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Why is Arjuna a Ksatriya?



ai601@lafn.org (Gabriel Rossman) wrote:


>>
>>  In the Vedic culture there are four clasifications of men, the
>>  brahmanas, the ksatriyas, the visyas and the sudras. These are the
>>  intelectual priestly class, the military/administrative class, the
>>  productive/farming class and the worker class respectively. The
>>  Ksatriyas have to have some land because their business is to rule and
>>  govern the people and to protect them from internal problems (thieves,
>>  rogues, etc) and from attacks by outsiders. So Arjuna was a Ksatriya
>>  and his business was to protect the citizens, but he had decided to
>>  flee from the battlefield. This is certainly not a good thing for a
>>  military man to do, even today we would expect the army to fight for
>>  us, to protect us if another country attacks us. So Krishna was
>>  astonished, "Where have these impurities come from?"
>>

>this is a question not a flame
>why is it that arjuna had to be a ksatriya? he obviously would have been
>happier as something else.


  Firstly I have to explain that although you posted this on the 15th it
  just arrived here (in Australia) now [the 24th!] I suppose we should be
  grateful that it arrived here at all...

  I am just now putting a WWW site together and there is a document there
  called "Changing the Face of the Earth". I think you might like to read
  it as it talks about these things [and others too]. It is at:
  
     /sudarsana
     
  It's very much "under construction" at the moment but have a look.. See
  what you think. I'd be interested in your comments and suggestions.

  Arjuna was a Ksatriya by his qualities and he wouldn't have been
  happier as something else. His bewilderment on the battlefield was not
  his normal behavior. It was a special case because this time he saw all
  his family members and friends assembled there ready to fight. He was
  bewildered for a little while. This was ultimately Krishna's arrangement
  of course because if Arjuna had just gone out there fighting there
  would be no chance for Krishna to speek the Bhagavad-gita!

  Everyone has qualities and likes doing something so everyone naturally
  "belongs" to one of the four groups. But that is not permanent, it can
  be changed.

  Krishna says in Bhagavad-gita (4.13):

        catur-varnyam maya srstam guna-karma-vibhagasah

  "According to the three modes of material nature and the work ascribed
  to them, the four divisions of human society were created by Me."

  So these four types of men exist everywhere: brahmanas -- the
  intellectuals, ksatriyas -- the military and administrative
  [government] class, visyas -- the farmers and businessmen, and the
  sudras who are the workers.

  We can see it. If you look around at the people you know someone has a
  very good brain and likes pondering philosophy, someone likes to
  organize things, someone likes to do business, to make money, and
  someone else is just happy to get a job and work for someone else...

  Our society is pushing the idea that everyone is equal, and that is
  true, on the spiritual platform. But if we want society to work
  properly then we need to find the right people for the right jobs.

>why can't each man choose his own actions
>instead of being thrust into a role?

  The difficulty is everyone says, "I'm a brahmana...", but usually they
  don't have the qualities of a brahmana. If someone who is not actually
  very intelligent takes the position of a brahmana, who is supposed to be
  able to give advice based on the scriptures to other members of the
  society, everything is spoiled.

  People are naturally in one of these four groups and a bonafide
  spiritual master is expert in seeing how his disciples should serve
  Krishna. He can tell so the disciple accepts his decision. But of
  course one has to find a real spiritual master...

  In reality this age is Kali-yuga and everything is upside-down and back
  to front... It's very difficult to apply this varnasrama system at
  present... So in Krishna consciousness we don't really consider these
  divisions. We chant Hare Krishna and engage in Krishna's service and
  this is above all the varnasrama divisions...

>why would the world be so terrible
>if the other people ruled it?

  You can see it now. The world is being ruled by the businessmen, the
  visyas, they are concerned about the economy and money. This is more
  important to them than the people... So the world is becoming a place
  where the people in general are being exploited and are not happy...

  If the rulers were qualified ksatriyas who took advice from qualified
  brahmans it would be a completely different picture. Then it would be
  run for the peoples benefit, rather than the businessmens benefit.

  Have a read of "Changing the Face of the Earth" at
  /sudarsana and see what you think.

  Thank you very much for the question.

  Hare Krishna.



Thank you. Hare Krishna!

Madhudvisa dasa       
(madhudvisa@krishna.org)     /sudarsana 
                                
All glories to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada!



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