All "twice-born" males, defined as men born into
one of the three "twice-born" categories in Indian society—brahmin,
kshatriya, or vaishya—were required to repay three "debts" according
to legend.
- The earliest of these obligations was to the gods, for which
sacrifices were made.
- The Vedas, the world's oldest and most authoritative
religious scriptures, were used to repay the second obligation, which was to
the sages.
- The last obligation was to the ancestors (pitrs), which was
paid by having a son in order to guarantee that the ancestral ceremonies may
continue uninterrupted.
~Kiran Atma
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