Among the Gita’s four varnas, what is your varna?

Answer Podcast

According to Gita Verses 41, 42, 43 What is my level From whatever I have Observed I have Some level Since my childhood I like to study I like to read I was happiest when I was just reading There was nobody to disturb My hobbies My favorite hobby in my childhood was to Just One of my favorite hobbies Was to open a dictionary and memorize words So I like that So I like to read I like to think, I like to write So you could say that I had Some characteristics of a Brahmin But along with that The culture today is very passionate So that passionate culture also Had its effect on me So there is The desire for controllership The desire for prestige That is a Kshatriya tendency Kshatriyas are very image conscious Very prestige conscious That tendency was also there But over a period of time As I observed it That this whole competition for trying to Get a position Get some fame You know according to our nature Certain problems We feel As challenges And if that is not according to our nature We feel that problem as a burden So I was happiest when I was studying When I was teaching So Now that by Krishna’s mercy I am trying to serve him You know what I am doing right now Studying, teaching, writing That I am doing for his service Otherwise probably I would have been A scientific researcher Writing some scientific papers Publishing some journals Going for conferences Doing that kind of research So we all have our Swabhava Which we learn by gradual experience And Actually it is said that Kalau Shudra Sambhava Kaliyuga everybody is a Shudra So we may have Some Brahminical Inclinations We may have some Kshatriya inclinations We may have some Vaishya inclinations But all of us In Kaliyuga Have at their base A A Shudra Level of discipline We have very little self control And that is how What happens is even People who are very intellectual Sometimes they are just slaves of their senses They may be intellectual It is just a capacity that they have It is a skill that they have But then Shudras mean they have no Level of sense control So they have very little sense control And Even some of the world’s top scientists Einstein is such a great scientist But Einstein had A prolonged affair with his Cousin while he was married to another woman And finally he left his wife And he married his cousin Stephen Hawking you know he was a very He is a He is a brilliant person intellectually And physically he is Terribly paralyzed Now in spite of that He had an affair with his nurse And his wife was a devout Christian lady Who was with him faithfully Despite his adversities And still when he was asked She took care of you so well Why did you Have an affair with someone His answer was I wanted to prove that I was a man Such a pitiable Level of understanding that you prove Your manliness by having an affair with someone Now here I am not here to criticize Stephen Hawking or Albert Einstein They are brilliant people in their own ways The point which I am making is That just because we have some Brahminical qualities or some Kshatriya qualities That does not make us a Brahmin or a Kshatriya You know it is a level of Self control, it is a level of Discipline that we have that is also To complement whatever talents or Abilities we have. So most people In today’s world may have Brahmin, Kshatriya Vaishya qualities but If they don’t have, if they have the Shudra level Of discipline, Shudra level of Self mastery then that is a Shudra level And We need to practice Bhakti by Which we can rise from wherever level we are So it is like that is what causes a lot Of conflict within people That We have a Brahmana intelligence But then we have Shudra desires And then This was something which I just couldn’t understand That I was in college And at that time You know I was As I said I was not really meant for Engineering, I was meant for science So Electronics was As far as Engineering I studied I was not, I didn’t get Could connect with it but I appreciated students who were brilliant So one of One of the students whom I admired very much Was a student who was a University dropper throughout his All 8 semesters And he was He after his After he graduated He got the Highest paying job in the history of our college I was in one of the top colleges In India and that was Then he was a chain smoker So when I first met him I just couldn’t digest the idea You know he is far more brilliant than What I am, the way he Analyzes, the way he understands The way he explains, so I was Very impressed But then he said why can’t he understand that Actually you know he is Killing himself I think George Bernard Shaw said that At one end of a cigarette lies Fire, at the other end lies A fool So I just couldn’t digest Why can’t he understand this And then unfortunately Six months after he Got that record breaking job He was diagnosed with lung cancer And he died So that really jolted me I couldn’t deny his brilliance Intellectually But in terms of behaviorally I couldn’t understand Why he is like this So what happens is in today’s culture Even if we have Brahman intelligence But we are caught by Shudra desires We may have Kshatriya intelligence Kshatriya capacities But we are caught by Shudra desires So we need To practice Bhakti By which our consciousness gets elevated So that our level of Functioning becomes compatible With our level of With level of talents that we have And So by Krishna’s mercy I was brought up by very pious parents Protected me from gross bad habits But still I can see From this perspective that Although I had Brahmanical intelligence Before I got Shri Prabhupada’s mercy Krishna’s mercy I was also caught by Shudra desires So now if I have been able to Rise above that a little bit That is by Krishna’s mercy Thank you very much.