There's a Way Out of Here

Have you had enough of this material existence? Do you dread getting sick, getting old, and dying? Are you intensely yearning for an alternative, another system of existence, a way out of this inauspicious situation?

If so, the good news is that there is way of out of here. There is a pathway of unlimited devotion available to you right now that will quickly and easily take you out of this distressful place. But you must be willing to carefully follow the directions that we will give you.

This pathway will take you quickly and easily out of the dense forest of delusion. That one should follow this pathway is confirmed as follows in the Mahabharata:

mahajano yena gatah sa panthah

"One should traverse that trail blazed by the great spiritually enlightened souls." Mahabharata, Vana-parva (313.117)

You must be prepared to courageously give up all of your pre-conceived ideas and put your faith in those who have higher knowledge. When you are ready to follow, we are ready to lead you out of this chaotic material world into that realm where life is eternal, full of knowledge, and full of bliss.

Answers According to the Vedic Version

Question: What are the Qualities of the Four Social Orders?...

I would be glad if you can kindly explain to me the mechanism of the Vedic system of four social and spiritual orders known as Varnashrama. It is said, "janmana jayate sudra-By birth everyone is a sudra (uncultured worker class)." But I have heard from one of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada's lectures that if a man is born in a sudra family and if he is qualified with the 18 qualities of brahmana (highly cultured priestly class) then he is a brahmana.

What are those qualities that make someone qualified as a brahmana, a ksatriya (administrative-military class), a vaisya (farmer-mercantile class) or a sudra?

Kindly enlighten me with this information.

R.S. Vaidyanathan

Hyderabad, India

Answer: Krishna Describes Them in the Bhagavad-gita...

The qualities that make one a brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, or sudra are listed in the Bhagavad-gita as follows in Chapter 18, verses 41 through 44:

brahmana-ksatriya-visam
sudranam ca parantapa
karmani pravibhaktani
svabhava-prabhavair gunaih

"Brahmanas, ksatriyas, vaisyas and sudras are distinguished by the qualities born of their own natures in accordance with the material modes, O chastiser of the enemy."

samo damas tapah saucam
ksantir arjavam eva ca
jnanam vijnanam astikyam
brahma-karma svabhava-jam

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

sauryam tejo dhrtir daksyam
yuddhe capy apalayanam
danam isvara-bhavas ca
ksatram karma svabhava-jam

"Heroism, power, determination, resourcefulness, courage in battle, generosity and leadership are the natural qualities of work for the ksatriyas."

krsi-go-raksya-vanijyam
vaisya-karma svabhava-jam
paricaryatmakam karma
sudrasyapi svabhava-jam

"Farming, cow protection and business are the natural work for the vaisyas, and for the sudras there is labor and service to others."

Thus it is very clear that the original Vedic system of social divisions was based on qualities and activities, not on birth. In modern day India the varnashram system has become very much distorted and has been bastardized into the so-called caste system. If modern day Indians would simply carefully read and follow their own holy book, the Bhagavad-gita, all social problems in India would quickly become solved. But because Indian society has for so many centuries been misguided by the caste-conscious so-called brahmanas, the entire Indian society has been plunged into chaos.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari