You probably are born to a Brahmin!

Let us continue our story of Satyakama that we started in the previous post.

Satyakama finally went to a school run by a well known teacher by name Gautama.

In those days, schools were run by a group of teachers led by a prominent sage. It was almost home plus school for the students. All teachers with their family lived together in a large house, along with the students.

The students become part of the teachers’ family till they complete their studies, which is normally 12+ years. They not only study various subjects but also take part in all daily chores in the school/house helping the teachers. The teacher is not only a teacher of various subjects but he is also a mentor to the students.

The first question Satyakama was asked when he reached the school for admission was

“Who is your father?”

That was essential for the teacher to know, so that he can decide which subjects Satyakama was to be taught. As I said earlier, the subjects depended on the Varna of the student, which in turn depended on his parentage.

What would Satyakama say in reply?

Anybody else in his place would have cooked up some story and given a false name. But not Satyakama. After all, he was Satyakama – seeker of the truth. Besides, he was born to a bold mother like Jabala, who had no qualms about speaking the truth.

Satyakama boldly narrated the entire conversation that he had with his mother on this issue of parentage, verbatim. He did not hesitate.

On hearing Satyakama, the teacher came to the conclusion that Satyakama must have been born to a Brahmin father.

The teacher said

“If you were not a Brahmin, you would not have spoken the truth so fearlessly”

How did the teacher come to that conclusion?

In ancient India, a Brahmin was considered to be an epitome of virtues. A Brahmin was supposed to observe strict discipline. He was not supposed to tell lies under any circumstance.

So much so that ancient law books, like Manu Smrthi for example, say that if a Brahmin wavers from this strict discipline, he ceases to be a Brahmin. Manu even says that a Brahmin witness in a court of law need not swear under oath, like other witnesses, since a Brahmin would never speak untruth. Whatever a Brahmin says is truth and nothing but truth. There is no need to swear.

So speaking the truth under all circumstances is a hallmark of a Brahmin. Satyakama spoke the truth, even though there was every chance that the teacher would have rejected him as an illegitimate. But that did not deter Satyakama.

And that is how the teacher came to the conclusion that Satyakama must have been born to a Brahmin. Mark the words of the teacher - “You are a Brahmin because a non Brahmin would not have so fearlessly spoken the truth”.

This is different from the conclusion many people reach - “whoever speaks the truth is a Brahmin”. No. The teacher did not say that.

Once the teacher concluded that Satyakama was born to a Brahmin father, he admitted him to the school after following due procedure.

But did he teach him anything at all? That is the interesting question. We will discuss that in the next post.

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A story of Satyakama Jabala from Chandogya Upanishad, which is part of Sama Veda. Upanishads are concluding parts of ancient Indian Vedic scriptures believed to be at least 5000 years old. The interpretation is by Dr.King (Copyright © 2019 Dr. King).