Gaudiya siddhanta - ebooks - ISKCON desire tree

determined by birth. Therefore it is only logical to assume that one's prescribed duties are also not
determined by birth. Rather, they are dictated by one's inherent varna.
A similar question could be put to our challengers — "Why don't the young members of your community
accept their karma of being born in a brahmana-parivara and attempt to follow brahminical codes? Why
are they flying to America to do the jobs of sudras in order to get some money to send home to their
parents?"
If they wish to rigidly adhere to the rules of the Dharma-sastras by proclaiming that a brahmana is by
birth, they should apply the rules of that scripture in toto. They are simply following the ardha-kukkutinyaya
(the logic of half a hen) — they will take the rear part for the eggs, but they reject the front part
because it is too bothersome to feed. What they have failed to understand is that according to the same
Dharma-sastras, a brahmana who crosses the ocean loses his caste. This means that those Madhvabrahmanas
who have gone to work in foreign countries have become lower than sudras! Only a sudra is
allowed to reside outside Arya Varsa when he is in distress for subsisitence. Thus the injunction is given -
na sudra-rajye nivasenn-adharmikajanavrte
" Let him (a brahmana) not dwell in a land that is governed by sudras." (Manu
4.61)
Furthermore, such 'brahmanas' become degraded associating with fallen people
(patita-samsargan) at their place of work -
uttamanuttaman gacchan
hinam hinams ca varjayan
brahmanah sresthatam eti
pratyavayena sudratam
"If a brahmana disassociates himself from lower caste people and associates only with higher caste
people, he attains greatness. If he does the opposite, he becomes a sudra." (Manu 4.245)
Whether one is a government servant (raja-sevakan), a salaried teacher (bhrtakadhyapakan), a bankclerk
(vanijakan), a doctor (cikitisikan) or a computer programmer or is involved in any other kind of
technology (yantra-vidyakan), all of these professions fall under the category of a sudra. A brahmana
never takes employment from anyone (especially from those who are sudras and lower). He must be
independent. This is explained in the Kurma Purana -
go-raksakan vanijakan
tatha karuka-silinah
presyan vardhusikams caiva
vipran sudra-vad acaret
"Those brahmanas who make a living from protecting cows, engage in trade, become artists, take the
occupation of servants, and loan money on interest are no better than sudras."
seva sv-vrttir yair ukta
na samyak tair udahrtam
svacchanda-caritah kva sva
vikritasuh kva sevakah
" Those who describe the occupation of a servant to be like that of a dog are unable to give a proper