19850416 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.6.30

The following is a class given by Jayapatākā Swami on April 16, 1985 in Bangkok, Thailand. The class begins with a reading from the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3rd Canto, chapter 6, verse 30.

mukhato ’vartata brahma
puruṣasya kurūdvaha
yas tūnmukhatvād varṇānāṁ
mukhyo ’bhūd brāhmaṇo guruḥ
(ŚB 3.6.30)

Translation: O chief of the Kuru dynasty, the Vedic wisdom became manifested from the mouth of the virāṭ, the gigantic form. Those who are inclined to this Vedic knowledge are called brāhmaṇas, and they are the natural teachers and spiritual masters of all the orders of society.

Purport: As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (4.13), the four orders of human society developed with the order of the body of the gigantic form. The bodily divisions are the mouth, arms, waist and legs. Those who are situated on the mouth are called brāhmaṇas, those who are situated on the arms are called kṣatriyas, those who are situated on the waist are called vaiśyas, and those who are situated on the legs are called śūdras. Everyone is situated in the body of the Supreme in His gigantic viśva-rūpa form. In terms of the four orders, therefore, no caste is to be considered degraded because of being situated on a particular part of the body. In our own bodies we do not show any actual difference in our treatment towards the hands or legs. Each and every part of the body is important, although the mouth is the most important of the bodily parts. If other parts are cut off from the body, a man can continue his life, but if the mouth is cut off, one cannot live. Therefore, this most important part of the body of the Lord is called the sitting place of the brāhmaṇas, who are inclined to the Vedic wisdom. One who is not inclined to the Vedic wisdom but to mundane affairs cannot be called a brāhmaṇa, even if he is born of a brāhmaṇa family or father. To have a brāhmaṇa father does not qualify one as a brāhmaṇa. The main qualification of a brāhmaṇa is to be inclined to the Vedic wisdom. The Vedas are situated on the mouth of the Lord, and therefore anyone who is inclined to the Vedic wisdom is certainly situated on the mouth of the Lord, and he is a brāhmaṇa. This inclination towards Vedic wisdom is also not restricted to any particular caste or community. Anyone from any family and from any part of the world may become inclined to the Vedic wisdom, and that will qualify him as a real brāhmaṇa.

A real brāhmaṇa is the natural teacher or spiritual master. Unless one has Vedic knowledge, one cannot become a spiritual master. The perfect knowledge of the Vedas is to know the Lord, the Personality of Godhead, and that is the end of Vedic knowledge, or Vedānta. One who is situated in the impersonal Brahman and has no information of the Supreme Personality of Godhead may become a brāhmaṇa, but he cannot become a spiritual master. It is said in the Padma Purāṇa:

ṣaṭ-karma-nipuṇo vipro
mantra-tantra-viśāradaḥ
avaiṣṇavo gurur na syād
vaiṣṇavaḥ śva-paco guruḥ

An impersonalist can become a qualified brāhmaṇa, but he cannot become a spiritual master unless and until he is promoted to the stage of a Vaiṣṇava, or a devotee of the Personality of Godhead. Lord Caitanya, the great authority of Vedic wisdom in the modern age, stated:

kibā vipra, kibā nyāsī, śūdra kene naya
yei kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā, sei ‘guru’ haya

A person may be a brāhmaṇa or a śūdra or a sannyāsī, but if he happens to be well versed in the science of Kṛṣṇa, then he is fit to become a spiritual master. (Cc. Madhya 8.128)

The qualification, then, of a spiritual master is not to be a qualified brāhmaṇa, but to be well versed in the science of Kṛṣṇa.

One who is conversant with Vedic wisdom is a brāhmaṇa. And only a brāhmaṇa who is a pure Vaiṣṇava and knows all the intricacies of the science of Kṛṣṇa can become a spiritual master.

Translation: O chief of the Kuru dynasty, the Vedic wisdom became manifested from the mouth of the virāṭ, the gigantic form. Those who are inclined to this Vedic knowledge are called brāhmaṇas, and they are the natural teachers and spiritual masters of all the orders of society.

Thus ends the translation and purport of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam by His Divine Grace Abhaycaran Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in the canto 3, chapter 6, text 30 in the chapter entitled, “The creation of the universal form”.

