per the Vedas and was blessed to obtain Lord Vishnu as his son.

The Valmiki Ramayana is said to be a condensed version of the Vedas. It teaches Vedanta philosophy and emphasizes on the way to reach God. The Valmiki Ramayana also uses many symbols just like the Vedas to help people understand the Vedantic philosophy. As the subject matter dealt with is difficult to comprehend by regular people, the rishis used allegories to explain the difficult concepts.

Hence the Vedic texts did not mean actual sacrifice of horses but when the verses were read by people who did not grasp the actual meaning, the texts were translated to mean slaughter and sacrifice the horses.

Lord Rama kills two demons during His trip with sage Vishwamitra. He kills Taraka & Subahu. With His third arrow He chases Maricha. Taraka represents Avidhya or ignorance. Subahu & Maricha are the sons of Taraka. They represent the karmas we have committed because of the presence of Avidhya. He kills Subahu to show us that when we perform prapatti (surrender) to Him, He will kill all our Sanchita Karmas. He chased Maricha away from Vishwamitra’s yagna sala with an arrow. Similarly, He will chase our Prarabhdha Karmas and prevent the accumulation of new Karmas by chasing them away from us. Karmas can be divided into two classes; Sanchita Karma & Prarabhdha Karma. Sanchita Karma is like a bank account. It contains all the papams (sin) and punyams (good deeds) we have accumulated in our previous births.

Prarabhdha Karma is like the money we withdraw from a bank account. At each birth, Paramatma assigns us a portion of karmas from the Sanchita Karma account so that we can spend it. We enjoy both the good and bad fruits yielded by the prarabhdha karma. We extinguish a portion of our total accumulated karmas in the form of Prarabhdha karmas at every birth. According to this eventually the sanchita and prarabhdha karma accounts should come to zero and we should be liberated from Samsara. But this is not the case. As we are undergoing the effects of Prarabhdha karma, our actions also cause us to accumulate new karmas. Paramatma saves us from this never ending cycle when we surrender to Him. He burns our accumulated karma and He drives away any new karmas. This is indicated when He kills Subahu but drives away Maricha. The importance of an Acharya is also shown here as it is sage Vishwamitra who requests Lord Rama to destroy Taraka, Subahu & Maricha. The blessings of a good Acharya is required to perform prapatti to Sriman Narayana so that the Lord can destroy our ignorance as well as karmas.

Maricha the demon at Ravana’s bidding, took the form of a golden deer to lure Rama away from Sita so that Ravana can kidnap Her. Maricha represents illusion of the senses. Maricha comes in the form of a deer because, the mirage is called as Mrigatrishna in Sanskrit. The illusions generated by our senses try to distance us from Paramatma.

The forest of Dandakaranya is similar to our mind. The forest is home to both the Rishis & Rakshashas. Similarly our mind is home to both good & bad thoughts. The bad inclinations arising in our mind try to overpower the good thoughts. There is constant battle between good and evil within us. We do not have the power to defeat the evil but when we surrender to Paramatma he destroys our bad thoughts.

Rama killed Vali. The name Vali means ‘one with tail’ whereas the name Sugriva means ‘one with a good face’. Rama killing Vali denotes the Soma sacrifice. The Soma creeper is often called as the moon’s tail. Vali is the Soma creeper and Sugriva is Agni. Rama offer soma creeper in the fire. This represents self-sacrifice. We must sacrifice ourselves and offer ourselves as oblation to the Supreme Brahman. In Ramayana, Vali is killed and Angada the son of Vali is made the crown prince. Angada can be seen as the self as well. The name Angada means ‘one who gives up his body’. Thus Angada is the liberated self who is in harmony with Paramatma because he offered himself as the oblation to Paramatma. Vali is the father and Angada is his son; it can be said that the son is an incarnation of the father i.e both are the same self. Through the soma sacrifice, the self is not destroyed but exists in harmony with the Supreme Brahmam.

Sita Devi represents a soul (jeeva atma); we are souls (Sita Devi is goddess Lakshmi; she is equal to lord Vishnu & she is not a jeeva atma. This is just a representation). She is imprisoned in Sri Lanka just like we are imprisoned in our body. Sri Lanka is ruled by Ravana and he has 10 heads; our body is ruled by our mind controlled by the 10 sense organs ( taste, smell, touch, hearing & sight plus there are sense organs part of the reproductory & excretory systems) The sense organs make us crave things which we should avoid. Ravana tries to entice Sita Devi by displaying his wealth & prowess but she ignores him; similarly we should ignore the stimuli from our sense organs and concentrate on God. Lord Rama is the only one who could come & rescue her; we can be rescued from our body & from samsara only by Lord Vishnu. Hanuman acted as the messenger & conveyed Sita Devi’s plight to Lord Rama; he was instrumental in bringing Lord Rama to save Sita Devi. This shows that we need a good guru to convey our plight to Lord Vishnu and to convince the Lord to come and save us.

