56 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 7, Ch. 11

then may be offered the order of sannydsa. Unless one is qualified in
terms of the brahminical symptoms, one cannot take sannydsa. In desig-
nating a person a brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya or Stidra, birth is not the
essential symptom. This understanding is very important. Herein Narada
Muni distinctly says that one may be accepted according to the caste of
his birth if he has the corresponding qualifications, but otherwise he
should not. One who has attained the qualifications of a brahmana,
regardless of where he was born, should be accepted as a brahmana.
Similarly, if one has developed the qualities of a Sidra or a candala,
regardless of where he was born, he should be accepted in terms of those
symptoms.

Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Seventh Canto, Eleventh
Chapter, of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, entitled “The Perfect Society: Four
Social Classes.”
