vedabhASya - Vedic Studies

Often these verses in Chandogya Upanishad are quoted to claim that chandogya upanishad says varNa is by birth. Let's see these slokas of Chapter 5.10, as I translate and interpret it. Executive Summary of Chandogya Upanishad Chapter 10 Due to Sun and Moon's effect on Earth, day, night, summer and winter solstices, years etc happen in cycles. Due to effect of moon, ancestral worlds of life is formed in Earth which also follow the cyclic pattern, releasing gases to sky, changing the atmospheric contents, forming clouds, bringing rain to distant lands and bringing out advanced life forms that devas eat (plants, trees, wood). Being that eat these plants and their products, evolve into 2 kinds, based on the work they do.  Those species said to do attractive work (produce something) called brahmana, ksatriya, vaizyas and those species said to be stinking work of scavenging like dogs, pigs, candalas.But then there's a third kind who are just born and die without any evolution call

Jati and varNa are not same. They are actually opposites.  Ja means birth. Jati is that comes from birth. All people of a jAti are related by birth. They have 1 common ancestor somewhere.  Its an inborn characteristics. VarNa means paint. Its an external application. People adopt a profession to contribute to society and thats an external paint they wear. Unlike jAti thats inborn, varNa is something that people choose. Bhagavad gita is not casteist by any yardstick of imagination.  It does not talk of jAti. It talks of varNa.  In this sloka 4.13 chātur-varṇyaṁ (four varnas) mayā sṛiṣhṭaṁ (my creation) guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśhaḥ (by guna karma divisions) tasya kartāram api  māṁ (though i am the doer of this)  viddhya (do understand) akartāram avyayam ( i am eternal non-doer). Krishna says he creates 4 professions for all his creations including living and non-living by their guna and karma divisions. Though he creates them he is not responsible for their guna or karma, as he is eternal nond

Can we get rid of our Karma..? How..? Karma is collective and not individualistic. Like a pebble in a pond, your karma ripples after everything in the pond of consciousness/energy affecting every living and non-living that comes its way.  Karma always arises in pairs like particles-anti-particles. The seed of the opposing force is in the force itself, like the laws of motion. Your effect (good or bad is your perception) produces its counter-effect. But that counter effect may not be the same magnitude of as the effect. Over a period, eventually, the counter effects acquire the same magnitude as that of several effects combined and that counter effect could be extremely powerful. Such counter effects could destroy the society or planet and start everything once again. For eg. if society is pulled to one side due to karma of some people, then it will be pulled to other side at some point with a huge force and that pulling can destroy the societal fabric. But yes, it could destroy the ind