Why not varnasrama?

[Guest guest]

Bhagavata-dharma means living according to the instructions of the Supreme

Personality of Godhead. In Bhagavad-gita we find that the Supreme Lord has

arranged human society in four social divisions, namely brahmana,

ksatriya, vaisya and sudra. Again, the Puranas and other Vedic literatures

set forth four asramas, which are the divisions of spiritual life.

Therefore bhagavata-dharma means the varnasrama-dharma of the four social

and four spiritual divisions.

 

The members of human society who strictly follow the principles of

bhagavata-dharma and live according to the instructions of the Supreme

Personality of Godhead are called Aryans or arya. A civilization of Aryans

who strictly follow the instructions of the Lord and never deviate from

those instructions is perfect. Such civilized men do not discriminate

between trees, animals, human beings and other living entities. panditah

sama-darsinah: [bg. 5.18] because they are completely educated in Krsna

consciousness, they see all living beings equally. Aryans do not kill even

a small plant unnecessarily, not to speak of cutting trees for sense

gratification. At the present moment, throughout the world, killing is

prominent. Men are killing trees, they are killing animals, and they are

killing other human beings also, all for sense gratification. This is not

an Aryan civilization. As stated here, sthira-cara-sattva-kadambesv

aprthag-dhiyah. The word aprthag-dhiyah indicates that Aryans do not

distinguish between lower and higher grades of life. All life should be

protected. All living beings have a right to live, even the trees and

plants. This is the basic principle of an Aryan civilization. Apart from

the lower living entities, those who have come to the platform of human

civilization should be divided into a society of brahmanas, ksatriyas,

vaisyas and sudras. The brahmanas should follow the instructions of the

Supreme Personality of Godhead as stated in Bhagavad-gita and other Vedic

literatures. The criterion must be guna and karma. In other words, one

should acquire the qualities of a brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya or sudra and

act accordingly. This is the civilization accepted by the Aryans. Why do

they accept it? They accept it because they are very much eager to satisfy

Krsna. This is perfect civilization.