246
Teachings of Lord Chaitanya
before the Lord. Before Ramananda Roy could ask the Lord anything about advancement of spiritual knowledge, the Lord Himself inquired, “Please quote some verses from Scripture about the ultimate goal of life for the human being.”
Sri Ramananda Roy at once replied to the Lord that, “A person who is sincere in his occupational duty will gradually develop the sense of God consciousness.” In this connection he quoted a verse from the  Vishnu Purana , in which it is stated that the Supreme Lord is worshipped by following the principles of one’s occupational duty, and there is no other alternative for satisfying the Supreme Lord from the formalities of performing one’s occupational duties. The purport is that human life is meant for understanding one’s relationship with the Supreme Lord and acting in that way. Any human being can dovetail himself with the service of the Lord by discharging his prescribed duties or occupational performances.
For this purpose, human society may be divided into four classes: namely, the intelligent class, or the Brahmins, the administrative class, or the Kshatriyas, the merchantile, or productive class, called Vaishyas, and the laborer class or the helping class, the Sudras. For each division of human society there are prescribed rules and regulations and occupational functions. The prescribed duties of the four classes or four divisions of human society are very nicely described in the  Bhagavad Gita , Eighteenth Chapter, 42–44 verses. An organized, civilized society of humanity should follow such prescribed rules and regulations for particular divisions. At the same time, for spiritual advancement, they must follow the four stages of  Ashrama : namely, the student life, which is called  Brahmachary  life; then householder’s life, then retired life, and then renounced life.
Ramananda Roy stated that persons who are strictly following the rules and regulations of these eight divisions of human society are the best, and they are actually satisfying the Supreme Lord. One who does not follow the principles of the social division and the rules of spiritual advancement is certainly spoiling his human form of life and gliding down towards hell. One can peacefully execute the goal of his human life simply by following the rules and regulations which apply to himself. The character of a particular person becomes developed by following the principles of regulation according to his birth and association and education. The divisions of society are so designed that many persons of different characteristics can be regulated under them, for the peaceful administration of social life and spiritual advancement. The social divisions of human society may be divided as follows: 1. One who has