On being a book worm of sastra !

[Paramananda das]

On being a book worm of sastra !
I
was remembering one thing today from before becoming a devotee, I was taking an exam in Latin , and I really studied hard to get the best grade possible. I even bought some extra books to help me master the grammar. So in my country Denmark the best grade you can get is an 11 but sometimes very very rare you get 13 that is when you know even more than the teacher.It is almost never given.So I got a 13 , I was thinking today with the same determination I have always wanted to study sastra to really excel in understanding sastra, because as an initiated Brahmin priest ,I am supposed to know and learn sastra very well . Krsna has stated in Bhagavad Gita
Chapter 18: Conclusion-The Perfection of Renunciation
TEXT 42
samo damas tapah saucam
ksantir arjavam eva ca
jnanam vijnanam astikyam
brahma-karma svabhava-jam
SYNONYMS
samah—peacefulness; damah—self-control; tapah—austerity; saucam—purity; ksantih—tolerance; arjavam—honesty; eva—certainly; ca—and; jnanam—wisdom; vijnanam—knowledge; astikyam—religiousness; brahma—of a brahmana; karma—duty; svabhava-jam—born of his own nature.
TRANSLATION
Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge, and religiousness-these are the qualities by which the brahmanas work.
So in this verse Krsna says a Brahmana must have Jnana wisdom from sastra , and when we apply such knowledge in our life is become Vijana realized knowledge .