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 ||
Bharadvāja berkata: “Demikianlah terjadinya empat varṇa; bagi mereka, Brahmā pada mulanya telah menetapkan Sarasvatī yang lahir daripada Brahmā—ucapan Veda yang suci. Namun oleh kekuatan ketamakan, mereka jatuh ke dalam kejahilan, lalu menjadi tidak layak untuk mempelajari 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.