- varṇāśramācāravatā
- puruṣeṇa paraḥ pumān
- viṣṇur ārādhyate pumsam
- nānyat tat-toṣa-kāraṇam
- (CC Madhya 8.58)
The whole aim of varṇāśrama-dharma . . . cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ (BG 4.13). The brāhmins, the kṣatriyas, the vaiśyas, the śūdras, the brahmacārī, the gṛhastha, the vānaprastha and the sannyāsī—this is called varṇāśrama. This is the form of human civilization. Unless one comes to this point of executing the varṇāśrama-dharma, he's animal.
Dharmeṇa hīnāḥ paśubhiḥ samānāḥ (Hitopadeśa). This is dharma, to execute varṇāśrama-dharma. That is dharma. So if anyone is not executing this varṇāśrama-dharma, he's animal. Paśubhiḥ samānāḥ. That is not accepted as human civilization.
When Rāmānanda Rāya was questioned by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu: "What is sādhya and sādhana, what is human duty, sādhya, and what is the end of sādhana . . .?" Sādhana, sādhana means cultivating something with a aim of objective. So this question was put to Rāmānanda Rāya by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu: "What is the aim of human life and what is the process of executing that will?"