(The Vajra Suchika Upanishad (Hindu Scripture) clearly demonstrates that the determining factor of caste is character and conduct not birth. Thus the present day caste system is a corrupted form.)
Who is a true Brahmin? Is it the individual soul, the body, based on birth, knowledge, work, or performing the rites?
It is not the individual soul (jiva), because the same soul passes through many bodies.
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| Ardhanarishvara Sculpture At Khajuraho Temple - Madhya Pradesh |
It is not the body, because all bodies are composed of the same elements even though Brahmins tend to be white, Kshatriyas red, Vaishyas tawny, and Sudras dark in complexion.
It is not birth, because many sages are of diverse origin.
It is not knowledge, because many Kshatriyas have attained wisdom and seen the highest reality.
It is not work, because good men perform works based on their past karma.
It is not performing the rites, because many Kshatriyas and others have given away gold as an act of religious duty.
The true Brahmin directly perceives the soul, which functions as the indwelling spirit of all beings, blissful, indivisible, immeasurable, and realizable only through one's experience. Manifesting oneself directly through the fulfillment of nature becomes rid of the faults of desire, attachment, spite, greed, expectation, bewilderment, ostentation, and so on and is endowed with tranquility. Only one possessed of these qualities is a Brahmin.
The true Brahmin directly perceives the soul, which functions as the indwelling spirit of all beings, blissful, indivisible, immeasurable, and realizable only through one's experience. Manifesting oneself directly through the fulfillment of nature becomes rid of the faults of desire, attachment, spite, greed, expectation, bewilderment, ostentation, and so on and is endowed with tranquility. Only one possessed of these qualities is a Brahmin.