Caitanya Mahāprabhu, when He was questioned by Sanātana Gosvāmī, "My dear Sir, I have come to You to surrender to You because You are my spiritual master. You have asked me to give up my family life. So by Your word I have given up. Now I have come to You. So this is my first question." One should be very inquisitive. After initiation, ādau gurvāśrayam. This is our system. So just to become enlightened in the spiritual affairs of life . . . as Arjuna also said, śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ prapannam (BG 2.7). Similarly, Sanātana Gosvāmī also, he said: "Sir, You asked me. I am now surrendered to You. So this is my question."
What is that question? There must be question. If one is actually seeking after spiritual realization, there must be intelligent question. The first intelligent question was put forward by Sanātana Gosvāmī that, ke āmi kene more jape tāpa-traya: "Sir, please let me know what is my identification, why I am put into this miserable condition of material life." People do not know it. Just like cats and dogs. The cat or the dog does not know that his life is very abominable. No, he is happy. This is māyā. Even the hog, he is also thinking, "I am very happy." This is called māyā, moha. Jīvasya moha, ahaṁ mameti (SB 5.5.8). So when human life is there, at least one must be awakened to this consciousness that, "Actually I am not happy." That is the beginning of human life, not to remain in darkness like cats and dog. He is unhappy in every respect, in every step, and still, he is thinking, "I am happy." Cats, dogs, hogs, their whole day working, day and night, and for some food and then sense gratification. This is the modern life. And that is happiness, to become very busy whole day and night for getting some food for eating and something for sense gratification. This is happiness.
Actually, it is not. So therefore Sanātana Gosvāmī was intelligent. He inquired that ke āmi kene more jape tāpa-traya (CC Madhya 20.102), first question to the spiritual master, that "What is my identification? Why I am suffering these threefold miseries?" They do not know what is threefold . . . miseries are there, but they do not know, so dull-headed people. Adhyātmika, adhibhautika, adhidaivika, three kinds of miseries, there must be. Either three or two or at least one must be. No, three are always there. Adhyātmika means pertaining to the body or mind: "Today I am very weak," "Today I have got jaundice," "Today I have got this some stomach trouble, dysentery." These are called adhyātmika. Or mind is not very nice. And adhidaivika. Just like severe cold, severe heat, earthquake, these are . . . famine, pestilence. There are so many things, adhidaivika. And adhibhautika, miseries offered by another living entity. In this way we are always implicated, adhyātmika.
Therefore Sanātana Gosvāmī inquired that, "I do not want this. I do not want this. But why they are imposed upon me?" This is very intelligent question. "If there is any solution?" That is intelligence, not temporary mitigation of . . . temporary, we have, just like it is summer or winter. Anyway, summer, in the summer we are suffering, scorching heat. At that time we are hankering after some cool place. And during winter we are suffering from chilly, cold, rain. So these thing will go on. So long you are in the material world, you cannot avoid it. Therefore Sanātana Gosvāmī inquired, "Why these things give me trouble, although I do not want them?" This is very intelligent. "If there is any solution?"
So the modern civilization—modern or past—foolish people, they do not want the solution. They think that, "Things are going on like this. We cannot avoid it. Let us suffer." That is not intelligence. If you are suffering, then you must find out the remedy. And actually, we are doing that. But because we do not know what is the actual remedy, we are missing the point. But there is solution. And for this solution, one must go to the spiritual master. That is described. Saṁsāra-dāvānala-līḍha-loka-trāṇāya. They . . . this materialistic life is always like the blazing fire in the forest. So trāṇāya, to how to get out of it. Trāṇā it is called. Trāṇā means to relieve from the suffering. Kāruṇya-ghanāghanatvam. So how these sufferings can be mitigated? So people have become so dull-headed, they cannot understand what is the real suffering, and neither they have any inquiries how to mitigate the sufferings. This is the position. Therefore they are called śūdra. Śūdras, they are like. A brāhmaṇa is intelligent. A brāhmaṇa . . . therefore we are trying to make people brāhmaṇa so that he may become intelligent. Not śūdras. Others are trying to make them śūdras. Śūdras means to remain in ignorance, and brāhmaṇa means to remain in knowledge. That is the difference between brāhmaṇa and śūdra. And these two other classes, via media, kṣatriya and vaiśya. The brāhmaṇas are supposed to be the first-class men in the society. The kṣatriyas, the second class; the vaiśyas, the third class; and the remaining, all fourth class and fifth class.