Shloka 15
Adhyāya 189: Japa—Inquiry into the Jāpaka, Method
Vidhi), and Fruit (Phala
इत्येते चतुरो वर्णा येषां ब्राह्मी सरस्वती | विहिता ब्रह्मुणा पूर्व लोभात् _त्वज्ञानतां गता:
ity ete caturo varṇā yeṣāṃ brāhmī sarasvatī | vihitā brahmuṇā pūrvaṃ lobhāt tv ajñānatāṃ gatāḥ ||
इस प्रकार ये चार वर्ण हुए, जिनके लिए ब्रह्मा ने पहले ब्राह्मी सरस्वती—वेदवाणी—नियत की थी; परंतु लोभ के कारण वे अज्ञान-भाव को प्राप्त हुए और वेदाध्ययन के अयोग्य हो गए।
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.