18 Sri Caitanya-caritamrta [Antya-lila, Ch. 16

dog-eater. However, a vaisnava found in varnas other than brahmana can purify all
the three worlds.”
The Padma Purana further says:

sudram vd bhagavad-bhaktam
nisddam Sva-pacam tatha
viksate jati-samdadnyat
sa yati narakam dhruvam

“One who considers a devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead who was
born in a family of stidras, nisédas or candalas to belong to that particular caste
certainly goes to hell.’

A brahmana must be a Vaisnava and a learned scholar. Therefore in India it is
customary to address a brahmana as pandita. Without knowledge of Brahman,
one cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore a
Vaisnava is already a brahmana, whereas a brahmana may become a Vaisnava. In
the Garuda Purana it is said:

bhaktir asta-vidhd hy esd
yasmin mlecche ‘pi vartate

sa viprendro muni-sresthah
sa jfdni sa ca panditah

“If even a mleccha becomes a devotee, he is to be considered the best of the
brahmanas and a learned pandita.”
Similarly, Tattva-sdgara says:

yathaé kaficanatam yati
kamsyam rasa-vidhanatah

tathd diksd-vidhanena
dvijatvam jayate nrnam

“As bell metal is turned to gold when mixed with mercury in an alchemical pro-
cess, so one who is properly trained and initiated by a bona fide spiritual master
becomes a brahmana immediately.” All this evidence found in the revealed scrip-
tures proves that according to the Vedic version, a Vaisnava is never to be con-
sidered an abrahmana, or non-brahmana. A Vaisnava should not be thought to
belong to a lower caste even if born in a mleccha or yavana family. Because he has
become a devotee of Lord Krsna, he has become purified and has attained the
stage of brahmana (dvijatvamh jayate nrnam).
