by Satsvarūpa dāsa Adhikārī (ISKCON-Boston)

The followers of the supreme will as taught by Lord Krsna in the Bhagavad-gita are generally called Hindus. This word Hindu, which has only come from recent times, is a name given by Mohammedans to those followers of the varnasrama-dharma who used to gather at the Indus River in India. "Indus" became "Hindus" by mispronunciation, so "Hindu" is an empty designation. The religion of the four social orders and four spiritual orders created by the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krsna, as revealed in Bhagavad-gita (Bg. 4.13), is properly named varnasrama-dharma. Basically, the four orders of social life called varna are scientifically arranged for the material progress of society, and the four spiritual orders called asrama are designed for natural progress in self-realization. Both the varna and asrama systems are interrelated; each is dependent on the other. The purpose of this plan, created by the Lord Himself, is to accelerate the transcendental qualities of the individual so that he may gradually realize his spiritual identification and act in order to get free from the material bondage of conditional life. It is a system by which the civilized human being can successfully perform the human mission, which is to be distinguished from the animal propensities of eating, sleeping, mating and defending.