A brāhmaṇa's business is paṭhan pāṭhan, yajan yājan, danaḥ pratigrahaḥ. Brāhmaṇa means he is learned himself. He is a very erudite scholar. That is brāhmaṇa's first qualification. And he makes others also scholars, not that he remains himself a scholar. This is called paṭhan pāṭhan. Then yajan yājan. Yajan means he worships the Deity, and he teaches others how to worship. Danaḥ pratigrahaḥ: he accepts charity from others, contribution, and he gives it to others. That we have mentioned, I think. What he gets in the day, he gives in the night. So these are six principles to become a brāhmaṇa. Otherwise, if he gets the degree and he smokes, he does not follow, he does not act. . . Because cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ (BG 4.13). Kṛṣṇa said, "The four divisions are according to quality and work." Whether he is qualified, that will be proved by his work, not that he has taken the degree, and now he is smoking. That is going on. Academic means this. They get the degrees, and after that they do all nonsense. That is academic. But this Vedic culture is not like that. He must act. Then it will be all right.
(break) . . . the Western culture, the idea is, "Never mind whatever his private character. We don't mind. He has passed Ph.D., so let him become teacher." This is Western culture. "By privately, he may be rascal. It doesn't matter." That is not brahminical culture. There is no "private" or "public." Antar bahiḥ. Antar means internally, and bahiḥ means external. We. . . That chant, that ācamana mantra?
- apavitraḥ pavitro vā
- sarvāvasthaṁ gato 'pi vā
- yaḥ smaret puṇḍarīkākṣaṁ
- sa bahyābhyāntara-śuciḥ
- (Garuḍa Purāṇa)
Bahya means external, and abhyāntara means internal, not duplicity.