Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.11.35

yasya yal lakshanam proktam

pumso varnābhivyañjakam

yad anyatrāpi driśyeta

tat tenaiva vinirdiśet

SYNONYMS

yasya — of whom; yat — which; lakshanam — symptom; proktam — described (above); pumsah — of a person; varna-abhivyañjakam — indicating the classification (brāhmana, kshatriya, vaiśya, śūdra, etc.); yat — if; anyatra — elsewhere; api — also; driśyeta — is seen; tat — that; tena — by that symptom; eva — certainly; vinirdiśet — one should designate.

TRANSLATION

If one shows the symptoms of being a brāhmana, kshatriya, vaiśya or śūdra, as described above, even if he has appeared in a different class, he should be accepted according to those symptoms of classification.

PURPORT

Herein it is clearly stated by Nārada Muni that one should not be accepted as a brāhmana, kshatriya, vaiśya or śūdra according to birth, for although this is going on now, it is not accepted by the śāstras. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (4.13), cātur-varnyam mayā srishtam guna-karma-vibhāgaśah. Thus the four divisions of society — brāhmana, kshatriya, vaiśya and śūdra — are to be ascertained according to qualities and activities. If one was born in a brāhmana family and has acquired the brahminical qualifications, he is to be accepted as a brāhmana; otherwise, he should be considered a brahma-bandhu. Similarly, if a śūdra acquires the qualities of a brāhmana, although he was born in a śūdra family, he is not a śūdra; because he has developed the qualities of a brāhmana, he should be accepted as a brāhmana. The Krishna consciousness movement is meant to develop these brahminical qualities. Regardless of the community in which one was born, if one develops the qualities of a brāhmana he should be accepted as a brāhmana, and he then may be offered the order of sannyāsa. Unless one is qualified in terms of the brahminical symptoms, one cannot take sannyāsa. In designating a person a brāhmana, kshatriya, vaiśya or śūdra, birth is not the essential symptom. This understanding is very important. Herein Nārada Muni distinctly says that one may be accepted according to the caste of his birth if he has the corresponding qualifications, but otherwise he should not. One who has attained the qualifications of a brāhmana, regardless of where he was born, should be accepted as a brāhmana. Similarly, if one has developed the qualities of a śūdra or a candāla, regardless of where he was born, he should be accepted in terms of those symptoms.

Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Seventh Canto, Eleventh Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled "The Perfect Society: Four Social Classes."

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness