88
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 10, Ch. 8]
tvam —Your Holiness;  hi —indeed;  brahma-vidām —of all  brāhmaṇas , or persons who understand what is Brahman ( brahma jānātīti brāhmaṇaḥ );  śreṣṭhaḥ —you are the best;  saṁskārān —ceremonies performed for reformation (because by these reformatory activities one takes one's second birth:  saṁskārād bhaved dvijaḥ );  kartum arhasi —because you have kindly come here, kindly execute;  bālayoḥ —of these two sons ( Kṛṣṇa  and  Balarāma );  anayoḥ —of both of Them;  nṝṇām —not only of Them, but of all human society;  janmanā —as soon as he takes birth;  brāhmaṇaḥ —immediately the  brāhmaṇa  becomes;  guruḥ —the guide.*
TRANSLATION
My lord, you are the best of the brāhmaṇas, especially because you are fully aware of the jyotiḥ-śāstra, the astrological science. Therefore you are naturally the spiritual master of every human being. This being so, since you have kindly come to my house, kindly execute the reformatory activities for my two sons.
PURPORT
The Supreme Personality of Godhead,  Kṛṣṇa , says in  Bhagavad-gītā  (4.13),  cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ : the four  varṇas — brāhmaṇa ,  kṣatriya ,  vaiśya  and  śūdra —must be present in society. The  brāhmaṇas  are required for the guidance of the whole society. If there is no such institution as  varṇāśrama-dharma  and if human society has no such guide as the  brāhmaṇa , human society will be hellish. In  Kali-yuga , especially at the present moment, there is no such thing as a real  brāhmaṇa , and therefore society is in a chaotic condition. Formerly there were qualified  brāhmaṇas , but at present, although there are certainly persons who think themselves  brāhmaṇas , they actually have no ability to guide society. The  Kṛṣṇa  consciousness movement is therefore very much eager to reintroduce the  varṇāśrama  system into human society so that those who are bewildered or less intelligent will be able to take guidance from qualified  brāhmaṇas .
Brāhmaṇa  means  Vaiṣṇava . After one becomes a  brāhmaṇa , the next stage of development in human society is to become a  Vaiṣṇava . People
*The  śāstras  enjoin,  tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet  ( Muṇḍaka Upan-iṣad  1.2.12). It is the duty of everyone to approach a  brāhmaṇa  as the  guru .