Namaste Sudas Paijavana and Devi Dasi
Originally Posted by
Sudas Paijavana
The two scriptural quotes you have provided do not address caste/origin in terms of them exclaiming that questioning a Vaishnava in terms of caste, race, origin, etc. is aparAdha/violation.
Actually it is a kind of violation. In the Padma Purāṇa it is said:
arcye viṣṇau śilā-dhīr guruṣu nara-matir vaiṣṇave jāti-buddhir
viṣṇor vā vaiṣṇavānāṁ kali-mala-mathane pāda-tīrthe 'mbu-buddhiḥ
śrī-viṣṇor nāmni mantre sakala-kaluṣa-he śabda-sāmānya-buddhir
viṣṇau sarveśvareśe tad-itara-sama-dhīr yasya vā nārakī saḥ
One who thinks that the worshipable Deity in the temple is made of wood or stone, one who sees a Vaiṣṇava guru as an ordinary human being, or one who materially conceives of a Vaiṣṇava as belonging to a particular caste is nārakī, a resident of hell.
The position of a Vaishnava is above all varnas. Obviously one who thinks that such a devotee of the Lord is a mleccha or a shudra has a hellish mentality (nārakī).
I've already mentioned that in "Misunderstandings - VAD Threads". There I also mentioned Lord Mahesvara's words from Mahabharata:
"In my opinion, if pious activities and good character are found in a sudra, it should be understood that he is better than a brahmana.
Birth, purificatory processes, study of the Vedas, and good birth are not the criterion for being a brahmana. The only criterion is one's behavior."
Here we have "he is better than a brahmana". Is there any varna higher than brahmana? No, there is no varna higher than brahmana, but there is someone even higher than a brahmana according to this words of Lord Mahesvara! This means that someone who is pious and of good character can be higher than all varnas! Guess who this person might be?
--------------------------------
Namaste Devi Dasi
Welcome to HDF.
regards
Bookmarks