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Krṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead
energy, and in every action such a devotee sees Me only, and nothing else.
“My dear Śrutadeva, you may therefore accept all these great saintly persons,  brāhmaṇas  and sages as My bona fide representatives. By worshiping them faithfully, you will be worshiping Me more diligently. I consider worship of My devotees to be better than direct worship of Me. If someone attempts to worship Me directly without worshiping My devotees, I do not accept such worship, even though it may be presented with great opulence.”
In this way both the  brāhmaṇa , Śrutadeva, and the King of Mithilā, under the direction of the Lord, worshiped both Krṣṇa and His followers, the great sages and saintly  brāhmaṇas , on an equal level of spiritual importance. Both  brāhmaṇa  and King ultimately achieved the supreme goal of being transferred to the spiritual world. The devotee does not know anyone except Lord Krṣṇa, and Krṣṇa is most affectionate to His devotee. Lord Krṣṇa remained in Mithilā both at the house of the  brāhmaṇa  Śrutadeva and at the palace of King Bahulāśva. And after favoring them lavishly by His transcendental instructions, He went back to His capital city, Dvārakā.
The instruction we receive from this incident is that King Bahulāśva and Śrutadeva the  brāhmaṇa  were accepted by the Lord on the same level because both were pure devotees. This is the real qualification for being recognized by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because it has become the fashion of this age to become falsely proud of having taken birth in the family of a  kṣatriya  or of a  brāhmaṇa , we see persons without any qualification other than birth claiming to be  brāhmaṇa  or  kṣatriya  or  vaiśya . But as it is stated in the scriptures,  kalau śūdra-sambhava : “In this age of Kali, everyone is a  śūdra .” This is because there is no performance of the purificatory processes known as  saṁskāras , which begin from the time of the mother’s pregnancy and continue up to the point of the individual’s death. No one can be classified as a member of a particular caste, especially of a higher caste— brāhmaṇa ,  kṣatriya  or  vaiśya —simply by birthright. If one is not purified by the process of the seed-giving ceremony, or  Garbhādhāna-saṁskāra , he is immediately classified amongst the  śūdras , because only the  śūdras  do not undergo this purificatory process. Sex life without the purificatory process of Krṣṇa consciousness is merely the seed-giving process of the  śūdras  or the animals. But Krṣṇa consciousness is the highest perfection, by which everyone can come to the platform of a Vaiṣṇava. This includes having all the qualifications of a  brāhmaṇa . The Vaiṣṇavas are trained to become freed from the four kinds of sinful activities—illicit sex, indulgence in intoxicants, gambling, and eating animal foodstuffs. No one