Prabhupāda: So therefore it is chaotic, no first-class men, all third class, fourth class.
Justin Murphy: What are the specifications for your first-class man?
Prabhupāda: Yes. Find out. Satyaṁ śamo damas titikṣā.
Paramahaṁsa: Satyam?
Prabhupāda: Śamo damas titikṣā, brahma-karma svabhāva-jam (BG 18.42). Eighteenth Chapter.
Paramahaṁsa: Satyam or satya?
Prabhupāda: Satya. S-a-t-y-a. (devotee looking for verse) You find out jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyam. Jñānam, find out jñānam. J-n-a-n, jñānam.
Paramahaṁsa: Jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyam, 18.42.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Paramahaṁsa:
- śamo damas tapaḥ śaucaṁ
- kṣāntir ārjavam eva ca
- jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyaṁ
- brahma-karma svabhāva-jam
- (BG 18.42)
Translation: "Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge, and religiousness—these are the qualities by which the brāhmaṇas work."
Prabhupāda: This is first-class man.
Justin Murphy: Who decides whether a man, then, is..., fits into those criteria and becomes a first-class man? Who decides? Who is to say whether a man is first class or not?
Prabhupāda: Yes, yes. He should be first of all qualified like this. What is that?
Paramahaṁsa: Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge, and religiousness.
Justin Murphy: But once a man has strived for those qualities, how does he know when he's attained them? And...
Prabhupāda: No, you... Śamaḥ, śamaḥ. The first word is śamaḥ?Śamaḥ means equilibrium of the mind. One should be trained up in such a way that he is not disturbed in his mind in any circumstance. That is called śamaḥ. And damaḥ, damaḥ means controlling the senses. Naturally I find one beautiful woman I want to talk with him (her), and he (she) is other's wife. But I should: "No, why should I talk with other's wife?" This is damaḥ, controlling the senses. So śamaḥ means keeping the mind always equipoised, and damaḥ, the controlling the mind. And suppose if... I have to eat something to live. So God has given me so many nice foodstuff: food grain, fruits, milk. Why should I kill an animal unnecessarily, for the taste of my tongue?