Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge, and religiousness-these are the qualities by which the brahmanas work

Expressions researched:
"Peacefulness, self control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge, and religiousness" |"Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, knowledge, wisdom and religiousness" |"Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge, and religiousness"

BG Chapters 13 - 18

Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, knowledge, wisdom and religiousness—these are the natural qualities by which the brāhmaṇas work.

BG 18.42, Translation:

Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, knowledge, wisdom and religiousness—these are the natural qualities by which the brāhmaṇas work.

SB Canto 7

"Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge, and religiousness-these are the qualities by which the brāhmaṇas work.

SB 7.4.31-32, Purport:

These are some of the qualifications of a Vaiṣṇava. A Vaiṣṇava is automatically a brāhmaṇa because a Vaiṣṇava has all the good qualities of a brāhmaṇa.

śamo damas tapaḥ śaucaṁ

kṣāntir ārjavam eva ca

jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyaṁ

brahma-karma svabhāva-jam

"Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge, and religiousness-these are the qualities by which the brāhmaṇas work." (BG 18.42) These qualities are manifest in the body of a Vaiṣṇava. Therefore a perfect Vaiṣṇava is also a perfect brāhmaṇa, as indicated here by the words brahmaṇyaḥ śīla-sampannaḥ. A Vaiṣṇava is always determined to understand the Absolute Truth, and to understand the Absolute Truth one needs to have full control over his senses and mind. Prahlāda Mahārāja possessed all these qualities. A Vaiṣṇava is always a well-wisher to everyone.

SB Canto 9

Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge, and religiousness-these are the qualities by which the brāhmaṇas work.

SB 9.9.29, Purport:

The wife of the brāhmaṇa did not regard her husband as a superficial brāhmaṇa who was called a brāhmaṇa merely because he was born of a brāhmaṇa family. Rather, this brāhmaṇa was actually qualified with the brahminical symptoms. Yasya yal lakṣaṇaṁ proktam (SB 7.11.35). The symptoms of a brāhmaṇa are stated in the śāstra:

śamo damas tapaḥ śaucaṁ

kṣāntir ārjavam eva ca

jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyaṁ

brahma-karma svabhāvajam

"Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge, and religiousness-these are the qualities by which the brāhmaṇas work." (BG 18.42) Not only must a brāhmaṇa be qualified, but he must also engage in actual brahminical activities. Simply to be qualified is not enough; one must engage in a brāhmaṇa's duties. The duty of a brāhmaṇa is to know the paraṁ brahma, Kṛṣṇa (paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12)). Because this brāhmaṇa was actually qualified and was also engaged in brahminical activities (brahma-karma (BG 18.42)), killing him would be a greatly sinful act, and the brāhmaṇa's wife requested that he not be killed.

Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge, and religiousness—these are the qualities by which the brāhmaṇas work.

SB 9.11.5, Purport:

"Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge, and religiousness—these are the qualities by which the brāhmaṇas work." The brahminical character offers no scope for possessing land and ruling citizens; these are the duties of a kṣatriya. Therefore, although the brāhmaṇas did not refuse Lord Rāmacandra's gift, after accepting it they returned it to the King. The brāhmaṇas were so pleased with Lord Rāmacandra's affection toward them that their hearts melted. They saw that Lord Rāmacandra, aside from being the Supreme Personality of Godhead, was fully qualified as a kṣatriya and was exemplary in character. One of the qualifications of a kṣatriya is to be charitable. A kṣatriya, or ruler, levies taxes upon the citizens not for his personal sense gratification but to give charity in suitable cases. Dānam īśvara-bhāvaḥ. On one hand, kṣatriyas have the propensity to rule, but on the other they are very liberal with charity. When Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira gave charity, he engaged Karṇa to take charge of distributing it. Karṇa was very famous as Dātā Karṇa.

CC Madhya-lila

Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, knowledge, wisdom and religiousness—these are the natural qualities by which the brāhmaṇas work.

CC Madhya 20.59, Purport:

The Bhagavad-gītā (18.42) describes the brahminical qualities in this way:

śamo damas tapaḥ śaucaṁ kṣāntir ārjavam eva ca

jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyaṁ brahma-karma svabhāva-jam

"Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, knowledge, wisdom and religiousness—these are the natural qualities by which the brāhmaṇas work."

