SB 9.15.10

TEXT 10

TEXT

तद्विदित्वा मुनिः प्राह पत्नीं कष्टमकारषीः ।
घोरो दण्डधरः पुत्रो भ्राता ते ब्रह्मवित्तमः ॥ १० ॥

tad viditva munih praha

patnim kastam akarasih

ghoro danda-dharah putro

bhrata te brahma-vittamah

tat-this fact; viditva-having learned; munih-the great sage; praha-said; patnim-unto his wife; kastam-very regrettable; akarasih-you have done; ghorah-fierce; danda-dharah-a great personality who can punish others; putrah-such a son; bhrata-brother; te-your; brahma-vittamah-a 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 (18.42-43). 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). 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 person's birth but his qualities and actions.