### SB 3.3.27

> हिरण्यं रजतं शय्यां वासांस्यजिनकम्बलान् ।\
> यानं रथानिभान्कन्या धरां वृत्तिकरीमपि ॥२७॥

> hiraṇyaṁ rajataṁ śayyāṁ\
> vāsāṁsy ajina-kambalān\
> yānaṁ rathān ibhān kanyā\
> dharāṁ vṛtti-karīm api

*hiraṇyam*—gold; *rajatam*—gold coins; *śayyām*—bedding; *vāsāṁsi*—clothing; *ajina*—animal skin for seats; *kambalān*—blankets; *yānam*—horses; *rathān*—chariots; *ibhān*—elephants; *kanyāḥ*—girls; *dharām*—land; *vṛtti-karīm*—to provide livelihood; *api*—also.

**The brāhmaṇas were not only given well-fed cows in charity, but also gold, gold coins, bedding, clothing, animal-skin seats, blankets, horses, elephants, girls and sufficient land for maintenance.**

All these charities were meant for the *brāhmaṇas,* whose lives were devoted entirely to the welfare of society, both spiritually and materially. The *brāhmaṇas* were not giving their services as paid servants, but the society provided them with all necessities. It was arranged for some of the *brāhmaṇas,* who were in difficulty for marriage, to be given girls. The *brāhmaṇas,* therefore, had no economic problems. The *kṣatriya* kings and rich mercantile men would provide them with all that they needed, and in exchange the *brāhmaṇas* were completely devoted to the elevation of society. That was the way of social cooperation between the different castes. When the *brāhmaṇa* class or caste gradually became easygoing, being fed by the society although they had no brahminical qualifications, they degraded themselves into *brahma-bandhus,* or disqualified *brāhmaṇas,* and thus other members of society also gradually fell down from the social standard of progressive life. As described in *Bhagavad-gītā,* the caste system is the creation of the Lord and is arranged according to the quality of work rendered to society and not in terms of birthright, as falsely claimed in the present degraded society.