नृगस्य वंशः सुमतिर्भूतज्योतिस्ततो वसुः ॥१७॥
dhṛṣá¹Äd dhÄrá¹£á¹am abhÅ«t ká¹£atraá¹
brahma-bhūyaṠgataṠkṣitau
nṛgasya vamśaḥ sumatir
bhūtajyotis tato vasuḥ
dhṛṣá¹Ät - from Dhṛṣá¹a, another son of Manu; dhÄrá¹£á¹am - a caste of the name DhÄrá¹£á¹a; abhÅ«t - was produced; ká¹£atram - belonging to the ká¹£atriya group; brahma-bhÅ«yam - the position of brÄhmaṇas; gatam - had achieved; ká¹£itau - on the surface of the world; ná¹›gasya - of Ná¹›ga, another son of Manu; vamÅ›aḥ - the dynasty; sumatiḥ - of the name Sumati; bhÅ«tajyotiḥ - of the name BhÅ«tajyoti; tataḥ - thereafter; vasuḥ - by the name Vasu.
From the son of Manu named Dhṛṣá¹a came a ká¹£atriya caste called DhÄrá¹£á¹a, whose members achieved the position of brÄhmaṇas in this world. Then, from the son of Manu named Ná¹›ga came Sumati. From Sumati came BhÅ«tajyoti, and from BhÅ«tajyoti came Vasu.
Here it is said, ká¹£atraá¹ brahma-bhÅ«yaá¹ gataá¹ ká¹£itau: although the DhÄrá¹£á¹as belonged to the ká¹£atriya caste, they were able to convert themselves into brÄhmaṇas. This gives clear evidence supporting the following statement by NÄrada (BhÄg. 7.11.35):
yasya yal laká¹£aṇaá¹ proktaá¹
puá¹so varṇÄbhivyañjakam
yad anyatrÄpi dṛśyeta
tat tenaiva vinirdiśet
If the qualities of one group are found in the men of another, those men should be recognized by their qualities, by their symptoms, not by the caste of the family in which they were born. Birth is not at all important; it is one’s qualities that are stressed in all Vedic literature.