Jayapatākā Swami: There are some important points which are revealed by this translation. One is that Vedic wisdom comes from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Some people say that, Vedic wisdom is also mainly… this is wrong… Here very clearly Śrīla Prabhupāda stated that… Example is given that the brāhmaṇa coming from the mouth of the lord. That means that the brāhmaṇas duty is to speak, is to preach.

One time, Śrīla Prabhupāda explained, that how for doing some type of menial works it may be possible to hire someone, but to preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness to others, that can only be effectively done by a devotee. Of course, a devotee takes a humble attitude, and renders a very simple service in order to attract the mercy of the Lord. At the same time, a qualified devotee is actually the only one who is able to convince someone else of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. To become a qualified devotee, sometimes we render very simple or menial devotional service. Another important point.... (audio crippled) ? direction, either, whether it is military, or whether it is an educational, brahminical, or whether it is economic, different people labor ah are engaged in their functions. So, by doing their work properly, the whole society progresses forward. So, everyone is important, no one is neglected.

So, in ah through the ages this varṇāśrama system started to decay. It was described that varṇāśrama would decay when the brāhmaṇas started to despise the lower castes. When they started to think of themselves is being more important or greater. Of course, mouth may be more important, but that doesn’t mean that the mouth will vilify the legs. You don’t find the mouth fighting your leg. So, this kind of situation develops where higher castes started to despise the lower castes. In this way the whole Vedic or varṇāśrama system started to develop serious problems, until practically speaking the varṇāśrama system today is no longer visible in its original form. But actually, we find that in the original system.

Just as your hand, you use your hand and your arms to protect the rest of your body. With your eyes, with your mouth, you see what’s going on, in this way you protect. You use your intelligence and your arms to protect the rest. So the original system was that the brāhmaṇas and the kṣatriyas would give the shelter and guidance to the others, not to exploit or to consider them as ah inferior, in a kind of an envious manner. But to rather consider them just like say you have a weaker brother; you don’t consider your brother to be ah despicable. One shouldn’t envy the brother; but rather if you have a weaker brother or a sister then you should try to protect them, not to devour them. So in the same way, if the vaiśyas or śūdras have less of a spiritual understanding, or if the kṣatriyas are having a less of a spiritual understanding, then the brāhmaṇas should help them, that is their function.

The higher or lower position is sub… is only due to the amount of spiritual knowledge that they have. Because the brāhmaṇa has more spiritual knowledge his position is considered to be more important. The kṣatriyas are also considered to have spiritual knowledge but not as much as the brāhmaṇa. That’s why the kṣatriyas were called rājaṛṣis or rāja-ṛṣīs. They had some spiritual knowledge, but they also had to manage practically a country, therefore a government. Therefore, they respected the brāhmaṇas who are totally dedicated to spiritual purpose. The vaiśyas, they have some spiritual knowledge but very less, less than the kṣatriyas in most cases. And the śūdras, they are considered to have the least amount of spiritual knowledge of the four. So in this way, therefore a gradation had come. But the duty of those who have more spiritual knowledge is to give those who have less, that spiritual knowledge and education.

Lord Caitanya came at a time, when this way the whole varṇāśrama system was in a confused state, was becoming more and more confused. So He established that actually since the gradation is based upon spiritual knowledge. That person has more spiritual knowledge is by definition superior position. And the ultimate knowledge is to know Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says, “manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu kaścid yatati siddhaye yatatām api siddhānāṁ kaścin māṁ vetti tattvataḥ - That of all people, that of all the people so many stages are there, one who knows Kṛṣṇa, is actually the most advanced, he is the most rare.” (Bg 7.3) kaścin māṁ vetti tattvataḥ, kaścin - it is very hard to find. So here Lord Caitanya describes,

kibā vipra, kibā nyāsī, śūdra kene naya
yei kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā, sei ‘guru’ haya
(Cc Madhya 8.128)

Whether one is brāhmaṇa, or whether one is a śūdra, or whether one is a sannyāsi, why not even if one is a śūdra, whoever knows the science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that person is actually fit to become a spiritual master.

