Prabhupada 0474 - Aryans Means Those Who Are Advanced
Lecture -- Seattle, October 7, 1968
The Vedānta advises, "Now you take to about the inquiry of Brahman." Athāto brahma jijñāsā. This is applicable for everyone, civilized men. I don't speak of the Americans, in Europe, in Asia. Anywhere. Aryans means those who are advanced. Non-Aryans means those who are not ad... This is the Sanskrit meaning, ārya. And śūdras... Aryans are divided into four castes. The most intelligent class is called brāhmaṇa, and the less than the brāhmaṇas means those who are administrators, politicians, they are kṣatriyas. And next to them the mercantile class, traders, merchants, industrialists, less than the administrative class. And less than that, the śūdras. Śūdras means worker, laborer. So this system is not new. It is everywhere. Wherever there is human society, these four classes of men are there. Sometimes I am questioned why there is caste system in India. Well, this caste system is there. It is by nature. Bhagavad-gītā says, cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ: (BG 4.13) "The four classes of men are there. That is My law." How they are four classes? Guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ. Guṇa means quality, and karma means work. If you have got very nice quality, intelligence, brahminical qualities... Brahminical qualities means if you speak truth, you are very clean and you are self-controlled, your mind is in equilibrium, you are tolerant, and so many qual... You believe in God, you know scriptures practically. These qualities are for the higher class, brāhmaṇa. The first qualification of a brāhmaṇa is that he's truthful. He'll disclose everything even to his enemy. He'll never, I mean to say, hide anything. Satyam. Śaucam, very clean. A brāhmaṇa is expected to take bath daily thrice and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Bahyābhyantara, clean outside, clean inside. These are qualities. So when these opportunities are there, then the Vedānta-sūtra, Vedānta advises, "Now you begin to inquire about Brahman." Athāto brahma jijñāsā.
Athāto brahma jijñāsā. When one has reached to the material perfection, then the next business is to inquire. If we do not inquire, if we do not try to understand what is Brahman, then we must be frustrated. Because the hankering is there, advancement, advancement of knowledge. The theory of advancement of knowledge is that nobody should be satisfied by the knowledge, what he already knows. He must know more and more. So in your country in comparison to other countries at the present age, you have advanced materially very nicely. Now you take to this brahma-jijñāsā, inquiry about the Supreme Absolute: What is that Absolute? What I am? I am also Brahman. Because I am part and parcel of Brahman, therefore I am also Brahman. Just like part and parcel, a little particle of gold is also gold. It is no other thing. Similarly, we are also particle of Brahman or the Supreme. Just like the molecules of sunshine, they are also as illuminating as the sun globe, but they are very small. Similarly, we living entities, we are also the same as God. But He is just like as big as the sun globe or the deity in the sun globe, but we are small particles, the molecules of sunshine. This is the comparison between the Supreme and us.