Knotty Gita Verses Series 5 – 03.35 – Does the Gita endorse the caste system?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
and a series called the Nadi Gita verses. We have discussed four till now.
Today, we will discuss one verse which actually comes almost twice. It comes once in 3.36 and then in 18.47. And many people think of this verse as a very strong endorsement of the caste system. And what the verse actually means, we will look, first we will look at the first reference to that verse.
Actually, three lines or two lines of the verse are identical. And then we will look at, it comes again in the 18th chapter. 3.36, 18.47. And we will try to understand what Krishna is saying in that verse.
So, Shreyan Suryan Rao. We will recite the verse. Is it visible or? Is it visible or not? It’s not.
Okay. So, this is the second reference to this verse. Let’s recite this.
Paradharma swanishthita Paradharma swanishthita Swabhavani Nandharma Swabhavani Nandharma So, Krishna is sitting Shreyan. If you go to the stars with Arjuna in 2.7 asking him, please tell me what is Shreyan? What is my longer benefit. And Shreyan, Shreyan is the Swadharma Duryodhana Swadharma is Krishna Yuga and this is Vigunahama.
Vigunahama is even if it is having bad qualities, even if one is Swadharma and involves something bad, still it is in the long term perspective auspicious to do that. Paradharma Swamishthita. So as compared to Paradharma.
Somebody else is Dharma. Swamishthita. The word Swamishthita refers again to the same point, prescribing.
Bhagavatam was written for Swamishthita and Dharma. Swamishthita happam saam. So Swamishthita.
So this line actually comes earlier also. We go there. We will look at that.
These two lines are A and B of Vyavastha Sastra. Third line we quote like this. Sobhavanyatam karma.
That working according to one’s Sobhava. Is, if one does this, that kurvan na apnoti kilvisham. Kilvisham is contamination or sinful reaction.
One will not get any sinful reaction by that. Now in the other reference. Here Krishna is telling.
The verse is almost similar. Shreyan Swadharmo Vigna Paradharma Swamishtha. Here the differences in the societal caste lines.
Swadharme Dhanushreya. Swadharme Dhanushreya. Paradharmo Dhayaapaha.
Paradharmo Dhayaapaha. So Swadharme. By doing one’s Swadharme.
Nidhana. Nidhana means destruction. That is Shreya.
It is beneficial to destroy one’s prescribed duty. Because Paradharmo Dhayaapaha. Other dharma is fearful.
Paradharmo Dhayaapaha. So now. The Gita is treated by many people as an endlessly elastic book.
Endlessly elastic means. It can be stretched. So people stretch the meaning of the Gita verses.
To suit their own context. So one such endless elasticity example is. What from Hindutva organisations use.
If some people are getting converted from Hinduism to another religion. And then they have a homecoming programme. Don’t get converted.
Come back to Hinduism. And their slogan is Paradharmo Dhayaapaha. In that other dharma is very fearful.
Don’t go to Christianity. Don’t go to Islam. Stay in Hinduism.
Because Krishna is not talking about these kind of religions. When he is using the word dharma only. So what is Krishna telling? If you look at the context.
Generally when we have to get comprehension. There are three C’s involved. There is concept.
There is context. And there is content. There is concept.
What is it that Krishna is trying to tell? Then there is the context. What is the situation? What comes before? What comes after? What is the context? And then content. What is specifically being said? So if when we write.
When people quote some verses. If they just neglect the context. Then the opposite of the intended concept can be conveyed.
So comprehension requires understanding the concept. Understanding the concept requires looking at both the content and the context. So if you look at the context of the Gita.
We see that Arjuna was unwilling to fight. And Krishna wanted to urge him to fight. And that’s how he spoke the Gita.
Now in this specific context of the Bhagavad Gita setting. Arjuna’s swadharma was fighting. It was as a Kshatriya he was meant to fight.
And Krishna is encouraging Arjuna to fight. He is asking him to perform your swadharma. Now if you look at both these verses.
The immediate application is Arjuna wanted to renounce the world. He said in 2.4 and 5. It’s better that I beg and loathe. Rather than try to.
Rather than. Rather than get spoils which are contaminated by the blood of my venerable superiors. Those who are worthy of my worship.
