A brahmana gets one lakh of rupees, next day he's again beggar

Expressions researched:
"A brahmana, even if he gets one lakh of rupees, one hundred thousands of rupees, still he is a beggar" |"if a brahmana gets one lakh of rupees, still he is a beggar" |"Even a brahmana gets one lakh of rupees, next morning he is still a beggar" |"A brahmana is supposed to be..., always remain a beggar. Even if he gets lakhs and lakhs of rupees, he spends it for Krsna consciousness" |"A brahmana gets one lakh of rupees; next day, he's again beggar" |"a brahmana remains a beggar even if he receives" |"$100,000"

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Therefore in India it is said if a brāhmaṇa gets one lakh of rupees, still he is a beggar. Why? Because he does not keep it. If he gets one lakh of rupees now, next moment he will spend it for Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 1.15.39 -- Los Angeles, December 17, 1973: So a brāhmaṇa, even with good qualification, but if he does not now Kṛṣṇa, then he cannot become guru. That is the injunction. Ṣaṭ-karma-nipuṇo vipraḥ. Vipra means brāhmaṇa. Nipuṇa means very expert. One... Now, ṣaṭ-karma. Brāhmaṇa's business is six. Paṭhana, pāṭhana, yajana, yājana, dāna, pratigraha. A brāhmaṇa must be learned, and he must make others learned. That "I am learned man. I don't care for others..." No. He must teach others to become brāhmaṇa. Paṭhana pāṭhana. Yajana yājana. He must worship God, and he must teach others also how to worship God. Yajana yājana. Dāna pratigraha. Brāhmaṇa's business is not to do any trade or professional... He takes charity, pratigraha. But dāna. Therefore in India it is said if a brāhmaṇa gets one lakh of rupees, still he is a beggar. Why? Because he does not keep it. If he gets one lakh of rupees now, next moment he will spend it for Kṛṣṇa.

The brāhmaṇa is offered donation. That is the system. But he not should keep it for his personal... As soon as he gets donation, he spends for some service of the Lord. Even a brāhmaṇa gets one lakh of rupees, next morning he is still a beggar because he does not keep anything for tomorrow. Everything depending on Kṛṣṇa, and he spends money like that.

Lecture on SB 6.3.12-15 -- Gorakhpur, February 9, 1971: In the village a brāhmaṇa would sit down and the village boys and girls would come there to learn from him, and they will bring some presentation. That will be his livelihood. A brāhmaṇa hasn't got to go anywhere to seek his livelihood. So therefore paṭhana-pāṭhana. He should be himself very learned scholar, and he should try to make others also like him. Paṭhana-pāṭhana yajana-yājana. He should also worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and he should try to induce others to come to that position. Paṭhana-pāṭhana yajana-yājana dāna-pratigraha. The brāhmaṇa is offered donation. That is the system. But he not should keep it for his personal... As soon as he gets donation, he spends for some service of the Lord. Even a brāhmaṇa gets one lakh of rupees, next morning he is still a beggar because he does not keep anything for tomorrow. Everything depending on Kṛṣṇa, and he spends money like that. Paṭhana-pāṭhana yajana-yājana dāna-pratigraha. The brāhmana is, I mean to say, allowed. A brāhmaṇa is allowed to take charity from others—a sannyāsī and a brāhmaṇa. No other is allowed. Nowadays it is come, daridra-nārāyaṇa. Daridra. "The poor man become Nārāyaṇa; therefore he should be served." This nonsensical theory has come up by some nonsense. But actually a qualified brāhmaṇa should be given charity. A sannyāsī, Vaiṣṇava, should be given charity. That is sāttvika charity. And rājasika charity means to open hospital, schools. These are rājasika charity. And tāmasika charity means without any discrimination, a Bowery man given one rupee and immediately purchase a bottle of wine. So this is tāmasika charity. By tāmasika charity, one is degraded.

A brāhmaṇa is supposed to be..., always remain a beggar. Even if he gets lakhs and lakhs of rupees, he spends it for Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is the sign of brāhmaṇa.

Lecture on SB 7.9.14 -- Mayapur, February 21, 1976: Brāhmaṇa has six kinds of livelihood, sat-karma. Paṭhana pāṭhana yajana yājana dāna-pratigraha. A brāhmaṇa, well qualified, he must be a very learned scholar, paṭhana. And he must be able to make his disciple also very learned. Paṭhana pāṭhana. He must worship the Deity, yajana yājana. And he should worship for others also, yajana yājana. Dāna-pratigraha: he should accept charity from disciples and others, and again distribute it. Dāna-pratigraha. A brāhmaṇa is supposed to be..., always remain a beggar. Even if he gets lakhs and lakhs of rupees, he spends it for Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is the sign of brāhmaṇa.

