The kṣatriyas' qualification—they want to rule over. A kṣatriya never goes away from fighting. He is never afraid of fighting. He never, I mean to say, he is afraid of the challenge of the other party. Just like Jarāsandha. Jarāsandha was a kṣatriya, and he was . . . at the same time, a kṣatriya's quality is charitable. Formerly the kings, they would distribute money like anything. They would collect money by taxing, but at the same time, they would distribute.
The example is given in the case of Mahārāja Daśaratha, that he was exacting taxes just like the sunshine exacts water from the sea, and it turns into cloud and it distributes all over the planet. Similarly, the kṣatriya's duty is to collect . . . government's duty is to collect tax, heavily tax. But the money should be distributed to all the citizens by different way.
That is the way, dāna-bhāva-jam. Not that I collect tax and I engage it in my sense gratification; I employ three hundred prostitutes for dancing before me. These are . . . this is the cause of falling down of monarchy system. Therefore people are in democracy. And the democracy is also failure. Every democratic member has become another debauchee. So therefore it is coming down to Communism, dictatorship. You see? So in this way things are changing. But actually, if they follow the symptoms of a kṣatriya, then it is good for the kṣatriya king and the citizens.
But they are not following. Therefore śāstra says that the Brahmin, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra . . . if one is . . . kṛṣi-vāṇijyam, go-rakṣya. That is the symptom of the vaiśya. As the kṣatriyas are entrusted to protect the human beings, the vaiśya is expected to protect the cows. Unfortunately, they are not doing that. There is no kṣatriya; there is no Brahmin; there is no vaiśya. Therefore the śāstra says, kalau śūdra-sambhavaḥ (Skanda Purāṇa): "In the Kali-yuga there is only śūdras"; there is no more brāhmin. Of course, there is; not "no more," but very minor quantity, very . . .
Manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu (BG 7.3). Brāhmaṇa means one who is aware of the Supreme Absolute Truth. And one who is above Brahmin, when the Absolute Truth is worshiped, that is Vaiṣṇava. A Brahmin may be qualified in so many ways, but if he is not a Vaiṣṇava, then he cannot be a spiritual master. That is also stated in the śāstra: ṣaṭ-karma-nipuṇo vipraḥ. A Brahmin is very qualified, ṣaṭ-karma. Ṣaṭ-karma, six kinds of activities. The six kinds of activities are paṭhana-pāṭhana yajana-yājana dāna-pratigraha.
Paṭhana means he must be very much serious in understanding the Vedic literatures. That is brāhmaṇa's qualification . . . very much studious, high-class scholar in Vedic literature, paṭhana. And pāṭhana, he must teach the Vedic knowledge.