The Death of Sanatana Dharma
Prabhupada: Sastra-vakya-pramana. And it should be known through the spiritual master. Just like nowadays Bhagavad-gita is being interpreted in so many foolish ways because they do not accept explanation from the authority. They become themselves authorities. Therefore misused. That is not explanation. Somebody is explaining that Kuruksetra means this body, panca-pandava means the senses. These are all nonsense. You have to accept Bhagavad-gita as it is. When you cannot understand, you should get it explained by your spiritual master. Therefore one has to accept a spiritual master to understand. Tad-vijnanartham. In order to understand that transcendental science one must approach a bona fide spiritual master. That is injunction. So here it is said that kanyakubje dvijah. Dvijah means he was offered the sacred thread. That means he was born in a brahmana family. Janmana jayate sudrah. Everyone is born a sudra, a foolish. Sudra means a foolish man who simply laments. That is the real meaning of sudra. Anyone who has no intelligence, he is sudra. We also generally say, gadah, less intelligent. So brahmanas, ksatriyas, vaisyas, they are called higher caste. According to their... Brahmana, first-class because his intelligence is first-class, ksatriya's intelligence is second-class. Vaisya, his intelligence is third-class. And sudra means fourth-class. And less than sudra, they are called pancama, candala. They are accepted as animals, those who are less than sudras. This is the Vedic system. Now, here it is said that this Ajamila, dvija... Dvija means he was properly initiated, second birth. First birth by father, mother, is sudra. Anyone, even if he is born in a Brahmana family, the natural birth is considered as sudra. But if there is garbhadhana-samskara, then he's accepted as born Brahmana, born Brahmana. Still, one is born Brahmana, he has to undergo the samskaras. So our, this... Now it is known as Hindu society although the "Hindu" word is given by the Mohammedans. It is called sanatana-dharma or varnasrama society, who very strictly follow the four divisions, social divisions of varna—Brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra—and four divisions of spiritual life—brahmachari, grihastha, vanaprastha, and sannyasa. So our, the Vedic system is called varnasrama. Varna means the social order. Asrama means spiritual division. Therefore those who are following strictly the Vedic principle, that family life is called grihastha asrama. Asrama. Whenever you add this word asrama there is spiritual significance. So all the division--brahmacari, grihasta, vanaprastha, and sannyasa--they are known as asrama. Anyone can understand asrama. As soon as there is asrama that means "Here some men, saintly persons, spiritually advanced persons, lives." That is asrama. So that asrama, when a student follows the regulative principles, he is supposed to be situated in brahmacari asrama. A householder living with family, husband, wife, children, if they are following strictly the regulative principles—grihasta asrama. Similarly, retired life, if he is following the regulative principles—the vanaprastha asrama. Similarly, a renounced life, sannyasa, if he is following the regulative principles, that is sannyasa asrama. Not that imitating somebody, I put on a saffron dress and I become a sannyasi and by begging I live. This has killed the whole Hindu society or the sanatana-dharma society. Unqualified persons, they do not know the regulative principles but for solution of economic problem they dress themselves. This is Kali-yuga. They will pass on simply by the dress without any knowledge.
Room Conversation; December 12, 1970, Indore
