Shloka 15
इत्येते चतुरो वर्णा येषां ब्राह्मी सरस्वती | विहिता ब्रह्मुणा पूर्व लोभात् _त्वज्ञानतां गता:,इस प्रकार ये चार वर्ण हुए, जिनके लिये ब्रह्माजीने पहले ब्राह्मी सरस्वती (वेदवाणी) प्रकट की। परंतु लोभविशेषके कारण शूद्र अज्ञानभावको प्राप्त हुए--वेदाध्ययनके अनधिकारी हो गये
ity ete caturo varṇā yeṣāṃ brāhmī sarasvatī | vihitā brahmuṇā pūrvaṃ lobhāt tv ajñānatāṃ gatāḥ ||
Bharadvāja said: “Thus there came to be these four social orders, for whom Brahmā had formerly ordained the sacred, Brahmā-born Sarasvatī—Vedic speech. Yet, through the force of greed, they fell into a state of ignorance, becoming unfit for the study of the Veda.”
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links access to sacred knowledge with ethical disposition: greed (lobha) is portrayed as a cause of falling into ignorance (ajñāna), implying that moral failings obstruct spiritual and intellectual eligibility for Vedic learning.
Bharadvāja is explaining a doctrinal account of the four varṇas and the prior establishment of ‘brāhmī sarasvatī’—Vedic speech—by Brahmā, then noting a decline into ignorance due to greed, framed as a loss of qualification for Vedic study.