Eligibility for Understanding Scriptures

Everybody is eligible (human) to understand scripture but

they must be qualified
By Satyanarayana Dasa
Everybody in this world has certain qualifications to perform
specific duties or activities and, in so doing, gains satisfaction,
happiness and success.

If a person tries to perform duties or activities that he is

not qualified to perform, then, in all probability,
dissatisfaction, frustration and misery for himself, and
possibly others, will result.

Therefore, one of the very basic principles taught in Bhagavad

Gita, is to work according to one’s qualifications. Krishna
Himself says
para dharmo bhayavaha
to perform the duty for which one is not qualified is
dangerous.
Everyone Is Unique
As different people have different qualifications, the Vedic
scriptures instruct according to these qualifications.
Everything is not applicable to everyone.

This unique characteristic of the Vedic scriptures is often

overlooked.

There are separate rules for students, married persons,

renunciates, unmarried girls, widows, parents, teachers, rulers,
and so on. In other words, the duties differ according to the
nature and the status of a person. Similarly, because different
people having different qualifications, there are a variety of
scriptures, deities, schools of philosophy, and various types of
practices in India. For different qualifications
Everyone has to walk from where they are standing.
To ward against the danger of an unqualified person
receiving knowledge, knowledge was never written in the
Vedic culture.

It was normally transferred through the oral tradition only.

That is why the Vedas are called shruti that which is to be
heard from a teacher. Writing books on leaves came into
vogue much later. The author of a book, who was usually also
a teacher, would not share its contents with an unqualified
person. Students were made to take a vow not to further
transfer the knowledge to undeserving candidates. Here are
three other examples of situations where everyone cannot be
treated the same.
Most universities require students to take an entrance exam.
The university then admits only the qualified students.

A student follows a curriculum that is meant to present

information in an order that maps with the student’s
development.
The student doesn’t take a physics class that requires math
that hasn’t been taught yet, nor does the student take an
advanced physics course before taking an introductory
physics course. In each course, the professor lectures
according to the level of his audience. A book of medicine
may describe various types of remedies, but they are not
applicable to each person. The doctor must diagnose the
disease and then find a corresponding medicine to treat it. For
a single disease, there may be many medicines available, but
each one is not suitable for every patient. For example, in
Ayurveda, medicine is not only prescribed according to the
disease, but also after due regard has been given to the body
type, character, age, immunity, gender, etc. of the patient. To
give another example, in Bhagavat Purana, there are many
instructions meant for renunciates. But if a householder tries
to apply them to himself, he would be miserable. Similarly,
there are separate instructions for the different paths of yoga,
karma, jnana and bhakti. One should judiciously discriminate
amongst them. Establishing eligibility in Sanskrit literature, it
is common for the author in the opening verses, to state four
things, as instructed in the following verse:
Adhikari ca sambandho visayasya prayojanam.
Avasyameva vaktavyam sastradau tu catustayam
(Shloka Varttika 1.1.17)
“The person eligible to read the book
The subject of the book
The relation of the book with the subject
The purpose of the book (its fruit)
must be explained in the very beginning.”

The intent is to inform the would-be reader if the book is

of interest to him/her (anubandhacastustaya).

With books of today, some of these things are explained in an

introduction, preface or prologue. Out of these, the adhikari,
or the person’s eligibility, is the most important.
One of the most basic qualifications to reading scripture is
that the person must be interested in attaining the specific
purpose described. If the person does not have this
qualification, then he/she is not qualified to read it, and
would find it almost impossible to comprehend its real
meaning. No fulfilment

Today, anyone can acquire any book in print version or even

through the electronic media. One can also study the
scriptures in universities where the requisite eligibility for
studying them is not tested. The peculiarity of the scriptures is
that if the person studying them does not have the requisite
eligibility, he/she will not understand their essence. The
eligibility which one possesses is like a tool to unravel the
mystery hidden inside. Misconceptions May Arise
Unfortunately a number of people who are unqualified to read
the scriptures not only study them, but critique them. These
critics are, in turn, regarded as authorities by others. This
practice has created a lot of negativity about Indian scriptures,
philosophies and spiritual practices. One often hears remarks
such as “Hinduism is a big hodgepodge. It is a big mess. It is
the religion of a million gods.” But this cannot be further from
the truth.
Another thing to be considered is that, in a philosophy
book, everything that is written may not be the concluding
principle, or siddhanta, meant to be established by the
author.
There is also purvapaksha, or the principle to be refuted,
which may not be explicitly identified. Unqualified people or
those of unripe discrimination who study such books without
proper guidance, may mistake the purvapaksa for the
siddhanta
Many misconceptions have arisen because of
misinterpretation of scriptures. To avoid such misconceptions,
many times a warning is given against the reading of scripture
by unqualified people. For example, Lord Krishna
emphatically bars non‐devotees from reading Bhagavad Gita:
Idam te natapaskaya nabhaktaya kadacan
Na casusrusave vacyam na ca mam yo’bhyasuyati
(Gita 18.67)
“This is not to be spoken to a person lacking control of his
senses, to a person without true devotion, to a person who is
unwilling to hear, or to one who envies me, thinking that I am
material.”
The warning is both for the student as well as the teacher. If
the teacher tries to teach an unqualified student, it will be a
futile endeavour. As is stated:
Na’dravye nihita kacit kriya phalavati bhavet
Na vyaparasatena’pi sukavat pathyate bakah
(Hitopdesha 1.42)
“Just as by hundreds of attempts one cannot teach a crane to
speak like a parrot, an unfit person can never be trained.”
Qualifications May Change. My humble advice and request to
anyone interested in studying any Indian scripture is to first
see if one has the necessary qualifications. One should not
feel discouraged or despondent, however, if not yet eligible,
but the importance of eligibility must be understood.
Human beings have a special ability to change themselves.
One’s eligibility is not rigid and can be acquired or
improved.

Notes:
If you say that anything can be learnt all though some people
have a natural disposition then we would agree in as much as
not everyone starts from the same spot dur to previous karma
but everyone has the right to progress from the level they have
acquired, birth and nature are indicators
Fulfilment (rasa) is of 3 types
1 earthly
2 heavenly
3 spiritual