Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 4 Chapter 8 Verse 36

Canto 4: Creation of the Fourth Order | Chapter 8: Dhruva Mahārāja Leaves Home for the Forest

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.8.36

athāpi me 'vinītasya

kṣāttraḿ ghoram upeyuṣaḥ

surucyā durvaco-bāṇair

na bhinne śrayate hṛdi

SYNONYMS

atha api — therefore; me — my; avinītasya — not very submissive; kṣāttram — the spirit of a kṣatriya; ghoram — intolerant; upeyuṣaḥ — achieved; surucyāḥ — of Queen Suruci; durvacaḥ — harsh words; bāṇaiḥ — by the arrows; na — not; bhinne — being pierced; śrayate — remain in; hṛdi — the 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 kṣatriya 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 Mahārāja gave this example to Nārada Muni. He said that his heart, having been pierced by the arrows of his stepmother's 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 Sunīti, a neglected queen of Mahārāja Uttānapāda, Dhruva Mahārāja was not fit to sit either on the throne or on his father's lap. In other words, according to his stepmother, he could not be declared king. Dhruva Mahārāja's determination, therefore, was to become king of a planet exalted even beyond that possessed by Lord Brahmā, the greatest of all the demigods.

Dhruva Mahārāja indirectly informed the great sage Nārada that there are four kinds of human spirit — the brahminical spirit, the kṣatriya spirit, the vaiśya spirit and the śūdra spirit. The spirit of one caste is not applicable to the members of another. The philosophical spirit enunciated by Nārada Muni might have been suitable for a brāhmaṇa spirit, but it was not suitable for a kṣatriya. Dhruva frankly admitted that he was lacking in brahminical humility and was therefore unable to accept the philosophy of Nārada Muni.

The statements of Dhruva Mahārāja 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 Mahārāja, having already been trained in the kṣatriya spirit, would not accept the brahminical philosophy. In America we have practical experience of this incompatibility of the brahminical and kṣatriya temperaments. The American boys, who have simply been trained as śūdras, 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 kṣatriya spirit. This is a cause of great dissatisfaction in society.

That the boys do not have the kṣatriya spirit does not mean that they are trained in brahminical qualities; they are trained as śūdras, and thus in frustration they are becoming hippies. However, as soon as they enter the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement being started in America, they are trained to meet the brahminical qualifications, even though they have fallen to the lowest conditions as śūdras. In other words, since the Kṛṣṇa 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 brāhmaṇas or kṣatriyas but only some vaiśyas and, for the most part, śūdras. The classification of society into brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas and śūdras is very scientific. In the human social body, the brāhmaṇas are considered the head, the kṣatriyas are the arms, the vaiśyas are the belly, and the śūdras 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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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness