TEXT 36
athapi me vinitasya
ksattram ghoram upeyusah
surucya durvaco-banair
na bhinne srayate hrdi
SYNONYMS
atha apitherefore; memy; avinitasyanot very submissive; ksattramthe spirit of a ksatriya; ghoramintolerant; upeyusahachieved; surucyahof Queen Suruci; durvacahharsh words; banaihby the arrows; nanot; bhinnebeing pierced; srayateremain in; hrdithe heart.
TRANSLATION
My dear lord, I am very impudent for not accepting your instructions, but this is not my fault. It is due to my having been born in a ksatriya family. My stepmother, Suruci, has pierced my heart with her harsh words. Therefore your valuable instruction does not stand in my heart.
PURPORT
It is said that the heart or mind is just like an earthen pot; once broken, it cannot be repaired by any means. Dhruva Maharaja gave this example to Narada Muni. He said that his heart, having been pierced by the arrows of his stepmothers harsh words, felt so broken that nothing seemed valuable but his desire to counteract her insult. His stepmother had said that because he was born from the womb of Suniti, a neglected queen of Maharaja Uttanapada, Dhruva Maharaja was not fit to sit either on the throne or on his fathers lap. In other words, according to his stepmother, he could not be declared king. Dhruva Maharajas determination, therefore, was to become king of a planet exalted even beyond that possessed by Lord Brahma, the greatest of all the demigods.
Dhruva Maharaja indirectly informed the great sage Narada that there are four kinds of human spiritthe brahminical spirit, the ksatriya spirit, the vaisya spirit and the sudra spirit. The spirit of one caste is not applicable to the members of another. The philosophical spirit enunciated by Narada Muni might have been suitable for a brahmana spirit, but it was not suitable for a ksatriya. Dhruva frankly admitted that he was lacking in brahminical humility and was therefore unable to accept the philosophy of Narada Muni.
The statements of Dhruva Maharaja indicate that unless a child is trained according to his tendency, there is no possibility of his developing his particular spirit. It was the duty of the spiritual master or teacher to observe the psychological movement of a particular boy and thus train him in a particular occupational duty. Dhruva Maharaja, having already been trained in the ksatriya spirit, would not accept the brahminical philosophy. In America we have practical experience of this incompatibility of the brahminical and ksatriya temperaments. The American boys, who have simply been trained as sudras, are not at all fit to fight in battle. Therefore, when they are called to join the military, they refuse because they do not have ksatriya spirit. This is a cause of great dissatisfaction in society.
That the boys do not have the ksatriya spirit does not mean that they are trained in brahminical qualities; they are trained as sudras, and thus in frustration they are becoming hippies. However, as soon as they enter the Krsna consciousness movement being started in America, they are trained to meet the brahminical qualifications, even though they have fallen to the lowest conditions as sudras. In other words, since the Krsna consciousness movement is open for everyone, people in general can attain the brahminical qualifications. This is the greatest need at the present moment, for now there are actually no brahmanas or ksatriyas but only some vaisyas and, for the most part, sudras. The classification of society into brahmanas, ksatriyas, vaisyas and sudras is very scientific. In the human social body, the brahmanas are considered the head, the ksatriyas are the arms, the vaisyas are the belly, and the sudras are the legs. At the present moment the body has legs and a belly, but there are no arms or head, and therefore society is topsy-turvy. It is necessary to reestablish the brahminical qualifications in order to raise the fallen human society to the highest standard of spiritual consciousness.

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