VedaVyasa
Praneetha
The Mad Bhagavatam
Chapter 17
The Varnâs'rama System and the Boat of Bhakti: the Students and the Householders
Previously, the Supreme Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, had assumed the form of Haḿsa and glorified the duties of the brahmacārī and gṛhastha orders. In this present chapter Lord Kṛṣṇa further describes these matters to Uddhava.
After Uddhava inquires from Śrī Kṛṣṇa about the duties of the social and religious orders of the varṇāśrama society, the Lord replies that in the first age, Satya-yuga, there was only one social order, called haḿsa. In that age men were automatically dedicated to pure devotional service from their very birth, and since everyone was perfect in-all respects, the age was called Kṛta-yuga. The Vedas were then manifest in the form of the sacred syllable oḿ, and the Supreme Lord was perceived within the mind in the form of the four-legged bull of religion. There were no formalized processes of sacrifice, and the sinless people, who were naturally inclined to austerity, simply engaged in meditation on the personal form of the Lord. In the following age, Tretā-yuga, there became manifest from the heart of the Supreme Personality of Godhead the three Vedas, and from them the three forms of the sacrificial fire. At that time the system of four varṇas and four āśramas, which prescribes material and spiritual duties for the different members of society, appeared from the bodily limbs of the Lord. According to how the social divisions took birth from higher and lower features of the Lord's body, they became endowed with higher and lower qualities. After this description, Lord Kṛṣṇa explains the natures of persons in each of the four varṇas and of those who are outside the limits of the varṇas. He also describes those qualities that pertain to humanity in general.
Members of the higher orders are qualified to accept second birth. After receiving the sacred thread initiation, they should go to live in the guru-kula, the home of the spiritual master. With a pacified mind, the student (brahmacārī) should absorb himself in study of the Vedas. He should keep matted hair and is forbidden to wash his teeth, prepare a nice seat for himself, talk when bathing or evacuating, cut his hair and nails or at any time pass semen. He must regularly perform worship at the three junctures of the day and must render devotional service to his spiritual master in a spirit free from envy. The brahmacārī must offer to the guru whatever food and other things he obtains by begging. He accepts for his maintenance whatever remnants of the Lord he is granted. He should render menial service to the spiritual master by massaging his feet and worshiping him and should avoid all sense gratification and strictly maintain the vow of celibacy. With his mind, body and words, he should worship the Supreme Lord in the form of the Supersoul in the way prescribed for him. For brahmacārīs, seeing or touching women, and conversations or sports in the company of women, are absolutely disallowed. Cleanliness and ritual purification by water should be observed by members of all the spiritual orders of society. Everyone is also advised to always remember that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the Supreme Soul dwelling within the hearts of all.
After studying all the different aspects of the Vedas, a brāhmaṇa who has material desires may take permission from his spiritual master and enter family life. Otherwise, if he has no material desire, he may become a vānaprastha or sannyāsī. The proper order of succession should be followed in changing from one spiritual order to the next. One who wishes to enter the household order should accept a wife who is of the same social class, who is not objectionable, and who is somewhat younger in age than he.
The obligatory duties of the three classes who are twice-born — the brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas and vaiśyas — are worship of the Lord, study of the Vedas and giving charity. The occupational duties of accepting charity, teaching others and performing sacrifice for others are the privilege of the brāhmaṇas alone. If a brāhmaṇa considers that his consciousness is contaminated by engaging in these occupations, he may sustain his existence by collecting grains from the fields. If he is disturbed by poverty, the brāhmaṇa may out of necessity accept the business of a kṣatriya or vaiśya, but he should never take the occupation of a śūdra. In a similar situation, a kṣatriya may take the occupation of a vaiśya, and a vaiśya that of a śūdra. But when the emergency has passed, it is not fitting to continue earning one's living by a lower occupation. A brāhmaṇa who is properly fixed in his personal duty rejects all insignificant material desires, always serves the Vaiṣṇavas and is under the protection of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The householder should study the Vedas every day and maintain his wards with money honestly earned by his own occupation. As far as possible, he should execute worship of the Lord by ritual sacrifices. Remaining unattached to material life and fixed in devotion to the Supreme Lord, the householder may finally take the order of vānaprastha, so that he can fully involve himself in the Lord's worship. If he has a grown son, he may directly take the renounced order of sannyāsa. But persons who are excessively lusty after women, who have no proper discrimination, and who are extremely attached to wealth and possessions remain perpetually in anxiety over the welfare of their family members and are doomed to take their next birth in a lower species of life.
11.17.1-2
yas tvayābhihitaḥ pūrvaḿ
dharmas tvad-bhakti-lakṣaṇaḥ
varṇāśamācāravatāḿ
yathānuṣṭhīyamānena
sva-dharmeṇāravindākṣa
(1-2) S'rî Uddhava said: 'O Lotus-eyed One, You previously described the religious principles that are prescribed by bhakti and are respected by all varnâs'rama followers and even by those who do not follow this system. You should explain to me that process by means of which human beings executing their occupational duties by Your grace can achieve devotional service.
11.17.3-4
kālenāmitra-karśana
(3-4) The religious principles by which there is the supreme happiness and of which You, as said [11.13], previously, dear Mâdhava, o Mighty-armed One, in the form of Lord Hamsa spoke to Brahmâ, will, the way they these days have been taught by You, after having ruled for such a very long time, o Subduer of the enemies, not be common any longer in human society [see also 5.6: 10 and 11.5: 36 and Kali-yuga].