In the Muktāphala-ṭīkā, it is said:

śamo damas tapaḥ śaucaṁ kṣānty-ārjava-viraktayaḥ

jñāna-vijñāna-santoṣāḥ satyāstikye dvi-ṣaḍ guṇāḥ

"Mental equilibrium, sense control, austerity, cleanliness, tolerance, simplicity, detachment, theoretical and practical knowledge, satisfaction, truthfulness and firm faith in the Vedas are the twelve qualities of a brāhmaṇa."

Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, knowledge, wisdom and religiousness—these are the natural qualities by which the brāhmaṇas work.

CC Madhya 24.330, Purport:

No one should present himself as a brāhmaṇa simply on the basis of being born in a brahminical family. One must be qualified by the brahminical qualities mentioned in the śāstras, particularly the Bhagavad-gītā (18.42):

śamo damas tapaḥ śaucaṁ kṣāntir ārjavam eva ca

jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyaṁ brahma-karma svabhāva-jam

"Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, knowledge, wisdom and religiousness—these are the natural qualities by which the brāhmaṇas work."

Unless one is qualified with all these attributes, he cannot be accepted as a brāhmaṇa. It is not a question of simply taking birth in a brāhmaṇa family. In this regard, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura remarks that Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura and Śyāmānanda Gosvāmī, although not born in brāhmaṇa families, are accepted as bona fide spiritual masters because they were brāhmaṇas by qualification. Personalities like Śrī Gaṅgā-nārāyaṇa, Rāmakṛṣṇa and many others, who were actually born in brāhmaṇa families, accepted Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura and Śyāmānanda Gosvāmī as their spiritual masters.

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge and religiousness—these are the qualities by which the brāhmaṇas work.

Room Conversation with Banker -- September 21, 1973, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Just like to keep up your body fit, you require brain in order, your arms in order, your stomach in order, your legs in order. Everything must be in order. But out of all of them, if there is no brain, then everything is useless. The hand is useless, the stomach is useless, the leg is useless. So at the present moment there is no brain in the society. Lack of brain. All these things, directions, are there in the Bhagavad-gītā. What is the brain, or brāhmaṇa? Find out this verse, śamo damas titikṣā, in the Eighteenth Chapter. Jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyaṁ brahma-karma svabhāva-jam.

Śrutakīrti:

śamo damas tapaḥ śaucaṁ

kṣāntir ārjavam eva ca

jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyaṁ

brahma-karma svabhāva-jam

(BG 18.42)

"Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge and religiousness—these are the qualities by which the brāhmaṇas work." Prabhupāda: So those who will act as brain, they must possess these qualities. But who is being taught these qualities? This modern civilization is teaching people how to steal, how to cheat, how to satisfy your own sense gratification. You see? No tolerance, no complete knowledge. All fools and rascals, no knowledge. Knowledge means they must know what is the aim of life, what is God, what we are, what is this material world, why we have come here. So many things. This is called God consciousness. There is no such educational institution all over the world. Is there any institution where it is being especially taught what is God, what I am. Is there any institution? Banker: Well, there are metaphysics departments in almost every university.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge, and religiousness.

Room Conversation with Justin Murphy (Geographer) -- May 14, 1975, Perth:

Prabhupāda: Yes, yes. He should be first of all qualified like this. What is that?

Paramahaṁsa: Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge, and religiousness.

Justin Murphy: But once a man has strived for those qualities, how does he know when he's attained them? And...

Prabhupāda: No, you... Śamaḥ, śamaḥ. The first word is śamaḥ?Śamaḥ means equilibrium of the mind. One should be trained up in such a way that he is not disturbed in his mind in any circumstance. That is called śamaḥ. And damaḥ, damaḥ means controlling the senses. Naturally I find one beautiful woman I want to talk with him (her), and he (she) is other's wife. But I should: "No, why should I talk with other's wife?" This is damaḥ, controlling the senses. So śamaḥ means keeping the mind always equipoised, and damaḥ, the controlling the mind.

Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge, and religiousness—these are the qualities by which a brāhmaṇa works.

