Kṛṣṇa consciousness is so nice, but one who does not care for it, they are satisfied by some temporary relief, and they take to other courses. They do not take the leadership of Kṛṣṇa. Kāṅkṣantaḥ karmaṇāṁ siddhiṁ yajanta iha devatāḥ. Iha devatāḥ means these material gods. Material gods means their existence is so long this material world.
Just like here we have got the president, the governor and so many big, big officers. But suppose, somehow or other, this whole planet or the whole thing is gone, destroyed—because we can expect destruction every moment, bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19), then the whole thing, I mean to say, the president and the governor, everything is gone.
Iha devatāḥ. So we are taking shelter of this material world, something big, but that will not exist with the annihilation, with the dissolution of this material world. Everything will be dissolved. Everything will be dissolved. So we have to take the leadership of the Supreme. Then it will be the largest perfection, the greatest perfection of life.
Now, Lord Kṛṣṇa says, karmaṇām, karmaṇāṁ siddhim. How in the material world people are working? He is analyzing the process of different occupation. What is that?
- cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ
- guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ
- tasya kartāram api māṁ
- viddhy akartāram avyayam
- (BG 4.13)
The Lord says that cātur-varṇyam, four castes or four divisions of human society. You have heard that there is caste system in India. There is caste system in India. There is caste system in India. Sometimes Indians are criticized by the outsider that they have caste system. But here the Lord says the cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ: "This caste system is created by Me." "This caste system is created by Me, how?"
Guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ: "According to quality and according to work." That division in the human society, according to quality and according to work, is there in everywhere, everywhere in the world—not only everywhere in the world, but everywhere in the universe.
God's creation cannot be stopped. God's creation cannot be stopped. Just like in God's creation there is sun, there is moon, there is seasonal changes. Nobody can stop this. Similarly the cātur-varṇyam, according to quality and karma, that division prevails all over the universe, not only in India but also in your country also. In your country also.
And what are these divisions? Now, what are the guṇa and karma? The guṇa, the quality. There are three qualities. In the material world, there are three qualities—the quality of goodness, the quality of passion and the quality of ignorance. And either human being or animal or demigods or American or Indian, everywhere these qualities are working. So some of them are in the modes or quality of goodness, and some of them are in the quality of passion, and some of them are in the quality of ignorance.
Those who are in the quality of goodness, they are called brāhmins, or the intelligent class of men. In Sanskrit language, because intelligence, intelligence does not mean to know, to have some knowledge of the material things. Intelligence means to know about the spiritual world also. That is intelligence.
Because as you know that I am combination of matter and spirit . . . I am spirit, and I am now entangled in this material body. I am spirit, consciousness. As soon as I am out of this body, I can distinguish or . . . I cannot distinguish, because I will go away. You can distinguish that, "Now this real Swāmījī's spirit is gone, the Swāmījī's material body is here." So it is very plain thing. So therefore we should not only have perfect knowledge of this matter, but we should have perfect knowledge of the spirit also, if you are actually intelligent.
Therefore the brāhmins . . . why they are called brāhmins? Brahma jānāti iti brāhmaṇaḥ. Brahmin, it is English transcription. But real word is brāhmin, brāhmin. And wherefrom this brāhmin word comes? Brahma jānāti iti brāhmaṇaḥ. That means one who knows the spirit, the spiritual. One who has got complete knowledge of the spiritual world, he is called brāhmin.