TEXT 43
vaikhanasa valakhilyau-
dumbarah phenapa vane
nyase kuticakah purvam
bahvodo hamsa-niskriyau
SYNONYMS
vaikhanasahthe section of men who retire from active life and live on half-boiled meals; valakhilyaone who quits his former stock of grains on receipt of more; audumbarahone who lives on what he gets from the direction towards which he starts after rising from bed; phenapahone who lives on the fruits which automatically fall from the tree; vanein the forest; nyasein the order of renunciation; kuticakahlife in the family without attachment; purvamin the beginning; bahvodahgiving up all material activities and engaging fully in transcendental service; hamsafully engaged in transcendental knowledge; niskriyaustopping 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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