So to know the science of Kṛṣṇa that immediately qualifies one as greater even than the brāhmaṇa. Brāhmaṇa means, he knows Brahman or the impersonal absolute. But the Vaiṣṇava, he knows Kṛṣṇa which is the highest form of the absolute truth. Therefore, in the Padma Purāṇa, Prabhupāda quotes this verse, that someone who only knows the impersonal brahman may be considered a brāhmaṇa, but he is not qualified to be a guru. A guru has to be someone who knows Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa, is the actual devotee. Because then he would know the full absolute truth - Brahman, Paramātmā, Bhagavān. Therefore, he is qualified to be a guru. The verse given here is,

ṣaṭ-karma-nipuṇo vipro
mantra-tantra-viśāradaḥ
avaiṣṇavo gurur na syād
vaiṣṇavaḥ śva-paco guruḥ

Ṣaṭ. Saṭ-karma-nipuṇo means someone who is very expert in doing various ritualistic, religious activities. Vipro. Vipro means brāhmaṇa. Mantra means of course chanting all the transcendental mantras and vibrations, the Vedic hymns. Tantra means ah… Saṭ-karma-nipuṇo - you could also say, one who is very meticulous in practicing his religious principles. Therefore, they say someone who is following all of the doctrines very carefully or you he may be a great brāhmaṇa or you may know all the mantras or tantra. Tantra means he may know the specific rights. It’s like we have vaiṣṇava-tantra. We recently did a wedding ceremony which is also a tantra. This pancarātrika-vidhī, offering of fire sacrifice, or deity worship, these are all, these are all the type of tantra. So knowing how to do these tantra, that is one of the spiritual qualifications. But if one knows this tantra or knows the mantra but is not personally having the faith in the Lord, he is not a devotee of the Lord, then he is considered he may be a brāhmaṇa, but he is not qualified to be a guru. He won’t be able to liberate his followers. Therefore, the avaiṣṇavo gurur na syād.

So Lord Caitanya, He actually brought this understanding of varṇāśrama to its basic principles. If we understand that the varṇāśrama, the social varṇas, or orders are based upon having more spiritual knowledge, and based upon one’s activity and work, so then one can understand that, if one has ultimate spiritual knowledge, if one has Kṛṣṇa conscious knowledge, then that person would be qualified to be a guru. That person is qualified, is more than a brāhmaṇa. So in this way, the entire world can spiritually come up to the same level. They will all be on the transcendental platform. Still just to organize the society in short as example for others, people may work according to their nature, whether as a brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya or as a śūdra. But if one is a devotee, if one is a Vaiṣṇava then he is considered not to belong actually to any of these castes, but to be, to be on the transcendental platform.

So here we see that brāhmaṇa is the natural teacher, spiritual master. Prabhupāda said, unless one has Vedic knowledge, one cannot become a spiritual master. In other words, unless one actually attains to spiritual knowledge, one can’t be considered a brāhmaṇa. It is said here, the main qualification of a brāhmaṇa is to be inclined to the Vedic wisdom. The Vedas are situated on the mouth of the Lord, and therefore anyone who is inclined to the Vedic wisdom is certainly situated on the mouth of the Lord and he is a brāhmaṇa. This inclination towards Vedic wisdom is also not restricted to any particular caste or community. Anyone from any family and from any part of the world may become inclined to the Vedic wisdom and that will qualify him as a real brāhmaṇa. In other words, if a person is inclined to Vedic wisdom, inclined to spiritual knowledge, that is the qualifications for brāhmaṇa. When it is time for class, the people aren’t inclined to attend that indicates they are not being inclined to the brahminical culture, they are not acting fully qualified to the brahminical culture.

If one wants to come up to the level of at least of a brāhmaṇa, that means that they have to try to assimilate Vedic wisdom. That means regularly hearing class, regularly discussing the scripture,even if someone knows more, and the junior in knowledge is giving the class, it is also good for him to hear how that person is giving the class, possibly he can help, in case there is any insufficiency in the explanation. In this way, even sometimes a very simple point can give one great realization. And in any case, the Vedas are always giving us newer and newer insights into the purpose of life, into Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So Vedic wisdom is there for everyone. But the brāhmaṇas are actually those who are inclined to take it. The Vaiṣṇavas being higher than even the brāhmaṇas, they are also always inclined to take the Vedic wisdom.

