musings 137

To a query why a person who is vegetarian and who is living a very ethical life by social standards should wear sacred thread and other religious symbols to remain as a Brahmin…

My thoughts on the subject.

Vegetarianism, Ahimsa etc are more tenets of Budhism and Jainism rather than HInduism, ( and such ideas have entered Hinduism through the back door) and in Vedic Brahminism, we have reason to believe that animals were sacrificed in offering to fire, and even the remaining parts were eaten as ceremonial prasadams..

Being initiated into upanayanam is an essential samskara for a brahmin..

in fact brahmana is a dwija..

born twice,

once when he is delivered by brahmin woman impregnated by a brahmin,

and second time when he goes through the samskara cullminating in Upanayanam..

Wearing of yajnopaveetam is a symbol that the person had had upanayanam..

It is not clearly stated that wearing of a cotton or silk or leather thread is inevitable to gain brahminhood.. but the history of yajnopaveetham is like this..

The primordial father of all of us, prajaapathi, was born wearing a set of sacred thread..

Yajnopaveetham Paramam Pavithram PrajaapatheH yat sahajam purastaad..

यज्ञोपवीतं परमं पवित्रं प्रजापतेः यः सहजं पुरस्ताद

Yajnopaveetham is supremely sacred and it was born with Prajapathi himself..

The purpose of the thread is stated as

srauta smaartha vihita sadaachara nityakarma anushtaana yogyataa siddhyartham brahmatejo abhivriddhyartham ...

श्रौत स्मार्त विहित सदाचार नित्यकर्म अनुष्ठान योग्यता सिध्यर्थं ब्रह्मतेजो अभिवृद्ध्यर्थं

meaning.. wearing of the thread is to gain eligibility to perform daily rituals which are prescribed by veda, upanishads and sastras (shruti and smriti), eligibility to perform the oblation to sandhya and other obligatory rituals, and for enhancement of tthe effulgence which can happen tto us only by worshipping Brahma.. the supreme soul..

So, if you are interested in remaining a brahmin according to vedas and sastras you have to wear the thread.

Practicing good conduct, non violence, integrity etc are social qualities unrelated to religion.. And you cannot claim exception from rituals just because you are practicing those virtues..

Today I find a set of youth who are trained in modern thoughts tend to presume that good conduct alone is enough..

It is okey if you do not want to attach yourself to any religiion..

But if you are within a religion, you have to follow the rules of the religion too..

If you say that you will remain as a brahmin and will not observe the rituals, it is not permitted by scriptures..

Such persons can be called only brahmana bandhus..

Personally, I am not a stickler to rituals or formalism, and I have read as much secular and even atheistic literature as much as religious texts..

But I would not mix the two.