Room Conversation with Mr. & Mrs. Wax, Writer and Editing Manager of Playboy Magazine -- July 5, 1975, Chicago:

Prabhupāda: The book of knowledge. You can read Bhagavad-gītā. Find out, śamaḥ damaḥ titikṣa.

Jayatīrtha:

śamo damas tapaḥ śaucaṁ

kṣāntir ārjavam eva ca

jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyam

brahma-karma svabhāva-jam

(BG 18.42)

"Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge, and religiousness—these are the qualities by which a brāhmaṇa works."

Prabhupāda: This is first-class. Now śamo damaḥ... Śamaḥ means controlling the mind, mind is always peaceful. You can train. Then controlling the senses. Then truthful. Then full of knowledge, practical application of knowledge in life. These are the qualification of first-class man. Everything is there. If you train a boy to become first-class man, he can become first-class man. If you don't train, then he will become a debauch, criminal, disturbing. So we are training in the Gurukula to become first-class men. This is our aim. Unless in the society an ideal first-class man, then how one will become, or follow the ideal? There is no ideal.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge, and religiousness—these are the qualities by which the brāhmaṇas work.

Room Conversation with Dr. Theodore Kneupper -- November 6, 1976, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: I want the light on the veranda.

Jagadīśa: It's on.

Prabhupāda: That's all right.

Hari-śauri:

śamo damas tapaḥ śaucaṁ

kṣāntir ārjavam eva ca

jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyaṁ

brahma-karma svabhāva-jam

(BG 18.42)

"Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge, and religiousness—these are the qualities by which the brāhmaṇas work."

Prabhupāda: And if I teach that "I'll teach you how to become truthful," they will laugh. People will say, "Can anyone exist nowadays, simply becoming truthful?" Then damaḥ, self-controlled. If I say, "Come here. I shall teach you how to control your senses," he will laugh, that "What is this nonsense? We shall enjoy life and shall control senses?" This is the description of the first-class man, śamo damas titikṣā ārjava, saralatā, simplicity. No one is prepared to become first-class man. They will laugh. These are all primitive ideas.

1973 Correspondence

Peacefulness, self control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge, and religiousness—these are the qualities by which the Brahmanas work.

Letter to Bhutatma -- Bhaktivedanta Manor 7 August, 1973:

By your recommendation I have chanted upon the enclosed sacred thread and agree to accept the devotee Jambavan Das Brahmacari for second initiation __ becomes twice born, or Brahmin. The qualifications of a Brahmana are listed in the 18th Chapter verse 42 of the Bhagavad-gita. "Peacefulness, self control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge, and religiousness—these are the qualities by which the Brahmanas work". So you should be very much careful to see that our devotees are following the regulative principles and standard practices such as attending morning Arati, classes, Sankirtana, and reading our books. We want to create some men who can give guidance to the human society, because at the present moment the society is without any intelligent head, namely Brahmins, therefore the whole world is confused for want of real guidance in the matter of ultimate goal of life. They have taken sense gratification as the ultimate goal and therefore everyone is frustrated, because the living entity has nothing to do with the temporary material senses. The senses will never be satisfied, Krishna must be satisfied and then the living entity as eternal part and parcel of the Supreme Lord is automatically satisfied. So the Brahmins are supposed to serve the whole society by distributing this important information. Please help me in this way and Krishna will bless you.

1975 Correspondence

Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge and religiousness—these are the qualities by which the brahmanas work.

Letter to Sivarama -- Vrindaban 7 December, 1975:

I am accepting the student you have recommended for Brahmin initiation, their names as follows; Dharmaprana das Brahmacari, Natha Das Brahmacari, Misrami Devi Dasi, and Lalita Devi Dasi. Hold a fire ceremony, and let the students hear the mantra from the tape recording through the right rear. Brahminical life means to be very very clean, inside and out. Inside by chanting and hearing, and outside by bathing three times daily, if not possible at least two times, but never less than once. Bathing after passing stool. The qualifications of the Brahmanas are described in the 18th Chapter of Bhagavad gita verse 42 "Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge and religiousness—these are the qualities by which the brahmanas work." So see that these instructions are being followed nicely.