View source for The first-class position (brahmana) is one who is aware of the Absolute Truth, he is in the goodness. Less awareness is the ksatriya, or in the modes of passion. Less awareness is the vaisyas. And the sudra, they are in in the darkness, unawareness

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{{terms|"The first-class position is one who is aware of the Absolute Truth, he is in the goodness. Less awareness is the ksatriya, or in the modes of passion. Less awareness is the vaisyas, the mercantile class of people. They are in the third position. And the sudra, they are in the fourth position, in the darkness, unawareness"}}
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[[Category:First-class]]
[[Category:Position]]
[[Category:Intellectual Class - Brahmana]]
[[Category:One Who Is]]
[[Category:Aware]]
[[Category:Absolute Truth]]
[[Category:Goodness]]
[[Category:Less]]
[[Category:Awareness]]
[[Category:Administrative Class - Ksatriya]]
[[Category:Mode of Passion]]
[[Category:Mercantile Class - Vaisya]]
[[Category:Laborer Class - Sudra]]
[[Category:They Are]]
[[Category:Darkness]]
[[Category:Unaware]]
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<div id="Lectures" class="section" sec_index="4" parent="compilation" text="Lectures"><h2>Lectures</h2>
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<div id="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" class="sub_section" sec_index="1" parent="Lectures" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures"><h3>Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures</h3>
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<div id="LectureonSB7913MontrealAugust211968_0" class="quote" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" book="Lec" index="818" link="Lecture on SB 7.9.13 -- Montreal, August 21, 1968" link_text="Lecture on SB 7.9.13 -- Montreal, August 21, 1968">
<div class="heading">The first-class position is one who is aware of the Absolute Truth, he is in the goodness. Less awareness is the kṣatriya, or in the modes of passion. Less awareness is the vaiśyas, the mercantile class of people. They are in the third position. And the śūdra, they are in the fourth position, in the darkness, unawareness. And again, the degree of unawareness makes more and more abominable condition of life. Just like animal life.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on SB 7.9.13 -- Montreal, August 21, 1968|Lecture on SB 7.9.13 -- Montreal, August 21, 1968]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">On the material platform, we are situated in three different positions: sattva-raja-tama. Sattva means goodness, raja means passion, and tama means ignorance or darkness. So, so long we are in the material platform, the highest positional situation is in the modes of goodness.</p>
<p>So here it is stated that all these demigods, they are in the modes of goodness. Brahma jānāti iti brāhmaṇa. Modes of goodness means those who are brāhmaṇas. And who are brāhmaṇas? Brahma jānāti: one who knows what is Brahman or the Absolute Truth, he is called brāhmaṇa. And he is situated in the modes of goodness. The less intelligent, that means those who are less aware of the Absolute Truth, according to the less awareness, the position is different. The first-class position is one who is aware of the Absolute Truth, he is in the goodness. Less awareness is the kṣatriya, or in the modes of passion. Less awareness is the vaiśyas, the mercantile class of people. They are in the third position. And the śūdra, they are in the fourth position, in the darkness, unawareness. And again, the degree of unawareness makes more and more abominable condition of life. Just like animal life. So here Prahlāda Mahārāja says that you have nothing to be disturbed by these people because they are in the modes of goodness. Therefore if we can produce population in the modes of goodness, there will be no problem in this material world even. Just like in the Satya-yuga, they were all brāhmaṇas, in the modes of goodness, so there was no trouble. And again, Tretā-yuga, seventy-five percent, modes of goodness. In the Dvāpara-yuga, fifty percent, and the Kali-yuga, seventy-five percent calculated to be in the modes of ignorance. Therefore we are feeling so much disturbances in the social condition, in the political condition.</p>
<p>So Prahlāda Mahārāja assures that brahmādayo sarve hy amī vidhi-karāḥ. Vidhi-karāḥ means administrators. The demigods are different administrators appointed on behalf of the Supreme Lord. Just like the sun-god, he is also called god because he is godly. So he is supplying us heat and light. Similarly, there is Indra. He is supplying us water. Candra is supplying us moonlight. Varuna is supplying us air. There are different controllers. Don't think that there is no controller. There is controller. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram: ([[Vanisource:BG 9.10|BG 9.10]]) "All these natural rules and regulations, they are being conducted under My superintendence." It is foolishness to understand that there is no director or no supreme controller or superintendent in these affairs. This is scanty explanation, that "Nature is doing." No. Nature cannot do. Nature is dull. Nothing can move without spiritual touch. Matter is dull. A stone, however great it may be, without touch of a spiritual individual soul, the stone cannot move. So similarly, the whole gigantic material cosmic manifestation is being moved by the spiritual touch, and there are different departments, and they are called vidhi-karāḥ. Vidhi means regulative, and karāḥ means the performers. So he says, sarve hy amī vidhi-karās tava sattva-dhāmno brahmādayo. And he specifically mentions now, brahmādayo, headed by Lord Brahmā.</p>
<p>Brahmā is considered to be the head of all demigods. So brahmādayo vayam iveśa na codvijantaḥ. Vayam iva. He is taking the part of his father. He's born of a father, a first-class atheist. So he is taking the side of his father, although he's more than Brahmā. Because Brahmā could not pacify the Lord. Brahmā requested Prahlāda, "My dear boy, the Lord has appeared to mitigate your trouble; so you try to pacify Him. We have failed." But just see. This is the behavior of Vaiṣṇava. He is the prominent personality in that assembly. Still, he says that "All these demigods, they are not like us, disturbing. I am born of atheistic father. Our family, our community, our society"—vayam, vayam means "we"—"Our society, country, family, they're all disturbing." Prahlāda Mahārāja says, "We are all disturbing because we are atheistic." In other words, the more the population is atheistic, the more disturbance in the society. So he says that these demigods... As I explained the other day, there are two classes of men everywhere: one godly and the other atheist. The atheistic are always disturbing, and godly persons, they're peaceful. They're not disturbing. Whenever we'll find disturbance, you must know there is atheistic population. And peaceful country or a godly persons, they are never disturbing. So Prahlāda Mahārāja takes the side of the atheistic population because he was born of atheistic father, and he recommends that "These brahmādayo, these demigods headed by Brahmā," he īśa, "my dear Lord," vayam iva, "just like us," na ca udvijantaḥ, "they are not disturbing. They are very peaceful."</p>
<p>So they do not know the peace formula. They are creating atheistic population and they want peace. How it is possible? Just like I remember, I read in a paper that Archbishop of Canterbury, he said in a lecture that "You want kingdom of God without God." So similarly, the world is after peace. There are so many associations, societies, United Nations. They are after peace, but they are all groups of atheistic people. Therefore the members of the United Nations, they are themselves fighting some way or other. How there can be peace, because they are themselves disturbing? How they can be in peace? You cannot expect any peace in atheistic society or animalistic society. So they must be made godly. God conscious, Kṛṣṇa conscious. Then there will be peace. God conscious and atheistic people, what is the difference? The difference is that atheistic person thinks "mine." "Everything mine. I am the lord of all I survey. I am the king. I am the leader. I am everything, and everything belongs to me." This is atheistic temperament. And godly persons? They think everything God's. That is the difference. The thing is there. Take anything, your country, your home, your wealth, anything. As soon as you say, "It is mine," then it is atheistic. And as soon as you say "It is God's," then you are godly. You are there, the things are there. Simply change of consciousness. That's all. Simply change of consciousness.</p>
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