From another angle, Ravana can be viewed as the soul and his ten heads as the ten sense organs. Sita Devi is Brahma Vidhya because She is the wife of Rama the Supreme Brahman. Ravana coveting Sita can be seen as him coveting the Supreme Brahman as Brahma Vidhya & Brahman always exist together. After receiving spiritual alms from Sita (Brahma Vidhya) he carries her away. He aims at the Supreme Brahman through Brahma Vidhya. He ignores the council of all others to give up Brahma Vidhya and installs Her in his heart. Hence Ravana is seen as a mumukshu, a soul seeking liberation. Killing Ravana’s son Indrajit represents the destruction of cunning and deceit arising in our mind. Killing Kumbhakarna represents ending lethargy and sluggishness. The destruction of Ravana’s army represent the destruction of all the jeeva atmas accumulated Karma by Paramatma. In the end Ravana is freed from his body. Through Vaidehi (another name of Sita), he becomes Videha. Videha means without body and shows that he is liberated from his embodied state.

Hence we must realize the Supreme Self as the soul of our selves. We should rely on the powers of Paramatma to defeat our internal enemies and to free us from samsara. This is the Vedantic meaning of Ramayana.

Reference:

Essays on Indo-Aryan Mythology by Narayan Aiyangar

Esoteric meaning of Ramayana Utthara Kanda

Many people question Sri Rama’s conduct when He left Sita Devi in the ashram of Valmiki Maharishi. It would appear that Sri Rama abandoned His chaste wife who was pregnant with twins.

Ramayana is actual historical record. The epic was written by sage Valmiki when Sri Rama was still the emperor of Ayodhya. Lord Brahma visited sage Valmiki and instructed him to write the epic. Sri Rama left Sita Devi at sage Valmiki’s ashram only after sage Valmiki had received the instruction from Lord Brahma.  This is a crucial clue which will help us unlock the esoteric meaning of Sri Rama’s actions.

Sri Rama is Lord Vishnu. He is the Supreme Self. He is Brahmam. (Brahmam is different from Brahma; Brahmam is Paramatma Sriman Narayanan the Supreme Self whereas Brahma is a post and the duties of this post is carried out by a jeeva atma. There are millions of Brahmas each responsible for one of the millions of Universes in existence. After the Universes are absorbed by Paramatma and He again creates anew, He assigns the post of Brahma to some other jeeva atma.) The wife of Brahmam is Brahma-Vidhya. She is the Supreme Knowledge and She leads us to Brahmam. She is never separated from Brahmam but He shares her with us. Without her help we can never reach Him. Sri Rama is Brahmam and Sita Devi is Brahma-Vidhya.  He sends Sita Devi to sage Valmiki’s ashram because He bestows Brahma-Vidhya or Supreme Knowledge on sage Valmiki. Ramayana is about the Supreme Self. The epic imparts the knowledge required to reach the lotus feet of Sri Rama. Sage Valmiki could have only written this epic if he had been blessed with the Supreme Knowledge. Hence, Sri Rama sends Sita Devi to the sage’s ashram so that the divine grace of Brahma-Vidhya may bless the sage with the ability to write the great epic.

The twin sons of Rama borne by Sita Devi are Rama’s fame. Only Brahma-Vidhya can bring forth the fame of Brahmam! The reason for two sons instead of one might be to amplify Sri Rama’s fame. The sons are named as Kusa and Lava by sage Valmiki. In Sanskrit Kusilava refers to musicians who sing odes. By breaking the word Kusilava into two syllables we get Kusa and Lava. Kusa and Lava are Kusilavas; they are musicians and they sing Ramayana.

Sri Rama is also known as “Punyasloka”. The name Punyasloka is one of the many names of Lord Vishnu.  Sri Rama reveals Himself to be “Punyasloka” by making His fame take birth in the mind of a great sage in the form of an epic. This is the reason the twins are brought up in the hermitage of sage Valmiki.

Sita Devi’s role came to an end after she had brought forth Her husband’s fame. Her disappearance into the earth indicates that She has become one with Sri Rama. She is never separated from Him and from that instant she disappeared into the Earth, Sri Rama and Sita Devi existed as one, as Srinivasa.