How can I send arrows towards them. So basically the Bhagavad Gita starts with a conflict in Arjuna’s mind. About what is the dharma that we should follow.
So whether he should do the Kshatriya dharma of fighting. Or whether he should adopt the Brahmana dharma of forgiving. The Brahmanical disposition is to forgive.
So we see that when Vishwamitra when he came along and tried to steal the cow of Vasishtha. Vasishtha did not object. He did not raise arms.
And the cow just went away. And he said why. Because the duty of a Brahmana is to forgive.
A Brahmana does not take revenge. Brahmana does not take violent action. So Arjuna is thinking that actually I should also adopt this.
So for him he is thinking non-violence. We see it’s very direct contrast. If you later on just few verses before this 18.42.43.44. When Krishna describes qualities of the different Varanas.
So Ahimsa is a quality of a Brahmana. The next two words when he is describing the qualities of a Kshatriya. It is that not running away from God.
That means fighting the war. So war is a described duty can be radically contradicted. And both can be glorious.
Both can be laudable. So Ahimsa for a Brahmana is laudable. And Timsa.
He is not giving up war. That means fighting the war. That’s Ahimsa.
Timsa can be laudable for a Kshatriya. So the laudable quality for one Varana and another Varana can be radically different. So Arjuna is thinking when he is saying that I renounce the world and live like a mendicant.
Living like a mendicant is the typical activity of a Brahmana. He lives in charity. So Arjuna is thinking that I will adopt that kind of life.
Now one can say that don’t the Kshatriyas when they renounce the world they at that time live like live on alms. Actually they may do that. But there is a particular need for that.
So whether Arjuna has developed that Adhikar or not. That was discussed in third chapter. So Arjuna is right now young.
He is a Kshatriya. And his dharma is to fight. So the immediate context of the verse is that Krishna wants Arjuna to not take up a Brahminical duty.
And he is saying It is far better for you to do your prescribed duty as a Kshatriya. Fight. And not do the prescribed duty of a Brahmana.
And he says So if while fighting even if you die. Even if you are destroyed. That means dharma can happen in two ways for Arjuna.
For Arjuna he is thinking the whole situation is lose-lose. If I lose the fight, I will die. That is one kind of destruction.
If I win, many of my loved ones will die. So he says that is also kind of destruction. Krishna says still He says It is better for you to be destruction and do your dharma than Because to take up another’s prescribed duty is Now what is What is fearful? That is actually hinted by Krishna in 3.5 and 6 in the next chapter.
When he says that you will become a He says Karmendiyan is in India. They are such a nice man. Indriyartham Vibhudhatma Vityanacharya Saoji If a person is immature and prematurely renounces The person still harbours material attachments And schemes for getting material enjoyment While externally upheaving is renounced.
And that is That is really fearful. Because then a person will do a dharma. And that a dharma will cause But it will cause fall down purpose.
So that is why By doing one dharma Even if there is destruction in the immediate perspective Yes, in this lifetime a person needs to be more speciousness. But this lifetime is only one part of life. And from the long term perspective What will happen is One will attain supreme more speciousness.
By doing one dharma One will advance. On the other hand If by giving up one dharma Arjuna may say Okay, I will not kill my relatives. So he may seem to gain by that.
He is a pacifist and he avoids violence. But then he will be compelled by his nature To act irreligious. Vishwanath Jagatapur says In the purpose of 18.59 and 16 18.59 and 16 That is just comes after this Second reference of the Gita Shri Yantra Dharma There he says that Arjuna, if you kill Amitabha And Shiva, then you will see the madness there.
I will not fight. Because that’s what I want to do. So in two verses he says What will happen is Better than nature, forcibly engage.
You will think I will not want to do it. But you will be forced to act. So he says Chakravarthy passing over there That Krishna is indirectly telling Arjuna That now you are saying you will live on charity.
But when you go and ask for charity He used different scenarios in different places. Go and ask for charity. And at that time somebody refuses charity.
So that insult will trigger a chain of memories. And that insult will remind you of the insult which Draupadi endured, which all of you endured. And you will immediately take up your sword Take up your bow and arrow and want to kill him.
And that time if you are in the highest order And you take violence That will be your dharma. And that will cause you trouble. So that’s why Paradharma You will not be able to sustain the Activity of a Brahmin.
