Gaudiya siddhanta - ebooks - ISKCON desire tree

yatraitan na bhavet sarpa
tam sudram iti nirdiset
na vary api prayacchet tu
vaidala-vratike dvije
na baka-vratike vipre
naveda —vidi dharma-vit
"Religious-minded people should never give even a drop of water to the hypocritical son of a brahmana,
the follower of the 'vow of a cat' 7. One should not give even a drop of water to the son of a brahmana
who is ignorant of the Vedas or a sinful imposter." (Visnu Dharma-sastra 93.7)
yatha kastha-mayo hasti
yatha carma-mayo mrgah
yas ca vipro'nadhiyanas
trayas te nama bibhrati
"A brahmana who does not study the Vedas is similar to a wooden elephant or a deer made of skin,
which are an elephant or deer only in name but do not effectively function as such." (Manu 2.157)
sudrena hi samas tavad
yavad vede na jayate
"One should know that until a brahmana is qualified in the Vedas, he is on the same level as a sudra."
(Manu 2.172)
OBJECTION: We agree that we cannot perform all the duties of a
brahmana due to other commitments. However, in Bhagavad-gita
(9.26) Lord Krsna has said —
patram puspam phalam toyam
yo me bhaktyam prayacchati
tad aham bhakty-upahrtam
asnami prayatatmanah
"If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or
water, I will accept it."
In other words, one should perform his duties as much as possible.
The main point is that they should be done in devotion. Sri Krsna
further states -
sreyan sva-dharmo vigunah
para-dharmat sv-anusthitat
svabhava-niyatam karma
kurvan napnoti kilbisam
"It is better to engage in one's own occupation, even though one may perform it imperfectly,
than to accept another's occupation and perform it perfectly. Duties prescribed according to
one's nature are never affected by sinful reactions." (Bhagavad-gita 18.47)
So even if we are performing our brahminical duties imperfectly (i.e. not performing yajnas
(8) , ekadasi-vrata (9) , vedadhyayana (10), sandhya-vandana (11) etc), there is no sin involved