One time in Māyāpur, Prabhupāda was giving class and he said, he saw some devotee was falling asleep. So he said, “Since you are not able to stay awake during in the class, this means you are not inclined to brahminical quality. So you better go out in the field and plough. Then at least you will be doing Kṛṣṇa’s sevā or devotional service.” So that devotee went out in the field, and took the plough, and he started to plough on the order of the guru. Even though he was from foreign country, he never did it, but he had the orders, so he was ploughing, the very sincere. So after ploughing for some time his taste for hearing Vedic wisdom grew. (laugh) And gradually he learnt not to fall asleep during the class.

So there are many verses like this, where it says that if somebody is inclined to hearing the wisdom about the Lord, hearing about the transcendental knowledge, this is the actual first step in spiritual life. Most of the people, as I repeat that verse again, “sahasreṣu manuṣyāṇāṁ…” The most of the people, out of thousands and thousands of people, it is hard to find one person who is even interested in spiritual knowledge. Generally if you want to talk politics, you want to talk about some movie stars, you want to talk about some kind of sports, everyone is interested. But if you want to discuss spiritual knowledge, people they are not very inclined.

For instance, my previous āśrama mother, she came to live in our temple under the shelter of the devotees for some time. And after spending some time with the devotees, she went back to her, to her other family members like brothers and sisters from my material life, my previous āśrama. And after being with the devotees, she developed a very strong inclination to hearing and talking about Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So she wanted to discuss about spiritual matters. But she found that all the relatives, even her own other children they are always criticizing, “Why do you always want to discuss about these things? Why do you want to discuss about God? Why do you want to discuss about spiritual matters? There are so many other things in the world to discuss about. Why do you want to discuss about this?” Then she would say, “Why don’t you want to discuss about this? This is the most important thing.” But they say, “No, no. Today this sports is going to happen, this thing is happening, so and so, it got sick.” They always wanted to discuss material things. So then she came to a realization that ah she became very bored actually, and ask if she couldn’t again take association with the devotees. Because discussing all these useless material things was very dry.

You see, generally people, they are not interested in spiritual matters. They don’t want to even enquire. They just go on blindly acting. So that’s what Kṛṣṇa says, “sahasreṣu manuṣyāṇāṁ” Out of thousands of people, one enquires what is the truth, they are interested. “sahasreṣu manuṣyāṇāṁ kaścid yatati siddhaye” And amongst those, it’s very rare to find someone, who actually knows the absolute truth, who enquiring. Many people enquire, what are you doing, what is this about. They hear, they don’t understand, they cannot figure it out, they go away, confused. They are not able to… Even they hear it, they try to understand, but that they forget, they lose it, they become bewildered, they don’t understand properly. So someone who actually hears and understands, that person is even more rare. He is considered a jñānī. So out of those jñānīs, out of those thousands those who know, one who is actually mukta, who is actually liberated, who really is realized.

There were, someone may know, yes, I am not the body. Yes, I should serve the guru. Yes, the purpose of life is to be ah God conscious or Kṛṣṇa conscious. Yes, I should chant the holy names. But practically speaking, that person may not do it all of the time or effectively. Even though a person may say, “Yes, I am not the body”, but when it comes to acting on the spiritual platform, if some superior representative of the guru tells the person, “do this service”, even though he thinks he knows, “I am not the body”, still the false ego says, “No, why he is telling me this, why should I do, I am this, I am busy.” So much false ego is there that, they are not able to swallow even a simple instruction. Once if they have understood that they are not the body or some sense gratification comes along, one knows he is not the body, but when the sense gratification comes instead of acting on the spiritual platform, they fall down to the material level. So these people are not liberated. They may have knowledge, but they are still considered to be conditioned souls. When a person actually is able to act on the liberated platform, when they are able to act as a spirit soul, then that is considered to be that they are liberated.

But amongst those liberated persons there are many who have understood that they are not the body, and they act properly, accordingly. But amongst those it is very rare to find one who is a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa. They are the most rare. So if someone is a devotee, if they are Vaiṣṇava, they are qualified to be a guru, they are already considered to be on the highest level of liberation. So, the purpose of the Kṛṣṇa conscious movement is to bring people up to that transcendental platform, so that they are free from the suffering of this material world, they are free from the illusion. “na śocati na kāṅkṣati samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām (Bg 18.54)” And so that they can achieve the transcendental abode of the Lord, they can achieve the shelter of the Lord, and engage in His devotional service eternally. So this function to give spiritual knowledge is the special function of the brāhmaṇas.

