Brahmavarcas
Brahmavarcas · brahma-varcas, “the radiance of Brahman”
Grammar: neuter noun; a compound of brahma (the Veda, Brahman) and varcas (radiance, lustre, vigour): “the radiance of Brahman”. It is also written brahmavarcasa.
Meaning: the radiance that comes from Vedic learning, tapas and the knowledge of Brahman, shining in a brāhmaṇa and a knower of Brahman; it can be lost by wrong deeds and hidden by humility.
In the scriptures: the Bhāgavata Purāṇa names brahmavarcas when it is lost, when it is hidden, when it is given, and as a phala.
Lost. When Aśvatthāmā, who had killed the sons of Draupadī, had been caught and brought bound to the camp, Arjuna, knowing the meaning in Bhagavān Śrī Kṛshṇa‘s heart, cut away with his sword the maṇi on Aśvatthāmā’s head together with the hair. Aśvatthāmā’s brahmavarcas had already been lost through killing the children; now the splendour of the maṇi too was gone, and Arjuna loosed his bonds and drove him out of the camp (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapter 7).
Hidden. When the leader of King Rahūgaṇa‘s palanquin-bearers took Jaḍabharata to carry the palanquin, his brahmavarcas, the radiance of a knower of Brahman, was not openly manifest, like fire covered with ash, and the king mocked him (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 5, Chapter 10).
In Bhagavān Vāmana. After his upanayana, Bhagavān Vāmana, with his brahmavarcas, outshone an assembly well attended by hosts of brahmarshis (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 8, Chapter 18).
Given. King Rathītara had no offspring and asked that his line be kept up; Aṅgiras then begot on his wife sons endowed with brahmavarcas (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 9, Chapter 6).
As a phala. In the phalaśruti of the carita of Pṛthu Mahārāja, a brāhmaṇa who reads it gains brahmavarcas, a kshatriya becomes a lord of the earth, a vaiśya chief among vaiśyas and a śūdra foremost among the best (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapter 23). For one who hears the account of how Vyāsa Maharshi, his disciples and their disciples set the śākhās of the Veda going, brahmavarcas increases (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 12, Chapter 7).
Related terms: Tejas · Brāhmaṇa · Brahmavid · Tapas · Veda
Sources
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapter 7; Skandha 4, Chapter 23; Skandha 5, Chapter 10; Skandha 8, Chapter 18; Skandha 9, Chapter 6; Skandha 12, Chapter 7