Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
In response to your request that I participate in a panel discussion on
varnasrama-dharma, I have to decline. The first reason is that the timings
you indicate - 10 to 12 PM on the 22nd or 23rd - conflict with a seminar
that I am giving at the gurukula. The second reason is that I have been
sick with a fever, cough and sore throat, which makes it difficult for
me to speak.
But I have looked over your list of questions. In response, I
would like to offer you the following thoughts. While my thoughts are not
point-by-point replies to your questions, they are in my humble opinion
essential to any serious discussion on varnasrama. I offer these thoughts
to you with the suggestion that perhaps your discussion group should reconsider
its present emphasis on "how to" question, and consider more the "why"
question. I can appreciate that your discussion group is anxious to get
things moving in a practical direction, to "do something". But varnasrama-dharma
means much more than just doing something. Lord Krsna speaks of varnasrama
as a matter of *guna* as well as *karma*. In my understanding, a basic
plan for varnasrama "karma" is already apparent in the material world.
However, it is perverted. Why is it perverted? Because it is devoid of
*guna*, or quality.
In daivi-varnasrama-dharma, the qualities (gunas) of the varnas are
most uncommon. These gunas are daivi (divine). They are described by Narada
Muni to Maharaja Yudhisthira in Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 7 chapter 11. In
verses 8-12, Narada lists "the general principles to be followed by all
human beings" (i.e. all varnas). Prabhupada clearly states in the purport
that these principles are for everyone, even Muslim, Christians and Buddhists.
Amazingly, these are the basic qualities attributed in Bhagavad-gita
to the brahmanas: satyam (truthfulness), daya (mercy), tapah (austerity),
saucam (cleanliness), titiksa (toleration), sama (control of the mind),
dama (control of the senses), ahimsa (nonviolence), brahmacarya (celibacy),
tyaga (giving up at least 50% of one's income), svadhyaya (study of the
sastra), arjavam (simplicity), and so on. That daivi-varnasrama is
predominated by the *spiritual* guna is what I think sets it apart
from materialistic varnasrama-dharma. Then in verse 13, Narada describes
the qualities of the dvijas (twice-born), which means the brahmanas, ksatriyas
and vaisyas. He says these varnas follow the four asramas (brahmacari,
grhastha, vanaprastha and sannyasa). Hence we can understand that
sudras are those who do not graduate thorough all four asramas. After outlining
the duties of each varna in verses 11-23, Narada again returns to their
qualities (brahmana qualities are presented in verse 21, ksatriya in 22,
vaisya in 23 and sudra in 24).
Finally, in verses 25-29, Narada speaks of the qualities and duties
of a Vedic woman. You ask if women form a separate varna. I don't find
Prabhupada ever saying they form a separate varna, but a guna and karma
that is specific to them is prescribed by Narada in these verses. Apart
from this specific guna-karma, the general qualities that signify *daivi*
varnasrama apply to women as much as to all human beings.
There is a difference between ability and competency. In my understanding,
a person's karma is his ability, but his karma plus hi guna adds up to
his *competency* to perform a varna duty as prescribed in the sastra. In
Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krsna speaks of sukrtinas and duskrtinas. Both have
ability. But only the sukrtinas are competent to execute the dharmic mission
of human life. Just like any doctor certified by a medical school will
have the *ability* to cure others of disease. Yet if he is a drunkard,
that doctor is considered *incompetent* because he cannot perform his duty
properly due to a poor fund of good qualities. Therefore I take "varna"
(which is composed of guna and karma) to mean "competency identity".
To make clearer this idea of "competency identity", there is a verse in
Caitanya-caritamrta (Adi 17.30) in which bhakti-dharma (which may also
be called Bhagavat-dharma or daivi-varnasrama-dharma) is defined thusly:
sada nama la-iba, yatha-labhete santosa
eita acara kare bhakti-dharma-posa
TRANSLATION: One should strictly follow the principle of always chanting the holy name, and one should be satisfied with whatever he gets easily. Such devotional behavior solidly maintains one's devotional service.
