TRANSLATION: O best
among the twice-born, it is therefore concluded that the highest
perfection one can achieve by discharging the duties prescribed
for one's own occupation according to caste divisions and orders
of life is to please the Personality of Godhead.
PURPORT: Human society all over the world is divided into four
castes and four orders of life. The four castes are the
intelligent caste, the martial caste, the productive caste and
the laborer caste. These castes are classified in terms of one's
work and qualification and not by birth. Then again there are
four orders of life, namely the student life, the householder's
life, the retired and the devotional life. In the best interest
of human society there must be such divisions of life, otherwise
no social institution can grow in a healthy state. And in each
and every one of the abovementioned divisions of life, the aim
must be to please the supreme authority of the Personality of
Godhead. This institutional function of human society is known
as the system of varnasrama-dharma, which is quite natural for
the civilized life. The varnasrama institution is constructed to
enable one to realize the Absolute Truth. It is not for
artificial domination of one division over another. When the aim
of life, i.e., realization of the Absolute Truth, is missed by
too much attachment for indriya-priti, or sense gratification,
as already discussed hereinbefore, the institution of the
varnasrama is utilized by selfish men to pose an artificial
predominance over the weaker section. In the Kali-yuga, or in
the age of quarrel, this artificial predominance is already
current, but the saner section of the people know it well that
the divisions of castes and orders of life are meant for smooth
social intercourse and high-thinking self-realization and not
for any other purpose.
Herein the statement of Bhagavatam is that the highest aim of
life or the highest perfection of the institution of the
varnasrama-dharma is to cooperate jointly for the satisfaction
of the Supreme Lord. This is also confirmed in the
Bhagavad-gita (4.13)
[Srila
Prabhupada from Srimad Bhagavatam 1.2.13]
TRANSLATION: According to the three modes of material nature and
the work ascribed to them, the four divisions of human society
were created by Me. And, although I am the creator of this
system, you should know that I am yet the non-doer, being
unchangeable.
PURPORT: The Lord is the creator of everything. Everything is
born of Him, everything is sustained by Him, and everything,
after annihilation, rests in Him. He is therefore the creator of
the four divisions of the social order, beginning with the
intelligent class of men, technically called brahmanas due to
their being situated in the mode of goodness. Next is the
administrative class, technically called the ksatriyas due to
their being situated in the mode of passion. The mercantile men,
called the vaisyas, are situated in the mixed modes of passion
and ignorance, and the sudras, or laborer class, are situated in
the ignorant mode of material nature. In spite of His creating
the four divisions of human society, Lord Krsna does not belong
to any of these divisions, because He is not one of the
conditioned souls, a section of whom form human society. Human
society is similar to any other animal society, but to elevate
men from the animal status, the above-mentioned divisions are
created by the Lord for the systematic development of Krsna
consciousness. The tendency of a particular man toward work is
determined by the modes of material nature which he has
acquired. Such symptoms of life, according to different modes of
material nature, are described in the Eighteenth Chapter of this
book. A person in Krsna consciousness, however, is above even
the brahmanas, because a brahmana by quality is supposed to know
about Brahman, the Supreme Absolute Truth. Most of them approach
the impersonal Brahman manifestation of Lord Krsna, but only a
man who transcends the limited knowledge of a brahmana and
reaches the knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Lord Sri Krsna, becomes a person in Krsna consciousness--or, in
other words, a Vaisnava. Krsna consciousness includes knowledge
of all different plenary expansions of Krsna, namely Rama,
Nrsimha, Varaha, etc. However, as Krsna is transcendental to
this system of the four divisions of human society, a person in
Krsna consciousness is also transcendental to all divisions of
human society, whether we consider the divisions of community,
nation or species.
[Srila
Prabhupada from Bhagavad-gita as it is, 4.13]