This Kṛṣṇa conscious movement, Prabhupada said, is to create brāhmaṇas in society. Not only brāhmaṇas but Vaiṣṇava brāhmaṇas. That means that there needs to be people who will teach the other sections of society, and for this they have to be become well versed in spiritual knowledge. That means that they have to practise Kṛṣṇa conscious principles, and they have to regularly hear the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. Even the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam itself contains a śloka, it says “nityam bhāgavatam sevayā - one should daily hear and serve the bhāgavatas.” Bhāgavatas are two kinds, this book Bhāgavata and the person Bhāgavata, both should be served. We serve the book Bhāgavata by hearing, we serve the person Bhāgavata by hearing, and when physically present by also doing vapu-sevā and otherwise doing vāṇī-sevā, that means to follow his instructions. The person Bhāgavata means the person is living according to the principles of the book Bhāgavatam, who is living according to pure Kṛṣṇa conscious devotional principles. So these are very important points which this verse has instructed us. Society requires natural teachers, requires spiritual masters, and this is the means to achieve it.

If nobody in society is interested in spiritual matters, then what is the value, who is going to lead the society? If a teacher doesn’t have spiritual knowledge, then he won’t be able to guide the society properly. That is the problem that today, the intellectuals, the government heads, even the business community, generally speaking, they are not having this spiritual understanding. Therefore, all their solutions are made according to their materialistic speculation and this creates more problems, even than the original problem that they are trying to solve. So, the solution is that, there has to be brāhmaṇas or natural teachers and spiritual masters in society, and this only comes as they become inclined to hear spiritual wisdom.

So Lord Caitanya so kind. That by giving this Kṛṣṇa prasādam, by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, naturally one develops an inclination to hear about spiritual life. As one hears about spiritual life and becomes purified, then one’s taste for chanting also increases. So in this way, there is a very wonderful cycle which goes on, if one is able by the ah repeated hearing and chanting to advance higher and higher in the rungs of spiritual life, until one is able to achieve pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare
hare rāma hare rāma rāma rāma hare hare

Any questions?

Question: Thank you very much. Actually, this śloka that we discussed is very deep. Because also the mouth of Lord Kṛṣṇa is speaking, everything very expertly. Like you said that the brāhmaṇas, no one, the mouth never bites the leg, but because the brāhmaṇas they got degraded, and there is all chaos in the society, but then again Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He showed the example that, is this the time now that the brāhmaṇas, like we are the Vaiṣṇavas, we should be speak sweet words, and ah preach by anywhere to bring the śūdras, vaiśyas, kṣatriyas, even the so called brāhmaṇas by some way or other back to Kṛṣṇa by engaging them. So can you give more like that sweet words of engaging, or not harassing them, and bring them back to Kṛṣṇa.

Jayapatākā Swami: we are not recommending harassing.

Devotee: yeah... because… because we call them as harassment...

Jayapatākā Swami: It’s alright. So we are saying, parent takes care of the children who takes them, instructs them because he loves them. So the proper attitude for someone with more spiritual knowledge is to love the others, members of the human race, because everyone is, we are all living creatures, because we are all part of Kṛṣṇa, and want to help them in the service of, so that they can engage in the service of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Should be loving attitude. You are feeling one with Kṛṣṇa, naturally you feel also connected with all living entities. You feel kindness towards them. Because there are all Kṛṣṇa is in them and they are in Kṛṣṇa.

Kṛṣṇa sādhakas, all of you here, any questions? Kṛṣṇa sādhikās?

Devotee: She said, she didn’t understand.

Jayapatākā Swami: You explain, give a brief explanation. Or may be some meaning. You can give her synopsis of this class.

Devotee: Do we have to the exhibit the qualities of the brāhmaṇas constantly, or sometimes Vaiṣṇavas have to act like kṣatriyas or śūdras or vaiśyas because the society is in chaos, and we don’t have the āśrama. My meaning is that, is it that we have to have one quality of the brāhmaṇa constantly or sometimes as Kṛṣṇa tells?