That’s why that is fearful for you. And that is what Krishna is telling In the first reference in 3.36 And then in 18.47 when he talks about it he says If you do your duty What will happen is you will not get any contamination. So first reference is Even if you make destruction that is good.
Second reference is more reassuring positive side. Actually you will not get any contamination. And then next was after this This is of course 18.35 And then the other reference is 18.47 Immediately after this in 48 Krishna gives the example of how Smoke covers fire.
All work has some contamination. This says fire is covered by smoke. Therefore don’t give up the work.
Just because there is some problem. So this is the immediate context. That Arjuna should act as a Kshatriya And not as a Brahmin.
This is Shreyana Sotapalli. And do your Swadharma. But then is that the essential message of the Gita? That everybody simply has to act according to Swadharma? Is that the essential message? We see that the Bhagavad Gita itself In its end 18.66 says Sarva-dharmanam parityajya mam ekam sharanam vraja Just give up all varieties of religion And surrender to it.
So the Bhagavad Gita’s conclusive message is not just to do Swadharma. It is to do mam ekam sharanam vraja. It is to take shelter of Krishna.
So that is the essential message of the Gita. How one can take shelter of Krishna That may really come in time to a certain stage. Now in the case of Arjuna Now Krishna says Sarva-dharmanam parityajya Give up all dharmas and take shelter of me.
Now to take shelter of Krishna Also one will require some dharma. When one has to take shelter of Krishna One is still living in the material world. One has to success.
So one has to have some dharma. So when Krishna says Sarva-dharmanam parityajya mam ekam sharanam vraja What he means is Give up the dharmas which prevent you from taking shelter of me. And adopt the dharma which will enable you to take shelter of me.
So mam ekam sharanam vraja will also require one To act at the material level. Although ultimately one is acting at the spiritual level for Krishna’s pleasure. But that spiritual intention Has to be in this world translated into some actual material world.
And that will involve doing some dharma. So now in the case of Arjuna specifically For him Sarva-dharmanam parityajya was best possible as a Kshatriya. So the essential message of the Bhagavad Gita Is not so dharmam Shreyan so dharmam yonam The essential message is Sarva-dharmanam parityajya.
So now this is with respect to the Bhagavad Gita’s specific context. Now if we move forward and look at Is this an endorsement of the caste system as it exists today? Some people say that there is some Dalit scholar Who has written a book about how The time since Bhagavad Gita became popular Since from that time onwards India started becoming overrun by the Vedas. And he somehow tries to correlate That Bhagavad Gita endorsed the caste system And the caste system caused the fall down of India’s greatness.
And his idea is that if India is to become great It should thoroughly reject the Bhagavad Gita. Now this is a very distorted idea For several reasons. First of all is It’s not just in India People all over the world Some of the greatest thinkers Have found great insights in the Bhagavad Gita.
And so they have not found it sectarian discriminating They have found it to be profoundly Immersed on the Torah So many other thinkers Who had nothing to do with any religious Devotional feelings towards the Bhagavad Gita. And not only that There have been great saints Who actually belong to the lower castes. And they have also glorified the Bhagavad Gita.
And they throughout Especially in the medical ages 14th century to around 17th century There was a whole resurgence of Bhakti in India. And all these saints They all They compose their songs But they all talk about Krishna and the Bhagavad Gita In very laudatory terms. And further if you see If the Bhagavad Gita’s essential message Was a perpetuation of the caste system Then the Bhagavad Gita Would have emphasised that as its conclusion message.
But the conclusion message is the message of Bhakti. And there are several places Where Bhakti Decisively trumps caste. Where Krishna Talks about Bhakti as far more important than Any caste designation.
We see that in 9.32-13 9.32 Krishna says माँपार्प या पार्षिक्ये ये किसी पार्प होने हैं स्ट्रियो वैशास था शूद्रास ते भी यहां की परांगत है That those who are even of lower castes वैशास शूद्रास If they take shelter of me They can also attain supreme perfection. Now some people say Actually This verse itself indicates that Bhagavad Gita is discriminating. Because it says वैशास शूद्रास पापयोन As they are Born in sinful rooms They are sinful.
So is it discriminatory? Actually if you look at the Thrust of the verse Thrust of the verse is not पापयोन. पापयोन is just an incidental Background that is there. Thrust of the verse is that ते पि आनंदि परांग Even if one is of sinful birth If one takes shelter of Krishna One will attain the supreme Destination.
