Text 15] The Perfect Society: Four Social Classes
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the Deity and giving charity. By teaching, by inducing others to worship the Deity, and by accepting gifts, the  brāhmaṇas  receive the necessities of life. This is also confirmed in the  Manu-saṁhitā :
ṣaṇṇāṁ tu karmaṇām asya trīṇi karmāṇi jīvikā yajanādhyāpane caiva viśuddhāc ca pratigrahaḥ
Of the six occupational duties of the  brāhmaṇas , three are compulsory—namely, worship of the Deity, study of the  Vedas  and the giving of charity. In exchange, a  brāhmaṇa  should receive charity, and this should be his means of livelihood. A  brāhmaṇa  cannot take up any professional occupational duty for his livelihood. The  śāstras  especially stress that if one claims to be a  brāhmaṇa , he cannot engage in the service of anyone else; otherwise he at once falls from his position and becomes a  śūdra . Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī belonged to a very respectful family, but because they engaged in the service of Nawab Hussain Shah—not even as ordinary clerks, but as ministers—they were ostracized from brahminical society. Indeed, they became like Mohammedans and even changed their names. Unless a  brāhmaṇa  is very pure, he cannot accept charity from others. Charity should be given to those who are pure. Even if one is born in a family of  brāhmaṇas , if one acts as a  śūdra  one cannot accept charity, for this is strictly prohibited. Although the  kṣatriyas  are almost as qualified as the  brāhmaṇas , even they cannot accept charity. This is strictly prohibited in this verse by the word  apratigraha . What to speak of the lower social orders, even the  kṣatriyas  must not accept charity. The king or government may levy taxes upon the citizens in various ways—by revenue duties, customs duties, realization of fines, and so on—provided the king is able to give full protection to his subjects to assure the security of their life and property. Unless he is able to give protection, he cannot levy taxes. However, a king must not levy any tax upon the  brāhmaṇas  and the Vaiṣṇavas fully engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
TEXT 15
वैश्यस्तु वार्तावृत्तिः स्यान् नित्यं ब्रह्मकुलानुगः । शूद्रस्य द्विजशुश्रूषा वृत्तिश्च स्वामिनो भवेत् ॥१५॥