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

A brāhmaṇa gets one lakh of rupees; next day, he's again beggar. Why? He'll not keep anything. Whatever he requires for the day's expenditure, he will take it and balance he will again distribute.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Calcutta, January 28, 1973: So anywhere a brāhmaṇa can sit down and the village boys, small boys, children would come there. He doesn't charge anything, but their father, mother sends everything—rice, dahl, cloth. So he has no much demand for bodily necessities. This was paṭhana. This is brāhmaṇa. Brāhmaṇa should not accept any service. Formerly Sanātana Gosvāmī, because he accepted the service of Nawab Hussein Shah, he was rejected from the brāhmaṇa society. In the Bhāgavata also it is stated if a brāhmaṇa is in difficulty, he may accept the profession of a kṣatriya or a vaiśya, but never of a śūdra. Śūdra has been described there as dog. A dog, without having a master, he cannot live very nicely. Street dog is very wretched, but a dog under the care of a good master is very healthy and very happy. Similarly a śūdra cannot live without having a master. That has been described as the dog's business. So similarly a brāhmaṇa will never accept any service. He'll starve, but he'll never accept any service. That is against brāhmaṇa principles. Therefore ṣaṭ-karma-nipu... He can accept charity if somebody gives willfully. Dana pratigraha. But pratigraha dāna. He'll take, pratigraha, accept charity, but whatever he requires, he'll spend, and the balance he'll immediately distribute. Dāna. In Bengal it is said, lakteke baundiki (?). The... Why? A brāhmaṇa gets one lakh of rupees; next day, he's again beggar. Why? He'll not keep anything. Whatever he requires for the day's expenditure, he will take it and balance he will again distribute.

There is a proverb in Bengali, that "A brāhmaṇa, even if he gets one lakh of rupees, one hundred thousands of rupees, still he is a beggar." Because he will not keep it.

name wrongly formatted Radhastami, Srimati Radharani\'s Appearance Day -- Bhagavad-gita 18.5 -- London, September 5, 19730: So brahmacārī, in the beginning of life... Brahmacārī means beginning of life, student life. They must be trained up how to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is the first training. The brahmacārī is trained up to rise early in the morning and offers fire sacrifice, then studies of Vedas, then saṅkīrtana. There are so many routine work for brahmacārī. So this must be executed. And for gṛhastha-dāna, charity. Gṛhastha must be prepared or trained up to give charity. And who will accept the charity? The charity will be accepted by the brahmacārī and sannyāsa. Not the vānaprastha. Brahmacārī will accept charity on behalf of the spiritual master. And a sannyāsī will accept charity only for his maintenance. That's all. The gṛhastha cannot accept charity. But a gṛhastha-brāhmaṇa, he can accept charity, but he will not, I mean to say, accumulate money by taking charity. Whatever he gets, he must spend. Then dāna-pratigraha. Pratigraha means accept. But he cannot keep in bank a bank balance. He must, whatever extra he has got, he must immediately give in charity. Then he can accept, a gṛhastha-brāhmaṇa, accept charity. There is a proverb in Bengali, that "A brāhmaṇa, even if he gets one lakh of rupees, one hundred thousands of rupees, still he is a beggar." Because he will not keep it. He will not keep it for... He will immediately distribute it in charity. Therefore he is called in Bengali lakh take baundigi. (?) It doesn't matter he gets one lakh of rupees contribution, but still he remains a beggar. Because immediately he will distribute. So these things are very important things. Yajña-dāna-tapaḥ. And for sannyāsī and vānaprastha-tapasya. Tapo divyam [SB 5.5.1]. Tapasya means accepting voluntarily all kinds of inconveniences, voluntarily.

1969 Correspondence

A Vaisnava is automatically a bona fide brahmana. There is a proverb that a brahmana remains a beggar even if he receives $100,000. That means that a brahmana is supposed to spend all of his money for Krishna as he receives it from Krishna.

Letter to Brahmananda -- Los Angeles 24 July, 1969: We should always remember that Krishna is always grateful to His devotees. If some ordinary man gives sufficient remuneration to a worker, why Krishna will not give sufficient remuneration to His servants? But we should always remember that whatever Krishna gives us, that never becomes ours. It is Krishna's. The more we receive from Krishna, the more we engage the remunerations in the service of Krishna. That is the duty of a bona fide brahmana. A Vaisnava is automatically a bona fide brahmana. There is a proverb that a brahmana remains a beggar even if he receives $100,000. That means that a brahmana is supposed to spend all of his money for Krishna as he receives it from Krishna.