So the reference पापयोन In that verse is simply Acknowledgement Of the social convention at that time. Yes, it is Considered in traditional Vedic society Those who are belonging to Lower castes. They are पापयोन.
Why have they got birth In lower castes? Because They have done some sinful activities in the past. And then once Because of those sinful activities They got certain births. But What the Bhagavad Gita tells us is The starting point doesn’t Matter if we start off.
If we just start off on the path Of Bhakti, then the starting point Doesn’t matter. But So what the Bhagavad Gita is telling us over here It’s not emphasising the starting Point. Or that there is a difference Between different people In terms of their inherited Natures.
This is an undeniable Fact. In a Classroom everybody is not equally talented. And they don’t meet each other most likely.
So there is a difference between our inherited Characteristics. Now where those Inherited characteristics come from They come from genes, scientists say. But then there can be Two twins who have exactly same Genetic content.
They are monozygotic twins. They have gone from the same Zygotomy. Still they have different characteristics.
Different talents, different Moves. Why? So our characteristics don’t just Come from our genes. There are some Other factors involved.
So that there is A difference between different People. That is an undeniable fact. And the materialistic world Doesn’t have a satisfactory Explanation for this Difference between different people.
So the Vedic system says that it is because of one’s past time. But the Gita’s emphasis Is not on that. Gita’s emphasis is That Bhakti if one practises Then the starting points Don’t matter.
Anybody can attain The supreme destination. So the Bhagavad Gita Does not subscribe to the Caste system per se. And if we look at There is a famous verse also.
And again if we see when Krishna Lists the Nature of a Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Kshudra Who are talking about it. He doesn’t Talk about birth at all. He talks about Destiny.
In fact if we see This guna and karma When he is talking about Brahmanas He focusses entirely on Guna. And as he moves down The hierarchy from Brahmana, Kshatriya To Vaishya and Kshudra If Vaishya when he is describing Primarily he describes karma. When he describes about Vaishyas what does he say? He says So Now these are activities.
This is karma. You know Do farming, protect the cows, Do business. These are Activities.
So is it that the Vaishyas Don’t require any qualities? No, Vaishyas also require qualities. But in the case of This analysis, Krishna focusses That both are important, guna and karma. But for the Brahmanas Krishna focused on the gunas.
And for the Vaishyas He focused on karma. But either way In describing one of the Varanas Krishna talks about Janmabhoomi. He talks about Either the qualities or the activities.
So basically There is the Bhagavad Gita doesn’t endorse The caste system. No, it endorses Varanasi. And Varanasi Varanasi is based on Qualities and Activities.
There is qualities and activities. And this arrangement Is done so that It is the best social Arrangement for spiritual advancement. The purpose of Varanasi Means ultimately spiritual advancement.
See Varanasi itself Is not a transcendental system. Maybe Varanasi is transcendental. But Varanasi itself is not transcendental.
It is a particular arrangement That is conducive for spiritual advancement. So Krishna talks about it Because he is Recommending He is giving a material Situation. Everybody is in some material situation.
So how to adjust the material situation In the best possible way For making spiritual advancement. So Now of course our Gaudiya Acharyas often Describe Describe even the Bhagavad Gita In Gaudiya texts. So Some of the Gaudiya Acharyas described that this Shreyaam Swadharma Vighnaam Paradharma Naam Swamishekara.
This verses is like we had When Rabindranath Das was Swami Was given a little bit of milk From the Sakhisthami. He threw it away. He said This is Chandravali’s place.
I will not take. So this is the Gaudiya book. And what is Swadharma? There is Radharani’s group.
There is Chandravali’s group. And Radharani’s group They have devoted only to Radharani. They think that to do anything with Chandravali There is Paradharma.
Shreyaam Swadharma Vighnaam Paradharma Naam Swamishekara. So this is also one way in which Our Gaudiya Acharyas see this. Now somebody may ask you Is this like a Bhagavad Gita is never talking anything about Radharani And Chandravali and this One Swarupa in this.
It is not talking so much about These things. So How can this sort of vision Be brought in over here? The point is That Yes, if you look at the philosophical flow of the Gita, it is not talking about these things. But One characteristic of Krishna consciousness Is to see Krishna in detail.
