88 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 10, Ch. 8

tvam—Your Holiness; hi—indeed; brahma-vidém—of all brah-
manas, or persons who understand what is Brahman (brahma jandtiti
bréhmanah); sresthah—you are the best; sarskaran —ceremonies per-
formed for reformation (because by these reformatory activities one
takes one’s second birth: samskdrdd bhaved dvijah); kartum arhasi—
because you have kindly come here, kindly execute; balayoh—of these
two sons (Krsna and Balarama); anayoh—of both of Them; nfndm—not
only of Them, but of all human society; janmand—as soon as he takes
birth; brahmanah—immediately the bradhmana becomes; guruh—the
guide.*

TRANSLATION

My lord, you are the best of the brahmanas, especially because
you are fully aware of the jyotih-sastra, 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, Krsna, says in Bhagavad-gita
(4.13), cdtur-varnyarh maya srstarn guna-karma-vibhdgasah: the four
varnas—brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya and sidra—must be present in
society. The brdhmanas are required for the guidance of the whole
society. If there is no such institution as varndsrama-dharma and if
human society has no such guide as the braéhmana, human society will be
hellish. In Kali-yuga, especially at the present moment, there is no such
thing as a real brahmana, and therefore society is in a chaotic condition.
Formerly there were qualified brahmanas, but at present, although there
are certainly persons who think themselves brahmanas, they actually
have no ability to guide society. The Krsna consciousness movement is
therefore very much eager to reintroduce the varndsrama system into
human society so that those who are bewildered or less intelligent will be
able to take guidance from qualified bréhmanas.

Braéhmana means Vaisnava. After one becomes a brahmana, the next
stage of development in human society is to become a Vaisnava. People

*The Sdstras enjoin, tad-vijidnartham sa gurum evdbhigacchet (Mundaka Upan-
isad 1.2.12). It is the duty of everyone to approach a braéhmana as the guru.
