Re: What qualifies a written work as scripture?
Among other things, what the above verse indicates is that anyone, even the offspring of a vaishya-shUdra pairing, could be a rishi. But that does not make them a brahmin. Also, the father being a vaishya was nevertheless potent enough from his austerities to curse Dasharatha. So varna is linked to birth, but one's spiritual potency is related to one's actual tapasya/merits/etc which has been the traditional position all along.
Philosoraptor
"Wise men speak because they have something to say. Fools speak because they have to say something." - Plato
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