And the ability To see Krishna even in Krishna’s And his certain pastimes In such verses. This is not a Bhushan It is a Bhushan. It is not a contamination It is ornamentation.
So we won’t talk about this when we are talking about new people. When we explain the Bhagavad Gita. But this is how our Gaudiya scholars Have also seen the Bhagavad Gita In certain Devotional terms.
So now moving forward When we look at Today’s context How would this verse apply to Shreyaam Swadharma Vighnaam Paradharma Naam Swamishekara So in the Mahabharata, there are two Giant conversations. One is the conversation Between both of the Yudhishthira’s present. One is Yudhishthira and Yaksha And the second is Yudhishthira and Bhishma.
So in Yudhishthira and Yaksha Conversation actually it is Yaksha asking, Yudhishthira answering. And then after that That is basically Yudhishthira Speaking over there primarily. Whereas in Yudhishthira-Bhishma conversation Bhishma is speaking and Yudhishthira is hearing.
Both are huge conversations. So in the Yudhishthira-Yaksha Conversation, the Yaksha Asks Yudhishthira By what is a Brahmana to you? Is it by birth? Or is it by qualities? So then Yudhishthira says By qualities. It is not by birth It is not by anything else but by qualities.
And then he asks what are the qualities of a Brahmana? Then he says There is several qualities of a Brahmana. And then the Yaksha says But these qualities are seen Even in people of other Varanas. So then he says If somebody from other Varana Exhibits these qualities Then that person should be considered to be a Brahmana.
Then Yaksha asks If that is the case Then what is the need for Varanasi? If anybody can be born in any Varana That person has a quality of Another Varana. And that person belongs to another Varana. So why have this whole elaborate division of Varanasi? So Yudhishthira Maharaj says over there That actually Originally or traditionally One’s birth Would coincide With one’s qualities.
That means when a Brahmana and a Brahmana unite They attract a soul Who is of a Brahmanic disposition. So traditionally The birth Would be a good predictor of one’s qualities. But he says over the generations Because of mixing And inter-mixing and Inter-caste marriages And that sort of mixing The Varanas have become mixed.
And that’s why qualities should be The primary basis For ascertaining Varana. So he signals again that even in Yudhishthira Maharaj’s time He is telling that okay The original Varanasi is not there Now things have become deviated Things have become distorted. And the same thing Krishna also says In the Bhagavad Gita when he says That Sakaale nirhamanda yogo nashtah parna So that knowledge I have given to Vasuwan He says in 4.1. In 4.2 he says That that knowledge is not lost.
So that means sometimes We read the Mahabharata and say Why did this person look like this? Why did this person do like that? You have to understand that the Mahabharata is not depicted In an ideal human society. It is depicting a society Which has deviated from ideal principles But which is trying to Return to those ideal principles. So The purpose we are discussing in this conversation is That the Bhagavad Gita Is a part of the Mahabharata.
And the Mahabharata describes That actually It is ultimately qualities That are necessary for determining one’s Varanasi. So when we come to Today’s situation You know Our birth is not Very often a predictor of our Varanasi. If you look at today’s Social cultural reality In Indian or Hindu society Actually for most people More important than Varanasi Is their Jati.
The people actually Before coming to this point I had not even heard the word Varanasi. The only thing people talk about is Jati. So normally people Prabhupada If at all he uses the word caste he equates it with Varanasi.
Then he translates it. But the way it is in today’s In the outside world People equate caste not so much with Varanasi Because they don’t know about the Varanasi. They use the word Jati.
Now this word Jati is also used by our By the Bhakti scriptures. Jati Guruji, Vaishnava Jati Guruji To look at one’s Jati. Jati of a Vaishnava And then label of a Vaishnava accordingly is often seen.
So now Jati Actually speaking if we see There is Varana and Jati. So Jati is supposed to be a subdivision Of Varana. Even among Brahmanas There can be different Brahmanas.
So there can be different kinds of Brahmanas. It’s a subdivision. And that subdivision has become Primarily important.
And that’s up in today’s society. And that subdivision which is there Is largely Based on Only on ancestral language. That has very little to do With Varanasi.
