Devanagari
गाधेरभून्महातेजा: समिद्ध इव पावक: ।
तपसा क्षात्रमुत्सृज्य यो लेभे ब्रह्मवर्चसम् ॥ २८ ॥
Verse text
gādher abhūn mahā-tejāḥ
samiddha iva pāvakaḥ
tapasā kṣātram utsṛjya
yo lebhe brahma-varcasam
Synonyms
gādheḥ
—
from Mahārāja Gādhi
;
abhūt
—
was born
;
mahā
—
tejāḥ — very powerful
;
samiddhaḥ
—
inflamed
;
iva
—
like
;
pāvakaḥ
—
fire
;
tapasā
—
by austerities and penances
;
kṣātram
—
the position of a kṣatriya
;
utsṛjya
—
giving up
;
yaḥ
—
one who (Viśvāmitra)
;
lebhe
—
achieved
;
brahma
—
varcasam — the quality of a brāhmaṇa. .
Translation
Viśvāmitra, the son of Mahārāja Gādhi, was as powerful as the flames of fire. From the position of a kṣatriya, he achieved the position of a powerful brāhmaṇa by undergoing penances and austerities.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
From Mahārāja Gādhi, was born a son, Viśvāmitra, who, as powerful as a blazing fire, gave up the position of a kṣatriya and achieved the position of a powerful brāhmaṇa by undergoing austerities.
Having finished the incidental story, concerning the line from his daughter, Śukadeva now describes the main line from Gādhi’s son.
Purport
Now, having narrated the history of Lord Paraśurāma, Śukadeva Gosvāmī begins the history of Viśvāmitra. From the history of Paraśurāma we can understand that although Paraśurāma belonged to the brahminical group, he circumstantially had to work as a
kṣatriya.
Later, after finishing his work as a
kṣatriya,
he again became a
brāhmaṇa
and returned to Mahendra-parvata. Similarly, we can see that although Viśvāmitra was born in a
kṣatriya
family, by austerities and penances he achieved the position of a
brāhmaṇa.
These histories confirm the statements in
śāstra
that a
brāhmaṇa
may become a
kṣatriya,
a
kṣatriya
may become a
brāhmaṇa
or
vaiśya,
and a
vaiśya
may become a
brāhmaṇa,
by achieving the required qualities. One’s status does not depend upon birth. As confirmed in
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
(7.11.35)
by Nārada:
yasya yal lakṣaṇaṁ proktaṁ
puṁso varṇābhivyaṣjakam
yad anyatrāpi dṛśyeta
tat tenaiva vinirdiśet
“If one shows the symptoms of being a
brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya
or
śūdra,
even if he has appeared in a different class, he should be accepted according to those symptoms of classification.” To know who is a
brāhmaṇa
and who is a
kṣatriya,
one must consider a man’s quality and work. If all the unqualified
śūdras
become so-called
brāhmaṇas
and
kṣatriyas,
social order will be impossible to maintain. Thus there will be discrepancies, human society will turn into a society of animals, and the situation all over the world will be hellish.