A devotee is "competent" so long as he is solidly fixed in his
service to the holy name, and so long as his situation in society is satisfying
and yields easily whatever he needs to carry on in his dharma. Problems
arise in society when there is a conflict between the guna (which, according
to Narada, primarily means spiritual qualities) and the karma. If one's
karma is not satisfying and does not easily yield what one needs to maintain
his dharma, there is a danger of one losing the qualities of a devotee
due to agitation of a mind. Also, if one's karma yields an excess of material
wealth, that too will tempt a incompetent person to abandon devotional
qualities (for example, the principle of tyaga mentioned above). As Srila
Prabhupada stated in the Bhagavat-dharma discourses he held in New Vrndavana
in 1972:
One should work only enough to keep the body functioning in order
to execute *dharma*. If more money comes, then it should not be used for
sense gratification but for Krsna. Therefore in ages past, rich men used
to employ their money by constructing temples or churches. At the present
moment, however, churches are being transformed into factories and post
offices because people have lost their sense of religion. Thus people have
become animalistic, and peace and prosperity are not possible in a society
of animals.
So in conclusion, a devotee's varna or "competency identity"
is to be understood by the happy harmony between his guna - which again,
in daivi-varnasrama primarily means *spiritual* guna - and his karma. In
practical terms, this means that a devotee who is solidly fixed in his
service to the holy name while performing brahmana-karma nicely and who
is satisfied with whatever easily comes to him as a brahmana is a *competent
brahmana*. Same with the vaisya.
You ask, "Who is a sudra in ISKCON?" A sudra in ISKCON must have
the general qualities prescribed for all bona fide participants in daivi-varnasrama.
But if he is obliged to run his own business, or manage a social community,
or act as the intellectual head of society, he will be incompetent. In
the Bhagavat-dharma discourses, Srila Prabhupada explained: In all
societies there is a class of men concerned with the cultivation and broadcasting
of knowledge - scientific and philosophical knowledge. Such men are supposed
to have brahminical qualifications, because if one distributes knowledge
he must have a good brain and education, for a fool and a rascal is not
capable. And in all societies there are politicians and administrators
(*ksartiyas*) who are supposed to be under the guidance of the intelligent
class in order to keep society in a peaceful situation. In all societies
there are merchants, shop keepers and farmers (*vaisyas*), otherwise how
could men live? And the forth class, the laborer class (*sudra*), is there
in all societies, for every society needs a class of working men. This
class may have neither great intelligence, nor administrative, nor productive
ability, but they can work under the direction of some higher authorities...
Everyone can cultivate his particular occupational duty with the aim of
attaining ultimate salvation. Human life is meant for salvation, for liberation
from the bondage of birth and death.
So, regarding the sudras, Srila Prabhupada writes that while
they have neither great intelligence, nor administrative nor productive
ability, they are satisfied to work under the direction of some higher
authority. This brings up what I feel is a very important consideration
about how daivi varnasrama-dharma is supposed to work. The whole scheme
depends on the principle of a natural affinity of the social classes to
work with each other in Krsna consciousness, as much as the parts of the
human body have an affinity to work together harmoniously. Daivi means
"godly", so that affinity is the natural attraction, appreciation and respect
devotees feel for one another as servants of God. There can be no daivi-varnasrama
without the foremost principle of sadhu-sangha. The materialistic version
of varnasrama (caste-ism) puts more stress on division. Daivi-varnasrama
puts more stress on unity, or unity in diversity. Actually, only daivi-varnasrama
is really dharma, because dharma actually refers to God or Krsna. Srila
Prabhupada explains in his Bhagavat-dharma discourses:
Brahmanye dharma-varmani. Dharma-varmani refers to He who embodies
all religious principles. The Sanskrit word *dharma* actually refers to
God or Krsna. Generally, *dharma* is translated into English as religion,
but this is not a perfect translation, for *dharma* is different from religion.
Religion is usually defined in a dictionary as a kind of faith, but *dharma*
is not really a faith... As liquidity is the natural state of water, similarly
*dharma* is the natural state of the living entity. Since the living entity
is part and parcel of God, he has a natural position. For instance, one's
finger is part and parcel of the body, and as such it has a natural position...
In this way the finger serves the whole body. Similarly, *dharma* indicates
that the living entity, being part and parcel of God, must serve Him. ...