So if 5000 years ago At the start of Kali Yuga The society had deviated from Varanasi Then after 5000 years of Kali Yuga How much more it will have deviated from Varanasi. So it’s natural that there are going to be Distortions in today’s society. And the Bhagavad Gita does not In any way support the discriminatory Caste system that is there today.
Actually Prabhupada wanted Varanasi. He said that’s 50% of my body. But then he did not In any way try to sort of Divide devotees.
That this devotee is a Kshatriya, this devotee is a Vaishya, This devotee is a Shudra. Prabhupada wanted everybody to be treated in a Dramatical way. And in fact The way It was arranged that most devotees Will take the first initiative, will take second initiative also.
They take Brahmin, Kshatriya also. So in that sense Prabhupada is not in a direct Way trying to divide society Literally into Four Varanasi. So that was not a Recommendation.
So then what is applicable to this society? So we have to look at The Gita’s conclusive message. Sarva Dharma I take shelter of you. I take shelter of you in a way That is most An act in a material life In a way that is most conducive for all Spiritual advancements.
So for people to try To determine their Varanasi is very difficult. Bhaktivinoda Thakura In his books Talks about Vaigyanik Varanasi. Vaigyanik, scientific Varanasi.
And these exist In a different word used for Devi Varanasi. And he says, actually That when the Varna is to be determined The parents should be Observant and the spiritual mentors Should also observe the child. And by observing the child, by the time The child reaches the age of 4 or 5 The child’s Varna can be ascertained.
And if there is An uncertainty, then He says that If there is a village, in the village the elders can form A Sangha, a committee And they can Keep their child under minute Observation for a longer period. Till they can ascertain the Varna. And then, once the Varna is Ascertained, then the Child can be trained accordingly So that he can continue In his life later.
That can become his vocation. But he says, in case The Varna is not Determinable, or people have already chosen A particular vocation. So they don’t have to Change their vocation Just to, they don’t have to go about Trying to find out what is my Varna.
And then, they have to do whatever Is unknown for them. And that is how we see most devotees act in our lives. We cannot go about Trying to find out our Varna.
It’s very difficult in terms of In their specific Qualities. One result Of the intermixing over Generations is that Often Our qualities are a mix of all Varnas. Or of different Varnas.
Sometimes we have a little bit of Brahminical disposition Sometimes a little bit of Kshatriya disposition Sometimes a little bit of Vaishya disposition. So now, This sort of division is not literally Watertight. We see among the five Pandavas Yudhishthira is a Kshatriya.
But he is a Kshatriya With a Brahminical orientation. When they are In the forest. And that time Yudhishthira is quite satisfied.
Discussing Scripture with the Sages. And enriching his Knowledge of Scripture. But Yudhishthira is practically Breathing fire.
And he just can’t stop remembering the Insight. And seeing Yudhishthira So peacefully absorbed in Scripture. That infuriates him Further.
So, Both of them are Kshatriyas. But within Kshatriyas also, there can be variety. And We see that Bhima Has a more Sort of violent nature than even Arjuna.
There are many times when Arjuna Has to be extremely Even in the gambling match itself When things Come to a boiling point. At that Time, Bhima gets so angry. He says, Yudhishthira Please raise.
There are Kings who are Drunker than the fellows. But even They. And they have in their assembly Hundreds of Maids.
But no matter how drunk They become, they don’t Gamble even one of their maids like this. And you have gambled. He says, These hands which have gambled away properly They Do not deserve to live.
And he turns to Nakula and he says, Nakula, get fire. I have Burned the hands which have gambled Away properly. Yudhishthira is so mortified At what has happened.
He doesn’t even look. He is completely Devastated. And Bhima is furious.
And seeing this dissension between The Pandavas, Duryodhana Is gloating. He always Wanted to create dissension between Duryodhana, Karna, Vishwas and Bhima. And then Arjuna Catches Bhima And he says, Have you ever spoken like this to Yudhishthira? And he says, Yudhishthira gambled only because he was Instructed by his Enemies.
And he Had no desire to gamble. He was still not Passive. And then Arjuna is also very intelligent.
He knows How to use Bhima’s nature. And he says, Bhima Already our enemies are Delighting. Do you want to increase The delight of our enemies by public Dissension among us? Bhima can’t stop him.
