vaikhanasa valakhilyau-
dumbarah phenapa vane
nyase kuticakah purvam
bahvodo hamsa-niskriyau
SYNONYMS
vaikhanasah—the section of men who retire from active life and live on half-boiled meals; valakhilya—one who quits his former stock of grains on receipt of more; audumbarah—one who lives on what he gets from the direction towards which he starts after rising from bed; phenapah—one who lives on the fruits which automatically fall from the tree; vane—in the forest; nyase—in the order of renunciation; kuticakah—life in the family without attachment; purvam—in the beginning; bahvodah—giving up all material activities and engaging fully in transcendental service; hamsa—fully engaged in transcendental knowledge; niskriyau—stopping all kinds of activities.
TRANSLATION
The four divisions of retired life are the vaikhanasas, valakhilyas, audumbaras and phenapas. The four divisions of the renounced order of life are the kuticakas, bahvodas, hamsas and niskriyas. All these were manifested from Brahma.
PURPORT
The varnasrama-dharma, or the institution of the four divisions and orders of social and spiritual life, is not a new invention of the modern age, as proposed by the less intelligent. It is an institution established by Brahma from the beginning of the creation. This is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (4.13): catur-varnyam maya srstam.
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