Service is actually meant for God, but because we have forgotten Him, we
are rendering service to so many forms of *maya*. Srila Prabhupada
distinguished between nivrtti-marga varnasrama-dharma and other social
systems aimed at sense enjoyment. The following section of quotations from
the Bhagavat-dharma discourses shows that real Vedic dharma, or *varnasrama-dharma*,
is *nivrtti-dharma*. Accordingly, the *yajna* (sacrificial work) meant
for each and every occupation of the social body's four parts aims at liberation.
Besides nivrtti-marga varnasrama-dharma, there is the Vedic *pravrtti-marga*.
And there is "Hindu dharma" and modern technological society. Materialistic
social systems work for some kind of substitute for real liberation.
According to the Vedic system, there are two paths: *pravrtti-marga*
or the path of sense enjoyment, and *nivrtti-marga*, or the path of renunciation.
We have come within the material world to enjoy material resources, and
this is the path of *pravrtti*. However, when a person comes to understand
that he is not the body but the soul, then his occupation changes, and
he enters onto the path of *nivrtti*.
We have already described *dharma* as occupational duty. According
to the Vedic system, we are supposed to follow the *varnasrama-dharma*.
However, at the present moment "Hindu *dharma*" has become very ambiguous.
Actually the Vedic literatures never mention a thing as "Hindu *dharma*".
Such an expression is never found in *Bhagavad-gita*, *Srimad-Bhagavatam*
or any other authorized scripture. Unfortunately, in India the term "Hindu
*dharma*" has become very prominent. This is unfortunate because so-called
Hindu *dharma* is a vitiation of the real Vedic *dharma*, which is *varnasrama-dharma*.
Everyone can cultivate his particular occupational duty with
the aim of attaining ultimate salvation. Human life is meant for salvation,
for liberation from the bondage of birth and death. Unfortunately at present
the so-called intellectual class of men has no information of ultimate
liberation.
Formerly, the *brahmanas* used to learn Ayurvedic medicine and
astrology. The lower castes - the *ksatriys*, *vaisyas* and *sudras* -
used to consult the *brahmanas* on these two subjects. Everyone wants to
know about his health, and therefore everyone wants to know about the future,
so by studying these, the *brahmanas* could supply the information required.
However, *Srimad-Bhagavatam* points out: "I am not this body". As
pointed out previously, to accept a *dharma* is to nullify all these *vargas*
- hard work, fear, frustration and death. One should not think, however,
that executing *dharma* is simply going to church or temple and asking
God for some bread. ... Such a prayer means that one does not know how
to pray. One should rather pray to God to grant him release from material
miseries.
If one does not work for Yajna, Visnu, he is bound by the reaction
of his work. If one works piously, he is elevated to higher planetary systems,
or he becomes a rich man's son. By performing pious activities, one may
get a good birth (*janma*) in an aristocratic or rich family, or one may
receive good learning (*sruta*) or one may be rewarded by a beautiful body
(*sri*). These are the results of pious activities. And if one performs
impious activities, he receives just the opposite: birth in a low family,
poor education and an ugly body. Generally people understand *dharma* by
these things. But *Srimad-Bhagavatam* says that *dharma*, religious principles,should
be executed in order to nullify material benefits. Whether one becomes
poor or rich he has to undergo the tribulations of material existence.
Just because one is a rich man, he cannot avoid death. The poor man also
works hard but for even less money and is also subjected to the other tribulations.
Some people think that if they become rich all their tribulations will
be ended, but who would think that by becoming rich he will be free from
old age, disease and death?
Modern educated society does not know what *vimukti* is. They
may know what liberation is, but they do not know what the ultimate liberation
is. The scientists, for instance, are trying to give us so many facilities
by developing the machine. In a sense, this is also *vimukti*. We may be
inconvenienced and have to travel a far distance, so the scientists devise
some kind of "horseless carriage" that can travel long distances at great
speeds. In a sense, then, this is also *vimukti*. In the world every attempt
is being made at *vimukti*, for getting out of some inconvenient situation.
The tragedy is, however, that no one knows of the ultimate *vimukti*. The
ultimate *vimukti* is to attain freedom from birth, old age, disease and
death.
