Third-class means

Expressions researched:
"Third class means" |"Third-class means"

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Third-class means mercantile traders.

Lecture on BG 18.41 -- Stockholm, September 7, 1973:

The third-class means kṛṣi-go-rakṣya-vāṇijyaṁ vaiśya-karma svabhāva-jam (BG 18.44). Third-class means mercantile traders. They should produce food, enough kṛṣi, agricultural products, and go-rakṣya. Now we see instead of go-rakṣya... Go-rakṣya means protection to the cows. Instead of protection to the cows, they are killing the cows. How you can have perfect society? Cows must be protected. It is so important animal. It is giving the you nectarean food milk, and from milk, you can save your children, you can save your diseased persons. And how it is that you take the cow's milk and send it for slaughterhouse. Oh, this is not, not at all human civilization. Here it is said go-rakṣya. You should give all protection to this important animal. Kṛṣṇa does not say that you should protect the pigs and hogs or other animals. He especially meant the cows because cow is very important animal to the human society. If there are meat-eaters, they can kill other animals, but they should not kill the cow. This is, if you want actually perfect society. Kṛṣi-go-rakṣya-vāṇijyam (BG 18.44). And these persons, they let them produce enough food grains, and where there is no, there is scarcity of food grain, let them supply there. That is called trade. Vāṇijyam. Vāṇijyam.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Third class means those who are materialistic.

Lecture on SB 3.25.25 -- Bombay, November 25, 1974:

There are so many Māyāvādīs and avaiṣṇava, they practically do not accept Kṛṣṇa even the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and they dare to speak on Bhagavad-gītā. Just see the fun. He does not accept Bhagavad-gītā as it is, and he wants to comment and give his ṭīkā. So you'll never derive any benefit. Therefore here it is said, satāṁ prasaṅgāt. You should hear Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from the devotees, not from a third-class man, no. Third class means those who are materialistic. So therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu has warned that māyāvādi-bhāṣya śunile haya sarva-nāśa. If you happen to hear from a Māyāvādī, impersonalist, who does not accept Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, or does not know what is Kṛṣṇa, if such person reads Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, you will never derive any benefit. You can go on hearing them for hundreds of years; still, you will never understand what is Kṛṣṇa. That is forbidden. Sanātana Gosvāmī has forbidden, that avaiṣṇava-mukhodgīrṇaṁ pūtaṁ hari-kathāmṛtam. Hari-kathā, talks, discussion on Hari, or Kṛṣṇa, that is amṛta. Amṛta means nectarine. If one hears, then he gets his amṛta. Amṛtatvam.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Third-class means they should engage themselves, how to produce food and give protection to the cow.

Press Conference -- July 9, 1975, Chicago:

Reporter (5): What does he do?

Prabhupāda: He does give you advice. If you take his advice, then you get perfect advice.

Reporter (5): What do the other classes do?

Prabhupāda: Other classes... The second-class, they are supposed to be administrator. They are very... They are also very strong. They do not go away when there is fighting. They have got a ruling capacity, and they are charitable. They have got seven qualifications. So... But he rules according to the advice of the first-class men.

Reporter (5): Then... Well, how about the third and fourth-classes?

Prabhupāda: Third-class means they should engage themselves, how to produce food and give protection to the cow. It is said...

Reporter (5): The cow?

Prabhupāda: Cow, yes.

Reporter (2): The cow?

Prabhupāda: Yes, cow, from where you get milk, that cow. So the exact word is used in Sanskrit, kṛṣi-go-rakṣya-vāṇijyaṁ vaiśya-karma svabhāva-jam (BG 18.44). Vaiśya, the third-class man, is called vaiśya. So his duty is how to produce food, food grains, for both for the animals and the man. And he gives protection to the cows. As the second-class man, the administrator, he gives protection to the human being from danger, similarly, the third-class man is entrusted to give protection to the cows. Cow is very important animal in the society because it is supplying milk, the most nutritious food. And... Find out. This is the third-class man's duty. And the fourth-class man means general worker. He has no brain, he simply helps the other three classes: first-class, second-class, and the third-class. And below the fourth-class men, they are called fifth-class, sixth-class. So they are called lower class, less than the fourth-class. So the society should be generally divided into four classes. As I have given example, there is head, arm, belly, and leg.

Third class means lazy fool and fourth class means busy fool.

Morning Walk -- October 19, 1975, Johannesburg:

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: But I think people would... Most people would go crazy if they didn't have any work.

Prabhupāda: No, that means their life is not properly conducted. And therefore the word laziness has come. Laziness is not actually the word. Laziness means minimizing the bodily labor and engaged in spiritual work. If you ask people, "Please come to our temple," who is coming? Because he says, "I have no time." But we are not working hard. So real aim of life is to... In German, I think, or somewhere there is classification: "Lazy intelligent, busy intelligent, lazy fool, and busy fool." So at the present moment (laughs) the whole world is full of busy fools. But the first-class man, he is lazy intelligent. Lazy and intelligent, that is first-class man. And second-class man, busy intelligent. And third class means lazy fool and fourth class means busy fool. When the fools are busy... Just like nowadays they are busy but they are fools. Like monkey, he is very busy. You see? And they prefer to be generation of monkey, busy fool. That's all. Fools, when he is busy, he is simply creating havoc. That's all. Better... Lazy fool is better than him because he will not create so much harm, but this busy fool will simply create harm. And first class-man is lazy intelligent. He knows the value of life, and soberly he is thinking. Just like all our great saintly persons. They were living in the forest, meditation, tapasya, and writing books. All, you will find, lazy intelligent. They are first-class men.