brahma-kṣatriya-viṭ-śūdrā varṇās tv ādyās trayo dvijāḥ |
(Yājñavalkya Smṛti: 1.10)
“Brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, and śūdra are the varṇas. The first three, however, [i.e., but not the fourth, the śūdras] become twice-born (dvija).”
brahmahā madyapaḥ stenas tathaiva guru-talpagaḥ |
ete mahāpātakino yaś ca taiḥ saha saṁvaset ||
(Yājñavalkya Smṛti: 3.227)
“A brāhmaṇa-killer, a wine-drinker, a thief, and a goer to the guru’s bed—they are great sinners, as is one who shall associate with them.”
mātur yad agre jāyante dvitīyaṁ mauñji-bandhanāt |
brāhmaṇa-kṣatriya-viśas tasmād ete dvijāḥ smṛtāḥ ||
(Yājñavalkya Smṛti: 1.39)
“Since they are born first from a mother [i.e., by way of seminal birth] and second by the tying of mauñji [i.e., the upanayana-saṁskāra, which involves a ritual in which mauñji, a type of cane grass, is tied as a girdle around the initiate’s waist], these brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, and vaiśyas are known as the twice-born (dvijas).”
janmanā brāhmaṇo jñeyaḥ saṁskārair dvija ucyate |
vidyayā yāti vipratvaṁ tribhiḥ śrotriya-lakṣaṇam ||
(Yājñavalkya; cited in Laghu Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī-ṭīkā and Vaiṣṇavānandinī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.16.2)
“One is to be known as a brāhmaṇa by birth. One is called a twice-born by saṁskāras. One attains vipratva [i.e., the status of being a vipra, a learned person] by learning. The characteristic of a śrotriya [i.e., one who is conversant in the Veda] is by these three [i.e., one who is born in a brāhmaṇa family, receives the necessary saṁskāras, and attains the necessary learning is accepted as being śrotriya, that is, conversant in the Vedas].”
devarṣi-bhūtāpta-nṛṇāṁ pitṝṇāṁ
na kiṅkaro nāyam ṛṇī ca rājan |
sarvātmanā yaḥ śaraṇaṁ śaraṇyaṁ
gato mukundaṁ parihṛtya kartam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.5.41)
“O King, one who has forsaken one’s duties and taken shelter completely in the ultimate shelterer, Mukunda, is neither a servant of, nor a debtor to, the devas, the ṛṣis, [other] living beings, relatives, humanity, or ancestors.”
śruti-smṛti-sadācāraḥ svasya ca priyam ātmanaḥ |
samyak saṅkalpajaḥ kāmo dharma-mūlam idaṁ smṛtam ||
(Yājñavalkya-smṛti: 1.7; cited in the Bhāvārtha-dīpikā, Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā, and Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā to Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.11.7 and Bhakti Sandarbha: 58)
“The Śruti, the Smṛti, proper conduct (sadācāra), the satisfaction of one’s own mind, and desire arising from proper resolve—these are known as the basis [i.e., the pramāṇa, the means of knowing] of dharma.”
