Prahlāda Mahārāja says that "If a brahmin, even though he is qualified with all the twelve qualities, but if he is not a devotee, then I think a caṇḍāla who is born of a family of dog-eaters, if he is devotee, he is variṣṭham, he is glorious. He is glorious."
- viprād dvi-ṣaḍ-guṇa-yutād aravinda-nābha
- pādāravinda-vimukhāt śvapacaṁ variṣṭham
- (SB 7.9.10)
That is the opinion of all great sages. There are many such passages. Śvapacaṁ variṣṭham. Caṇḍālo 'pi dvija-śreṣṭhā hari-bhakti-parāyaṇaḥ.
So one has to become . . . because this devotion is from the spiritual platform. It is not the material consideration. Material consideration is that personal beauty, personal strength, influence, wealth, education. These are all material. But when there is bhakti, this is from spiritual platform. The spiritual platform, the spirit soul, has no connection with these material qualification. Therefore Prahlāda Mahārāja says: "Even though a brahmin has got all the qualification . . ." They are all, after all, material qualification.
The brahmins means they are situated in the modes of material goodness; the kṣatriya means they are situated in the quality of material passion; the vaiśya means they are situated in the mixed quality of passion and ignorance; and a śūdra means who is situated in the material quality of the modes of ignorance. And those who are less than that, the śūdras, they are called caṇḍālas or śvapaca.
So a brahmin is estimated the high-class man. Why? That is also materially estimation. But if he has no devotion to the Lord, then that is . . . that means he has no spiritual qualification. Then a person who is born in the family of dog-eaters, if he has got this bhakti, spiritual qualification, he is more than that.