Long ago, in the Chandogya Upanisad, sage Gautama accepted Satyakama (a lad with lowly social status and son of a sudra prostitute) as his student for becoming a brahmin based on certain important qualities, which still remain valid today and can be used for selecting and training present-day non-brahmin priests and temple worshippers.
One day the boy Satyakama came to his mother and said, “Mother, I want to be a religious student. What is my family name?”
“My son,” replied his mother, “ I do not know. In my youth I was a servant and worked in many places. I do not know who was your father. I am Jabala, and you are Satyakama. Call yourself Satyakama Jabala.”
Thereupon the boy went to Gautama and asked to be accepted as a student. “Of what family are you, my lad?” inquired the sage.
Satyakama replied, “ I asked my mother what my family name was, and she answered: ‘I do not know. In my youth I was a servant and worked in many places. I do not know who was your father. I am Jabala, and you are Satyakama. Call yourself Satyakama Jabala!’ I am therefore Satyakama Jabala, Sir.”
Then said the sage, “None but a true brahmin would have spoken thus. Go and fetch fuel, I will teach you. You have not swerved from the truth.”
Note, Satyakama did not hide facts about his family, nor did he try to give any wrong or misleading information. This thing impressed Gautama a great deal. In addition, Gautama (a brahmin himself) was not judgmental towards Satyakama or his mother, and he showed a lot of compassion and consideration towards them by not discriminating against Satyakama.
Thus the important qualities for any person to become (be trained) and perform as a brahmin or priest are truth (honesty), compassion, dedication to the profession, and lack of prejudice (judgmental attitude). Moreover, as indicated in the Gita (Ch. 18 – V. 42), “the works of a brahmin involve peace; self-harmony, austerity and purity; loving-forgiveness and righteousness; vision and wisdom and faith.”
Reference: The Upanishads by S. Prabhavananda & F. Manchester, the Vedanta Society of Southern California, Vedanta Press, Hollywood (Ca), U.S.A., 1957, p. 65
Appendix
Example of a new Pandit
This is about the incident that took place in village Ansoli (basically an agricultural community) in Himachal Pradesh in the last century. Our neighbors were a poor blacksmiths family with four sons, the youngest of whom was named Jaisi Ram and he was the same age as my father.
When Jaisi was about nine years old, he ran way from home. His parents looked for him at several places, but could not find him anywhere and ultimately gave up any hope of finding him again.
About twenty years later (after Jaisi leaving his home) when I was growing up in Ansoli, I often would hear his nephews (Jaisi’s brothers' sons with whom I used to play) talking about their missing uncle and how their grandmother (Jaisi's mother) still cried for him.
But something strange happened one day. As I returned from school, I heard my mother telling that Jaisi had come back. Everyone in the village was happy and excited for the blacksmiths to see their son return home safely.
Next morning I saw Jaisi for the first time and I could not believe my eyes. He was anything but a blacksmith. He had long hair, a flowing beard and was fully clothed in white. In stead of speaking in Pahari (our local tongue) and unlike acting as a typical villager or a blacksmith, he conversed in a very cultured and sophisticated manner using elegant Hindi. His old mother was already in seventh heaven with joy.
Later I learned that after leaving the village, Jaisi made it to Kashi (a Hindu holy place in north India on the banks of the Ganges) and ended up in an Aashram (hermitage run by a guru). There he spent next decades learning Sanskrit, Hindi and various Hindu shastras (scriptures and philosophies) becoming a complete Pandit (fully qualified brahmin).
Incidentally, we all (young and the grown-ups) were addressing him as Pandit ji, and rightly so. If other people (strangers, not familiar with Jaisi’s birth in a poor blacksmith family of Ansoli) had met him in another area or place, they would also rightly and immediately consider him a genuine brahmin as having the right knowledge and demeanor. On the other hand, rather unfortunately, there would also be a few people who probably might assume, albeit wrongly due to ill-conceived notions of casteism, that Pandit Jaisi Ram came from a family of high class (caste) brahmins with superior ‘gotra’ (mythical tradition) where the men must have been high-priests for numerous generations. Such people unfortunately would have a hard time believing or relating to his blacksmith’s origins, but that type of confusion in them should not in any way be attributed to Hinduism or the caste system.
In any case, there would be nothing wrong if Pandit Jaisi Ram (originally a poor blacksmith’s son) were to assume the role of a priest or head-priest in a temple anywhere. He was fully qualified for the job. Moreover, there should be no reluctance on the part of anyone to touch his feet in obeisance inside or outside the temple. Same thing would apply to accepting blessings and prasadam (sanctified food) from him.
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By: Dr. Subhash C. Sharma
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