Vishnu Sahasra Naamam-Vol III-RR-edit.pub - Ibiblio

sadagopan.org
roots for aNati are aN - Sabde to sound, or prANane - to live). SrI BhaTTar
refers to bhagavAn's taking birth in the atri gotra as dattAtreya, and other
such births as brAhamaNa in order to establish the teachings of the veda in
this world.
In the amarakoSa vyAkhyAnam, a brAhmaNa is described as one who engages
in the six-acts - yajana yAjana adhyayana adhyApana dAna pratigraha
lakshNAni :
1. the act of sacrificing,
2. the act of helping in conducting a sacrifice,
3. learning the veda-s,
4. teaching or instructing of the veda-s,
5. giving dAnam to others, and
6. receiving or accepting alms from others.
The dharma cakram writer summarizes the qualifications for a brAhamaNa:
He knows the true nature of Brahman, and devotes his entire life in the
service of Brahman; he has no attachment to his body or to material things in
this world; he has absolute trust in bhagavAn's kalyANa guNa-s; he dedicates
himself through thought, word, and deed to bhagavAn; every act of his is
dedicated to His service and to the service of His devotees; by nature he has
control of his mind and indriya-s; he is not interested in worldly enjoyment; he
devotes his life in the pursuit of eternal service to Him; he has naturally purity
in thought, word, and deed; he accepts whatever difficulties confront him
without question, and does not cause harm to others in return; he is
straightforward in thought, word, and deed; he will have full trust and faith in
veda-s, SAstra-s, and bhagavAn; he will learn the veda-s, and teach the veda-s
to others; he will get enormous delight in learning the veda-s and SAstra-s
from the learned, and in living a life based on these teachings; he will be
dominating in sattva guNa; his dharma will be to live for the veda-s, to learn
the veda-s and to impart the knowledge of the veda-s to others; he will
dedicate himself to live in such a way that by his example he will teach others
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