Jayapataka Swami: Vaiṣṇava can act… Vaiṣṇava always acts as a Vaiṣṇava. Superficially for devotional service, we can do all of the services of all the varṇa, or service of any one varṇa. It’s like a Vaiṣṇava cleans the temple. You say that that is the work of a śūdra. But for Kṛṣṇa, we clean the temple, that cleans our heart. Devotee may also milk the cow, take care of the cows, or may go and do the marketing or something. That is the vaiśya work. Devotee may sometime defend the temple, or may organize, or manage as a kṣatriya. Devotees also giving lecture and discussing, teaching others, its brahminical. A devotee does all of the things, but everything he is doing as a devotional service; therefore it is transcendental. Someone who is not transcendental, they do one thing, they do one work, and perfect that. One who is transcendental, he can do other works if needed. But whimsically, one need not do, but according to the instructions.

He understands? You heard her explanation?

Devotee: Yeah

Jayapatākā Swami: Kṛṣṇa sādhakas. Now you have any question?

Question: And also can we say like Śrīla Prabhupāda always recommended that he wants… That everyone should become a brāhmaṇa Vaiṣṇava. And there is a difference also. If a Vaiṣṇava does a śūdra work but he does with intelligence, even if he does a vaiśya work he does it with intelligence, even if he does a kṣatriya work he does it with intelligence. So by this the society can expand more because the Vaiṣṇava…

Jayapatākā Swami (interrupts): Does it with devotion.

Devotee: Devotion not intelligence? Because the ordinary śūdra will be acting on the śūdra platform, no intelligence?

Jayapataka Swami: He has intelligence. How can you say that the śūdra is not intelligent? Manager of a big factories, he is employed, he is considered a śūdra. He is very intelligent, doesn’t mean that the śūdra is not intelligent. They are very intelligent in their particular line. The point is that, if one is doing it with spiritual understanding, with spiritual wisdom, then that person is considered a Vaiṣṇava, then he is transcendental. Materially speaking, if one is just doing what one is told, there is a less of a… one is more conditioned has less freedom to do the things that he wants to do.

So with less spiritual knowledge, it is better that the people are given a fixed program. If you don’t have spiritual wisdom, it is better that you work as an employee. It’s just like we see, now the businessmen they have so much money, but they have no spiritual wisdom. So instead of using the money for a good purpose, they are using the money for making ah ah sinful activities, for drinking, for womanizing, for other things, taking drugs. Just today in the paper it is said, one Lord’s son Marki or something, he broke into a drug store to try to get some heroine, because he is a drug addict. The judge said, even though you are born in a high family, but because of taking drugs you have come to the lowest level. So this is the thing. Without spiritual knowledge, then the more independence a person has, it is dangerous.

So according to Vedic, social structure more independence was given according to having more spiritual knowledge, more responsibility also. If the brāhmaṇa does something wrong, then he would get more times the punishment than if another person will get. He has considered to have more knowledge, so he shouldn’t do that. Because he was more responsible, he was given more freedom. Because naturally he won’t do those things according to his responsibility. That was the way that the society was organized.

Śūdra has less spiritual knowledge, therefore he wasn’t given money, but he was provided with his food, he was provided with ah his clothing, with his housing, with all of the needs. He didn’t have to worry. He had everything taken care of. Vaiśya he has little more spiritual knowledge, so that he was given more freedom. He could ah buy, sell, do business, do agriculture, but his duty was to donate to the brāhmaṇas, to pay taxes, to the king, and himself to do yajnas. He was considered to be twice-born according to the varṇāśrama system.

Like this in each ah… As you go higher up in spiritual knowledge, some more independence is given. King is even more independent. But he is also dependent on brāhmaṇas. He has to follow their spiritual guidance. And the brāhmaṇas they have to follow the Vedas. They are supposed to be conversant with the Vedas. Because they are the most conversant with the Vedas, therefore they will follow according to the guru-paramparā and Vedas. Therefore, brāhmaṇas will practically be free from the law of the land. They could go anywhere without passport, without visa, no restrictions. They would not be taxed, neither they would work for anyone else. But they could take donations, because they were simply giving spiritual knowledge. This is the basic ancient Vedic system.

Today of course, things are totally different. But the basic essence is still stands. That if the person has spiritual knowledge, that brings with it responsibility, that also brings with it if he acts according to that Vedic wisdom, that will bring you independence from the laws of karma. If you act according to the Kṛṣṇa conscious principles, then you will not be bound by the law of karma. So even if one is acting as a vaiśya, or acting as a kṣatriya whatever, if he is acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he will not be bound by the work, that is the difference. Normally everyone is bound by the work they do. But if a person acts in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he is not bound by that work.