One who has got the sacred thread is to be understood that he is twice-born. His second birth is also there. First birth is from the father and mother, and second birth is from the spiritual master and Vedic literature. The spiritual master is the father, and Vedic literature is the mother.
Now here it is said that in the age of Kali, vipratve sūtram eva hi. The sūtra, the thread, is only two-cent worth. So, just to place oneself as born of higher class . . . especially in India that is now being done. One man can purchase a two-cent-worth this thread and put it on the . . . "Oh, I come from a brāhmaṇa family." Without any education, without any acceptance of spiritual master or without anything, simply by showing the thread, that "I have got this thread," he becomes a Brahmin or vipra, or twice-born or . . . nonsense. But this will be done in Kali-yuga.
Actually, these things are being done in India especially. Because here, in your country, there is no sacred thread ceremony, but in India there is this division of Brahmin, kṣatriya, vaiśya, and still the sacred thread ceremony is there. So in order to pose oneself as born of high family, one can simply purchase two-cent-worth thread and put on the breast, and he can introduce himself, "Oh, I am Brahmin." And nobody is going to inquire whether he is actually a Brahmin. As soon as one sees that sacred thread: "Oh, he's a Brahmin." That's all. So this is the, another symptom of Kali-yuga, that simply by two-cent-worth sacred thread one becomes a Brahmin.
Liṅgam evāśrama-khyātāv anyonyāpatti-kāraṇam (SB 12.2.4). Liṅgam. Liṅgam means symptom. According to Vedic literature, there are different dress. A girl unmarried, her dress is different. A girl married, her dress is different. A girl widow, her dress is different. A girl prostitute, her dress is different. A man sannyāsī, his dress is different. A brahmacārī, his dress is different. So by the dress one can understand that who is who. That is the system.
So that dress is offered by the spiritual master after qualified. Just like if a girl is married, then his (her) dress is offered during the marriage ceremony. One of the symptom of married girl is some red powder between the two divisions of the hair. So one can understand that, "This girl is now married." So similarly, there are different dresses according to qualification, according to the situation.
But in the Kali-yuga, that anyone can take any dress without any regulation, without any formality. Simply by dress. Suppose . . . just like sannyāsī. Because a sannyāsī has to dress himself in this saffron-color garment, so sannyāsī has the privilege, if he goes to a householder's house, he is very respectfully received, and if he wants something, the householder gives him. That is the system. Now, if somebody sees that "It is very cheap process of earning money, so let me dress in this saffron color and beg from door to door. What is the use of laboring so hard?" So that will go on. Misuse of dress. Misuse of dress.