What he does is, basically He restrains himself. He says, Yes, I know what you are saying is right. If I had any doubt about What Yudhishthira was doing, then I would have stopped the gambling match.
And everything would have been devastated Long before this. So the point which I am making is We cannot stereotype Just a person based on Varanasi. Even if there is a Varanasi person, A Kshatriya, there can be a Kshatriya Who will be more Brahminic in nature.
There can be a Kshatriya with Much more, I don’t know, much more say Nature towards violence. There can be different people with different natures. Even within a particular Varanasi.
One discussion can be more, one discussion can be less. So when Devotees When different devotees were Introduced to Krishna Consciousness How did Sri Krishna Prabhupada engage them? Sri Krishna Prabhupada Did not Try to go about determining their value. He basically Engaged them according to what was needed.
And it substituted At certain times and they already took up certain services. Prabhupada encouraged them to take up certain services. So For most of us In today’s society How will things work? As we practise devotional service We do our sadhana.
That is our primary maam ekam sadhana. So we have a material swadharma That is according to Varanama. Whatever it may be.
But more importantly we have a spiritual dharma. And then when we are doing our sadhana seriously That is common for everyone. Once we are doing that We do whatever services our senior devotees tell us.
But along with that We also observe What are the things which I am good at? What are the things that I like to do? The guna and karma It can also be Understood as Whatever is our guna We feel internally comfortable doing that. And whatever is our karma We are externally competent in doing that. So if I am an Intellectual then If that is my guna then I feel comfortable doing that.
And I am competent In studying and teaching. So while doing different services we observe What is it that I am externally And internally comfortable doing. And externally competent.
And then I take that up Over a period of time as my main service. And then we focus On serving Krishna In the way that is most Most conducive for us And most conducive for our Contribution to Krishna’s mission. This was in no way Endorses The Discriminatory caste system.
Actually it is talking about A pristine Varnashrama which was Contaminated even in the time of Arjuna. And which got further Contaminated by those engineers. And now It is a very ugly caricature Of what is originally there.
So the Bhagavad Gita’s Recommendation to DC ultimately Is that we have to practise Purely as an institution. And while practising purely as an institution Whatever is required Whatever is best suited according to our nature According to our circumstances We do that at the material level. And When some devotees came back To India from Maratha Vishwa Prabhupada And the devotees were There in Mumbai In Sadhu Shambhala and other programmes It created a big big sensation.
Prabhupada was a foreign disciple Dancing and singing. So there was a lot of news coverage came up. So at that time one of the news coverage came Was that Different devotees were interviewed.
And as I said one devotee was a carpenter. He was a carpenter. And Then some person wrote a letter In the newspaper That ok These foreign people Who are chanting and dancing They cannot be They cannot be considered authentic Hindus.
Because they are low level Hindus. As it is evident One of them was a carpenter. He can never become a grounder.
So now Prabhupada’s reply Was very interesting. Prabhupada used a phrase Which was quite the trend at that time. The phrase was popularised by Mahatma Gandhi He talked about dignity of labour.
He had the idea that Basically The caste system has created a lot of Conflict and destruction In Indian society. And there are many thinkers who have spoken against it. Prabhupada also was not in favour Of the caste system as it was.
So he had the idea that Even the lowest of occupations There should be dignity of labour for it. So Prabhupada said In his reply Published in a newspaper, Prabhupada said In the western countries there is a dignity of labour. And whatever A person is doing That is considered respect.
It is not like in Indian society where If a person is doing some low level work, that person is put down. And more importantly He said my disciples are following The principles of Hinduism. They are following the foreign people’s principles.
They are chanting. They are devoting their life to Hinduism. So He says They are far far more than just authentic devotees.
They are very serious devotees. So Prabhupada defended And what was the basis of his defence? Twofold. One is that he talked about how they are practising spiritual principles.
And then secondly He introduced this term Dignity of labour. So what is Prabhupada trying to say by using this phrase Dignity of labour? Actually the important point That Prabhupada was making is That don’t cast aspersions On a devotee based on past Life experience. Past life experience.
So you know ultimately We want to inspire everyone In the ritual service. It’s not that some devotee If somebody is working in a Working in a company, you know taking a salary From somebody, that is the work of a Shudra. And there is no need to Deliberate and minimise somebody That person is a devotee practising Ritual service.