11.17.5-6
vaktā kartāvitā nānyo
(5-6) Dear Acyuta, there is no other speaker, creator and protector of dharma but You; not on earth, nor even in the assembly of Brahmâ where You're present in the form of a part of You [viz. the Vedas, see also 10.87]. When the earth is abandoned by Your lordship, o Madhusûdana, o Creator, Protector and Speaker, then who, o Lord, will speak about the knowledge that was lost?
11.17.7
dharmas tvad-bhakti-lakṣaṇaḥ
(7) Therefore, while You are still among us, please describe to me o Master, o Knower of All Dharma, who would be fit to execute the original duties that characterize Your bhakti and how they should be performed.'
11.17.8
(8) S'rî S'uka said: 'He, the Supreme Lord Hari, thus pleased to be questioned by the best of His devotees, for the sake of the highest welfare of all conditioned souls spoke about the eternal duties of dharma.
11.17.9
varṇāśramācāravatāḿ
(9) The Supreme Lord said: 'This dharmic question of yours constitutes for normal human beings the cause of the highest welfare. Please, Uddhava, learn from Me about the duties, the way they are executed by those who observe the varnâs'rama system.
The word naiḥśreyasa-kara indicates that which awards the highest perfection of life, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which the Lord is explaining to Śrī Uddhava. When considering religious principles, ordinary human beings remain bogged down in sectarian mundane considerations. The process that awards the highest perfection of life should be considered the most auspicious for human beings. The varṇāśrama system is the most scientific presentation of religiosity on the earth, and those who are most perfect in that system come to the point of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or dedicating everything for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord.
11.17.10
(10) In the beginning there is the age of Krita wherein the human beings belong to one class that is called hamsa. The citizens of that age are by birth well known with the duties to be performed - hence do the learned know it as Krita-yuga, the age of the fulfillment of duty.
11.17.11
(11) First of all is the [undivided] Veda expressed with the Pranava, with which I am known as duty in the form of the bull of religion [see 1.16: 18 and 1.17: 24]. With that they, who fixed in austerity are free from sins, worship Me as Lord Hamsa.
The bull of religion is described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.17.24): tapaḥ śaucam dayā satyam iti pādāḥ kṛte kṛtāḥ. "In the age of Satya [truthfulness], your four legs were established by the four principles of austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness." Śrī Vyāsadeva divided the one Veda into four — the Ṛg, Yajur, Sāma and Atharva Vedas — at the end of Dvāpara-yuga, but in Satya-yuga the whole of Vedic knowledge is easily understood by everyone simply by vibrating the syllable oḿ. In this age there are no ritualistic or pious activities such as sacrifice, since everyone is sinless, austere and fully engaged in worshiping the Personality of Godhead, Lord Haḿsa, through the process of meditation.
11.17.12
(12) At the beginning of Tretâ-yuga, o greatly fortunate one, originated from the prânâ in My heart the threefold of knowing [the three Vedas Rig, Sâma and Yajur] to the occasion of which I appeared in the three forms of sacrifice [hence the name Tretâ, see ritvik].
In Tretā-yuga, the bull of religion loses one leg, and only seventy-five percent of religious principles are manifested, represented by the three principal Vedas — Ṛg, Sāma and Yajur. The Lord appears in the process of threefold Vedic sacrifice. The three divisions are understood as follows. The hotā priest offers oblations into the fire and chants the Ṛg Veda; the udgātā priest chants the Sāma Veda; and the adhvaryu priest, who arranges the sacrificial ground, altar, etc., chants the Yajur Veda. In Tretā-yuga such sacrifice is the authorized process for spiritual perfection. The word prāṇāt in this verse refers to the universal form of the Personality of Godhead. This form is further described in the following verses.
11.17.13
ya ātmācāra-lakṣaṇāḥ
(13) Generated from the Original Personality the learned, the warriors, the merchants and the workers [the varnas] were born and by their personal activities recognized as [respectively] being from the mouth, the arms, the thighs and legs of the universal form [compare 2.1: 37].
11.17.14
gṛhāśramo jaghanato
brahmacaryaḿ hṛdo mama
(14) The householders are situated in My loins, the celibate students in My heart, in My chest the ones dwelling in the forest are found and the renounced order is situated in My head [see âs'ramas].
There are two classes of brahmacārī life. The naiṣṭhiki-brahmacārī remains celibate throughout life, whereas the upakurvāṇa-brahmacārī marries upon finishing his student life. One who remains perpetually celibate is situated within the heart of Lord Kṛṣṇa, but those brahmacārīs who eventually marry are situated within the loins of the universal form of the Lord. The word vane-vāsaḥ refers to vānaprastha, or the retired order of life, which is situated on the chest of the Lord.
11.17.15
janma-bhūmy-anusāriṇīḥ
nīcair nīcottamottamāḥ
(15) Depending the superior or inferior position that one according to one's birth occupies in My body, developed the higher and lower human nature of the people belonging to the different societal classes [varnas] and status groups [âs'ramas].
the brāhmaṇas and sannyāsīs, being situated on the head of the universal form of the Lord, are considered to be the most qualified, whereas the śūdras and gṛhasthas, being on the legs or loins of the Personality of Godhead, are considered to be in the lowest position. A living entity is born with a certain amount of intelligence, beauty and social opportunity, and he is therefore situated in a particular occupational and social position within the varṇāśrama system. Ultimately, such positions are external designations, but since the majority of human beings are conditioned by the external energy of the Lord, they should act according to the scientific varṇāśrama divisions until they reach the stage of jīvan-mukta, or liberated life.
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