Text 10]
Nārada Instructs the Pracetās
1567
tathā dīkṣā-vidhānena dvijatvaṁ jāyate nṛṇām
“As bell-metal, when mixed with mercury, is transformed to gold, a person, even though not golden pure, can be transformed into a  brāhmaṇa  or  dvija  simply by the initiation process.” Thus if one is initiated by a proper person, he can be accepted as twice-born immediately. In our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, we therefore offer the student his first initiation and allow him to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa  mahā-mantra . By chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa  mahā-mantra  regularly and following the regulative principles, one becomes qualified to be initiated as a  brāhmaṇa  because unless one is a qualified  brāhmaṇa  he cannot be allowed to worship Lord Viṣṇu. This is called  yājñika-janma . In our Kṛṣṇa consciousness society, unless one is twice initiated—first by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa and second by the Gāyatrī  mantra —he is not allowed to enter the kitchen or Deity room to execute duties. However, when one is elevated to the platform on which he can worship the Deity, his previous birth does not matter.
caṇḍālo 'pi dvija-śreṣṭho hari-bhakti-parāyaṇaḥ hari-bhakti-vihīnaś ca dvijo 'pi śvapacādhamaḥ
“Even if one is born in the family of a  caṇḍāla , if one engages in the devotional service of the Lord, he becomes the best of  brāhmaṇas . But even a  brāhmaṇa  who is devoid of devotional service is on the level of the lowest dog-eater.”
If a person is advanced in devotional service, it does not matter whether he was born in a  caṇḍāla  family. He becomes purified. As Śrī Prahlāda Mahārāja said:
viprād dviṣaḍ-guṇa-yutād aravinda-nābha- pādāravinda-vimukhāc chvapacaṁ variṣṭham (Bhāg. 7.9.10)
Even if one is a  brāhmaṇa  and is qualified with all the brahminical qualifications, he is considered degraded if he is averse to worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But if a person is attached to the service of the Lord, he becomes glorified even if he is born in a  caṇḍāla  family. Indeed, such a  caṇḍāla  can deliver not only himself but all his family predecessors. Without devotional service, even a proud  brāhmaṇa  cannot deliver himself, and what to speak of his family. In many instances in the  śāstras  it is seen that even a  brāhmaṇa  has become a  kṣatriya ,  vaiśya ,  śūdra ,  mleccha  or non- brāhmaṇa . And there are many instances of one’s being