There is no need to Look at that To focus too much on that To obsess on that. The important point Is that person is practising these things. And if we look in today’s Society, there There may be certain occupations Certain activities which may not Have been considered respectable In the past In traditional society.
But They are considered respectable now. So for example You know being employed in a multinational company That is considered very glamorous Nowadays. And now We may say oh from a social Perspective you are serving a rich And somebody may start taking that And try to look down on that.
But what purpose does it serve? Does it encourage devotees? Does it encourage other people? People who are in much respectable Positions, even if there is much Respectable positions, may be Respectable from today’s social perspective You know they can attract Other people to their sessions. When there is this Shri Akbar talks in a few Kulki’s prayers Janmaheshwar Krishnagiri, Edaman, Madan Kumar So he says Janmaheshwar Krishnagiri These four are the results of Past good karma. And then when he is speaking to America and he says That all of you You have got birth in a very prosperous country This is called Past good karma.
Now use Use this You have got so many particularly good things Now use this, add Krishna to it And then you will not want to lose it. Now if somebody wanted to Be a stickler to whom? Actually birth in America is not Bad karma, it’s a lechha janvi It’s a lechha janvi So he said there was this There was this cricket Match, not, there is world chess championship Between Some European So After that Some Hindu newspaper What a Sad pity, a lechha has defeated a Brahmin So This is something which has Got dragging concepts From nowhere into nowhere Today’s society What do people understand by using the word lechha And what is What has that got to do with sports like cricket So in Prabhupada’s Presentation was quite tactical In today’s society America at that time was very Prosperous country And it is still in some prosperous way today So from a material Point of view, the prosperity Was there for a particular Modern era. Prabhupada said yes You have got this, that is the past Use it to push yourself Now similarly Even from the spiritual perspective, from the Philosophical perspective when I say that Certain occupations may be unfavourable Or may be low level or high level But if they can be used In sharing Krishna Consciousness, in being respectful to Krishna Consciousness, then that Should be accepted and That should be encouraged And in this way The whole principle is That there are concentric circles With expanding radii And the influence of Krishna Consciousness Spreads further and further There are devotees at the centre Are devotees who are very seriously Practising, living a Brahminical life And they are focused on Krishna But then there may be other concentric Circles of devotees Who also have Aim for Krishna But then they may not be practising Krishna But they are all Creating spiritual ripples in society And as Prabhupada said In the Bhagavatam, you want a re-spiritualization In society, so that They can also contribute to it So this verse Ultimately is not An endorsement of the instrumentary caste history If you look at the conclusion of the Gita It focusses on Practising devotional service and accepting That which is favourable For the practise of devotional service So whether it is in Brahmacharya Ashram What service we should do Or whether it is in Grahastha Ashram What occupation a person should take up The primary criteria should be How best can I practise Bhakti And for that, whatever I am Internally competent or externally competent I can choose this So I’ll summarise what we discussed We started by talking about How Comprehension of a concept requires That you have to contain and be conscious And Krishna talks about Shreyasadharanam twice First he says, your destruction is preferable Second time he says, actually there is no destruction There is no contamination also And if you look at The emphasis Specifically with respect to the context of the Gita Krishna says, better act as a Kshatriya Don’t act as a dharma And the conclusion is You take shelter of all dharmas Which obstruct you from taking shelter of them And pick up a dharma which enables you to take shelter So that dharma is For Arjuna, Kshatriya dharma is But What it will be in other circumstances That we may We discussed the lecture yesterday Somewhere, where primarily It is by the qualities of a person That the Varna is to be created And then we look also Krishna doesn’t mention janma, he mentions the qualities And the activities Characterising the four varnas And then in today’s society We discussed how things are like There can be a lot of possible Attempts to assert The varna early in the childhood But ultimately the focus is To practise devotional service And according to what we are Competent and comfortable at We practise devotional service And we don’t break, import into today’s society Value judgments Like lecture, which has no relevance In today’s culture We should propagate this pragmatically Concerning the dignity of people And focus on the principle Of devotion And in this way, the Bhagavad Gita concludes a message Of Ma Nityananda Chakra In the Indian culture Thank you very much Any comments, corrections Any questions Thank you very much Shri Mat Bhagavad Gita Ki Jai Jai Jai