Do the Vedas teach that only brahmanas by birth can become brahmanas?
Is it that according to Vedic Vidhi a person has to be born in a Brahmana family to become a Brahmana Quality is not determined by genealogy alone but quality is not entirely disconnected from genealogy also that means if you look at the Vedic literature itself there is a term Brahmabandhu that somebody is born in a Brahmana family but does not have Brahmanical qualities such a person is to be treated with some reservation is not accepted as a Brahmana so the fact is that somebody can be born in a Brahmana family and may not be a Brahmana so now genealogy in which dynasty, which race we are born is that important? Yes it is because we do see in a practical basis that when people have children the children do have some qualities of their parents they may have the looks of their mother or they may have the disposition of the father and it is not just an imagination oh the child's eyes are like yours like the father's or the child's nose is like the mother's it is real because when the soul manifests in this particular body it gets the body from the parents the father provides the seed and the mother provides the womb in which the child gets a physical body so the not just the genetically the physical looks of the child but to some extent even the disposition, the mentality of the child is also affected by the parents through whom the child takes birth that alone doesn't define everything but it does it does determine some aspects of it so now if a Brahmana and a Brahmani are living together relatively purely and they are practicing shall we say they are practicing Dharma then it is quite likely that at that time from them a child will be born who is a Brahmana so it is not something which is unreasonable or unlikely so now that means there are three different issues over here first is the conception that those who are born from Brahmana families are automatically Brahmanas that is a misconception perpetuated by the casteist conceptions of people that is not scriptural second is that is a child born in a Brahmana family more likely to become a Brahmana than otherwise, yes it is because of genealogy and it is also because of upbringing if a person is born in a Brahmana family then that person is more likely to have the facilities required the culture required the upbringing required both from genealogy and from upbringing to become a Brahmana so definitely a Brahmana just like if a son is born to doctor parents both the mother and father doctor then the son wants to become a doctor the support systems for the son to become a doctor are much more so this is the second thing that a son of a Brahmana is more likely to become a Brahmana than others the third thing is something different is it that only a son of a Brahmana can become a Brahmana that is something which is talked about more in the in the caste system as a conception among the teachers among the Brahmanas rather than as a rigid principle even in the Upanishads or even if you go towards the Vedas the a person who is born in a Brahmana family is considered respectable and it is only when that person doesn't act properly then that person is recognized as a Brahmabandhu so giving respect is important as it's a part of the tradition and Krishna also even when Shukracharya works against Bali Maharaj against Vamanadeva's interests still Vamanadeva offers respect to Bali Maharaj to Shukracharya as a Brahmana so he is doing Brahmanical duties in the sense that he is practicing Dharma he is practicing the Yajna and other rituals of Dharma that are there he is not focused on devotion that is the culmination of Dharma but still Shukracharya is respected so the idea that those who are born in lower castes there will be some exceptional situations in which they will become Brahmanas in the Upanishad itself there is a famous story of Satya Kama Jagli that he because of his truthfulness Gautam Rishi acknowledged him to be a Brahmana so that means qualities are recognized as important and in special situations there are others who may also be recognized as Brahmanas but that is not the standard it is unusual so the problem comes when the so the first is the most problematic the problematic can be in three different ways but the first is that the unqualified are automatically deemed qualified because of worth the second is that the qualified or those who can become qualified they are not allowed entry because of their worth and the third is those who are qualified are provided the facilities by which they develop the qualities just because you are qualified doesn't mean you automatically have the qualities qualified means one has the tendency the mentality to develop the qualities so the first is evident that it's a problem to think that just by birth one has all the qualities and qualifications the third is also a problem that just because one doesn't have a birth then one doesn't have any qualities the proper understanding which is there is that those who have taken birth in a Brahmana family they have greater probability of developing the qualities but they don't automatically have the qualities and others can also develop the qualities so it's a inclusive understanding which if one wants to defend a particular position if one wants to say that those who are not born in Brahmana families can never become Brahmanas one can extract quotes from the Vedic literature to support that but then we have to see the context of the quotes you have to see the overall mood of that particular book from which one is quoting and then understand the whole purpose of the literature so if you look at it from the overall purpose point of view the overall purpose is to raise the consciousness of people and then the idea is that those who have qualified and can develop the qualities they are given the status of Brahmanas but over time that system became corrupted and now sometimes the people who want to justify the corrupted system they may quote certain things to support their own positions so some people may claim that only some people who want to preserve their hold on power they may claim that only those who are born in Brahmana families can be Brahmanas and those who want to criticize the Vedic system they may focus on quotes which say that those who are not born in Brahmana families they were never allowed to become Brahmanas but even if somebody can find some quotes if you look at the context and if you look at the purpose we will understand the purpose was to create a social system by which everybody got facility according to their nature to elevate their consciousness 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