Furthering our material comforts is not real progress. Actually
our comforts and discomforts are already settled as soon as we get a particular
type of body. Some bodies entail a great deal of suffering, and others
entail less. If we buy a very cheap car, our ride will not be comfortable,
and if we buy a very expensive car, our ride will be comfortable. The degree
of comfort is determined beforehand by the amount of money we put into
a vehicle. There is no necessity in trying to improve it. Indeed we cannot
improve it. In the human body a certain amount of discomfort is destined
to come.
Now, to bring all this to a conclusion, we should always remember
that varnasrama is Vedic, and Vedic means the true path of knowledge that
frees a human being from repeated birth and death. The terms brahmana,
ksatriya, vaisya and sudra refer to four orders of Vedic knowledge in society.
I find it a bit perplexing that in your list of questions, education (part
III) is given less attention that other areas, when in fact if we are concerned
with VEDIC society, then the education of the varnas and asramas must assume
the first rank of importance. Vedic education is primarily concerned with
inculcating good qualities in the human. Good qualities in human society
cannot be legislated by government. In a Bhagavatam lecture, Srila Prabhupada
stated:
And if there is want to good men, how you can expect peace and
prosperity in the world? If everyone is full of rascaldom, how you can
expect? You are... Why you are accusing the government? The government
is your representative. You are rascals, fools. You select some rascal
and fool. How you can expect good government? Democracy. You become good
man. You will see government is good. So therefore the mass education should
be how to become good man.
It seems to me that Srila Prabhupada established ISKCON to provide
this mass education. Therefore, for example, he called for the formation
of a Varnasrama College. The first question on your list is "What is ISKCON's
(the institution's) responsibility for the social development of its members?"
The only answer I can see to this question is that ISKCON's responsibility
is to first educate its members in the *gunas* (qualities) that Narada
prescribes for all human beings, and then educate them further in the qualities
and duties assigned to the specific varnas (including women).
After having been so educated, those who wish to practice nivrtti-marga
varnasrama-dharma ought to remain in ISKCON. This means their only goal
in life is to fully comprehend transcendental knowledge. Those who wish
to practice pravrtti-marga varnasrama (which allows for some measure of
involvement in bodily consciousness) should establish themselves separately
form the institution. But they should offer the institution some part of
the results of their work as yajna. In practical ISKCON terms, I believe
the dividing line between nivrtti and pravrtti falls "more or less" between
the classifications of madhyama and kanistha adhikaris. Srila Prabhupada
said kanistha devotees are not expert in transcendental knowledge, and
that they are somewhat attached to sense gratification. But kanisthas become
purified by worshiping the Deity in their own home. Srila Prabhupada also
noted thatthe kanistha aspiration is to become a fully qualified puja-brahmana.
So from this we should conclude that in the pravrtti-marga, all four varnas
are active. But as was noted above in a quotation, the brahmanas of the
pravrtti-marga are not so expert in transcendental knowledge... people
come to them for ritualistic puja, and also for astrology and ayurveda.
In the ISKCON institution, all varnas are also active. But these are nivrtti-marga
varnas, which are dedicated to transcendental knowledge. Thus the members
of these varnas are dedicated preachers or are dedicated activeservants
of the preaching (i.e. the foremost motivation of their dharma is to see
transcendental knowledge expand throughout the world). The brahmanas preach
transcendental knowledge very scientifically. The ksatriyas manage the
distribution of transcendental knowledge. The vaisyas distribute transcendental
knowledge through business enterprises (for example prasadam distribution,
or even book distribution that is done more in business fashion that as
preaching). The sudras help the others. Gopal Bhatta Gosvami, in the *Sat
Kriya Sara Dipika*, states "The sudra who is servant of a brahmana and
devotee is superior to the ksatriya and vaisya". The "brahmana and devotee"
(brahmana-vaisnava) is the direct preacher; thus one who directly serves
the direct preacher is most fortunate, even if he is only competent to
act as a sudra.
Both the kanistha and madhyama devotees revere and aspire for
the good qualities that Narada Muni prescribes for the human being in Vedic
society. And both develop these qualities by their dharma. The kanistha
develop these qualities for their own good. The madhyamas develop them
for the good of the whole world. I think this is enough for now. Thank
you for engaging me in this service.
Your servant,
Suhotra Swami
(Text 149) -------------------------------------------------
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