The fact that Goddess Sri Devi who is Brahma-Vidhya is never separated from Lord Vishnu is also explained as the Star Rohini vanishing into the golden rays of the Sun. The star Rohini is Brahma-Vidhya, the golden rays of the Sun is earth and the Sun himself is Lord Vishnu. This is similar to Sita Devi entering into earth to be one with Sri Rama.

agalak-illEn iRaiyum enRu* alarmEl mangai uRai-maarpaa,*
nigaril pugazhaay! ulagam-oonRu udaiyaay!* ennai aaLvaanE,*
nigaril amarar muni-kaNangaL  virumpum* thiruvENGkadaththaanE,*
pugal onR-illaa adiyEn* un-adi-keezh amarndhu pugundhEnE.

The above Divya Prabandham Pasuraam by Sri Nammazhwar praises Lord Vishnu as one who is never separated from Goddess Sri Devi. She is forever present in His chest cavity. He is Srinivasa, the place where goddess Sri Devi always exists. Thus Sita Devi did not disappear into the Earth but She went home to Her rightful place of existing in His Vakshashthalam, chest cavity after She had completed the task of bringing forth Sri Rama’s fame so that every one of us can easily reach His lotus feet. Thus Sri Rama ruled for 10,000 more years as Srinivasa.

The legend of Draupadi

Draupadi is the daughter of King Durupada of the Panchala kingdom; hence she was named as Draupadi and Panchali. According to the Mahabharata, she took birth from the sacred fire. She took birth as a maiden and never went through the stages of childhood. She is also called as Yagnaseni as she took birth from the sacred fire.

She is the common wife of the five Pandavas. For this she has been ridiculed by many throughout the ages. The five Pandavas were the five previous Indras of Heaven. Draupadi was the embodiment of the wives of the five Indras; to make it easier to understand think of five souls living in one body. Even our body is host to many souls; other than us millions of microbes live in our body. Since Arjuna also had the energy of Lord Vishnu, Draupadi had the energy of goddess Sri Devi. This is the superficial explanation about the relationship between Draupadi & the five Pandava brothers. Please see below for the esoteric meaning.

In her former birth Draupadi was Nalayani, the daughter of king Nala. She married a very old man named Sthavira. Her husband was a leper but yet she loved him with devotion. She always ate from the plate of her husband. One day her husband’s thumb fell into the plate and yet she partook the food without feeling any disgust. Her husband pleased with her and he turned into five handsome youths and loved her.

Both the legends of Draupadi and Nalayani can be explained the moment we realise that they represent Budhi i.e. intelligence. The five youths and the Pandavas represent the five prana vayus as well as the five senses. The five males are also the five Purushas of the senses who make up the one Purusha. The thumb of Nalayani’s husband indicates the Supreme Self located in our hearts called as Angushtamatra. The Supreme Self is compared to an old leper because samsaric people do not turn to Him. They cast Him away so that they can go after materialistic pursuits. As soon as the Supreme Self residing in our hearts is realised, God reveals Himself to us and cuts our Samsaric ties. This is shown when Nalayani’s old husband turns into five youths. The liberated soul experiences Supreme bliss. The company of the soul is enjoyed by God as He is the enjoyer.

The five pranas are Prana, Apana, Vyana, Udana and Samana. The five Pandavas are the five Pranas and vital spirits of the soul. Yudhishthira is the vital spirit of the sense of hearing, Bhima is the vital spirit of touch, Arjuna is the vital spirit of sight, and the twins are the vital spirits of taste and smell. The Pandavas are the soul consisting of the five Pranas. The soul is married to Intellect. Draupadi is intellect and the five Pandavas together are the soul. The eldest of the Pandava brother is Karna who sides with the Kauravas. Karna represents mind and the Kauravas the modes of passion. In order to free oneself from the modes of passion mind has to be controlled. This is indicated when Karna is defeated in battle. It is only after defeating Karna are the Kauravas defeated.

For a soul to realise the Supreme Self within, the five sense organs must function well along with the presence of intelligence. A person must be able to hear well, see well, speak well etc. as well as have the capacity to think in order to realise the Supreme Self.

Finally when the soul is released from its body, the five Pranas and Budhi leave first. This is narrated through the following story. The five Pandavas along with Draupadi leave for Heaven. They climb a mountain to reach the gates of Heaven. They are followed by a dog. En-route, Draupadi falls down and dies first followed by the twins, Arjuna and Bhīma. In the end only Yudhishthira along with the dog arrives at the gates of Heaven. At the time of death, intellect leaves us first followed by the sense organs and the five Prana Vayus. The soul freed from its body is accompanied only by its Karmas which are represented by the dog.

