TEXT 10
tad viditva munih praha
patnim kastam akarasih
ghoro danda-dharah putro
bhrata te brahma-vittamah
SYNONYMS
tatthis fact; viditvahaving learned; munihthe great sage; prahasaid; patnimunto his wife; kastamvery regrettable; akarasihyou have done; ghorahfierce; danda-dharaha great personality who can punish others; putrahsuch a son; bhratabrother; teyour; brahma-vittamaha learned scholar in spiritual science.
TRANSLATION
When the great sage Rcika returned home after bathing and understood what had happened in his absence, he said to his wife, Satyavati, You have done a great wrong. Your son will be a fierce ksatriya, able to punish everyone, and your brother will be a learned scholar in spiritual science.
PURPORT
A brahmana is highly qualified when he can control his senses and mind, when he is a learned scholar in spiritual science and when he is tolerant and forgiving. A ksatriya, however, is highly qualified when he is fierce in giving punishment to wrongdoers. These qualities are stated in Bhagavad-gita (18.4243). Because Satyavati, instead of eating her own oblation, had eaten that which was meant for her mother, she would give birth to a son imbued with the ksatriya spirit. This was undesirable. The son of a brahmana is generally expected to become a brahmana, but if such a son becomes fierce like a ksatriya, he is designated according to the description of the four varnas in Bhagavad-gita (catur-varnyam maya srstam guna-karma-vibhagasah [Bg. 4.13]). If the son of a brahmana does not become like a brahmana, he may be called a ksatriya, vaisya or sudra, according to his qualifications. The basic principle for dividing society is not a persons birth but his qualities and actions.

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