The Mahabharata is not a myth but is history. It is not too difficult for Paramatma to set-up a stage and engage actors to illustrate the hidden Vedantic meanings. Draupadi was a princess and she was the embodiment of five souls of the wives of Indra. She also represents intellect and the five Pandava brothers together form the soul with the five senses wedded to intellect.

Esoteric meaning of Raasa Lila

The gopis are considered to be Sati. The word Sati is used to represent a chaste married woman but Sayana in his commentary of the Taitriya Aranyaka explains that the word “sati” refers to “realized souls”. Krishna plays the flute to call the gopis. The flute is given the status of a teacher, Acharya. The music is knowledge which is Brahma-Vidhya. The music flowing from the flute awakens the thirst for spiritual knowledge in the gopis. This also shows us that we can only learn Brahma-Vidhya through an Acharya. Krishna prefers to use an Acharya as an intermediary to teach us Brahma-Vidhya. Once Brahma-Vidhya is awakened, the gopis abandon their husbands to reach Krishna. The husbands represent our selfish materialistic desires. True knowledge kills these selfish desires. The gopis want only that which is true and approach Krishna. The Raasa dance takes place in a circle. The gopis represent the jeeva atma. There is one Krishna in the middle surrounded by the gopis. Not only is there a Krishna in the middle but He also appears as a partner for each and every gopi. There are as many Krishnas as there are gopis. The Krishna in the middle represents Paramatma in His absolute form. The Krishna dancing with each and every gopi represents His Antaryami form. As antaryami He exists as our soul. He is always with us. He exists in each and every one of us. Thus the entire Raasa dance represents the Vishwaroopa Swaroopa of God; He exists as antaryami (soul of every soul) as well as the Absolute God head.

The Raasa dance is performed with the gopis who are women. This represents that all jeeva atmas are feminine. The only male in this entire Universe is Paramatma Sri Krishna. He is known as the Para Purusha or the great Purusha. The Raasa dance shows us one of the nine relationships we share with Paramatma which is that of a husband & a wife. He is our husband. This relationship is a spiritual relationship and differs from the type of spousal relationships we are familiar to.

The gopis encircling Krishna on either side represent students and Krishna is the object of knowledge sought by them. If we look at the two Krishnas encircling a gopi then we see the student in the middle. Knowledge gains importance only when there are students to learn. The two Krishnas encircling a gopi show us the importance of the student or the jeeva atma. The two gopis encircling a Krishna show us the supremacy of the knowledge or Paramatma.

The Raasa dance has deep esoteric meaning and has nothing to do with sensual indulgent. When the esoteric meaning of the dance is illuminated, it helps us to shed our desires for materialistic sensual pleasures. It awakens the thirst to learn Brahma-Vidhya in us; with the help of this knowledge we can reach the feet of Paramatma. The dance takes place at night to show us that the union with Paramatma is beyond time and space. At nighttime the normal boundaries of time and space are not illuminated. Night here represents the transcendental nature of the union of a jeeva atma with Paramatma.

Ref:

Indo Aryan Mythology by Narayan Aiyangar

Violence & Discrimination in Bhagawad Geetha?

There are many baseless comments about the Bhagawad Geetha. The following post deals with 2 most common questions about the Geetha.

Imagine the following scenario. Our hero is a soldier. His country men are tormented by a dictator. This dictator is one of the worst men in history not unlike Hitler, Mussolini, Sadam Hussein, Idi Amin and so on. Our hero heads the liberation front. All preparation for the war has been completed. The two forces are ready to strike on each other. The day of the battle arrives. The people eagerly await the liberation front to win. For years they have suffered in the hands of the dictator. They wait for their freedom but our hero has a change of heart. He looks at the leaders of the opposing forces. He recognizes his brother who has always been the aide to the dictator. He recognizes other familiar faces. More friends and cousins are ready to lead the opposing forces. Our hero is confused; how can he go against his friends and family? On one hand his countrymen depend on him to free them from a tyrant but, on the other hand the tyrant is helped by his friends and family members. He knows that without him the liberation front does not stand a chance against the dictator. He gets down from his tank and picks up a white flag; he has made a decision. Family always comes first and so he walks away from the battle field.

Given the above scenario, what would anyone say to the soldier? Is it okay for him to abandon his countrymen for the sake of his family? Shouldn’t greater good be given precedent? Any sane person would agree that the liberation of the masses from the hands of a tyrant should be given precedent. Let us now look at our scenario again. Our hero is ready to abandon his mission. He is ready to walk away when he is stopped by his mentor. Having understood our hero’s state of mind and for the sake of greater good the mentor urges him to proceed with his original plan. He cannot walk away now; not when the lives of millions depend on him. It is the duty of our hero as an able soldier to help overthrow the tyrannical regime. Yes his family members are part of the tyrannical regime but they must be stopped. Our hero listens to his mentors. He agrees to battle for his people’s rights. The liberation front is victorious in the war. Our hero is chosen to lead the people and a special medal is awarded to the mentor. Everyone is happy and rejoice the end of oppression and tyranny.

The above scenario is similar to the Mahabharata. On one side the Kaurava forces were corrupt kings who wreaked havoc on the people. On the other side we have the liberators, the Pandavas. The Pandava forces depended on the ability of Arjuna. On the first day of battle, Arjuna had a change of heart when he spotted his family members amongst the Kaurava forces. He decided to abandon the battle. It is precisely at this moment that Lord Krishna stepped in to advice Karma Yoga to Arjuna. It is the duty of Arjuna as a warrior to protect his people. He cannot shirk from this duty. Lord Krishna further preached the true identity of a person. Our true identity is the soul. We are the soul and we are never destroyed. He informed Arjuna that death doesn’t cause destruction of the soul. It is equal to changing ones clothes; the dead at re-birth gets a new body. Protecting people against tyrannical regime and invasions are the duty of a warrior.

Were the Kauravas immoral kings? The Mahabharata lists some of the many offences committed by them. They tried to assassinate Bhimasena by feeding him poison; they tried to assassinate all the Pandavas by trapping them inside a mansion made of wax and setting fire to the mansion. They stole the property of the Pandavas. They disrespected Draupadi the wife of the Pandavas by trying to disrobe her in front of everyone in the royal assembly. They wanted to seize power so as to be able to misuse power and wealth of the nation to promote their own personal welfare. They were not intent on the welfare of the citizens but wanted to only enjoy the privileges available to a ruler. The citizens did not want the Kauravas to gain power. They wanted the Pandavas to govern them.

Hence, there is nothing wrong in Lord Krishna’s preaching. His preachings do not instigate war. Would it be okay for modern day governments to listen to pacifists and state that they will not protect their people from the terrorists? Would it be acceptable if the Governments say that the terrorists can come and set fire to their cities, pillage and plunder their cities, destroy peace and prosperity but the Government will simply look the other way as fighting back against the terrorists would mean waging war?

Lord Krishna only preached the duty of a warrior to Arjuna. He did not get hold of a doctor and tell him to wage war. Everyone must fulfill the duties assigned to them. This leads to the next doubt that Lord Krishna supported the caste system.

The answer to the above question is, yes, Lord Krishna did support the caste system but He did not support discrimination. The Vedic caste system is a division based on profession. Warriors are Kshatriyas. Doctors, engineers, priests, lawyers, economists etc are the Brahmins. Farmers and merchants are Vysyas. The tradespeople are Sudras. Each profession is required for the proper functioning of a society. Imagine living in a nation where there are no medical professionals or police or plumbers. Each person has to uphold the duties of his/her profession. This does not mean that a doctor is superior to a plumber or that a police officer is superior to a farmer. Superiority arising from ones status in society and profession stems from false ego which is not accepted by Lord Krishna. During the time period when Lord Krishna preached the Bhagawad Geetha, all castes were treated equally. Vidhura was a Sudra by birth but he was allowed to change his profession and work as a minister in the Government which was the profession of a Brahmin.

Lord Krishna did not support discrimination but He advised everyone to be true to their chosen profession. This is similar to the Hippocratic Oath taken by doctors and the oath taken by Engineers that the health and safety of the public shall be paramount. The Vedic Caste system cannot be eliminated; for, eliminating Vedic caste system means eliminating the different professions. As a society we need police, soldiers, doctors, engineers, teachers, farmers, and tradespeople. Even if we do not call these professions by the name of the caste they are classified under, a police is a Kshatriya, a doctor a Brahmin, a farmer a Vysya and a plumber will be a Sudra. Each of the above has a duty to fulfill for the proper functioning of the society. They can change professions if they have the right aptitude. Vidhura had the aptitude to be an able administrator and hence could opt for the profession of a Brahmin.

Anyone who mocks or blames the teachings of Bhagawad Geetha hasn’t really understood the concepts mentioned in the Geetha. They must first try to read the Bhagawad Geetha with an open mind.

Please refer to the following links to know more about the Vedic Caste System.

http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2012/01/caste-system.html

http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2012/01/caste-system-continued.html

http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2012/01/caste-system-continued_12.html

http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2012/01/caste-system-continued_13.html

http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2012/01/caste-system-continued_14.html

http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2012/01/caste-system-continued_7359.html

http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2012/01/conclusion-caste-system.html