Not simply acquiring the quality, but he must work as a Brāhmin. Then he will be accepted as a Brāhmin. Now everything is thrown away. If somebody happens to take birth in a Brāhmin family, he becomes a Brāhmin. All others, Śūdra. And he may do all nonsense, and still he is Brāhmin. That is not . . . it is the duty of the state to see whether you are qualified as a Brāhmin. "You are claiming as Brāhmin. Whether you are actually qualified as a Brāhmin? Whether you are working as a Brāhmin?" It is the state's duty to see. It is the king's duty. He may not misguide others.
Just like nowadays a so-called Brāhmin is working as a cobbler, and he is claiming to become Brāhmin. Not like that. It is the . . . just like a medical man. A medical man, if he wants to practice, then he must get certificate from the medical board, registration. The medical board will see whether he is qualified as a medical man, whether he has passed medical examination. Then he will be allowed to practice as a medical man. So whenever a medical practitioner gives you a prescription, along with his name, he gives his title, M.D., B.S., and registered number. That means he is approved. Then he can practice. This is commonsense affairs in the every state. A lawyer is given certificate by the government, then he is allowed.
Similarly, it is the duty of the state or of the monarch to see that one who is claiming as a Brāhmin, whether he is qualified, whether he is acting as a Brāhmin. Similarly, a man claiming Kṣatriya, whether he is qualified as a Kṣatriya and he is acting as a Kṣatriya. Similarly, the Vaiśya. And Śūdra is general. Śūdra means one who has no education, no culture. That is called Śūdra. So that is the remnants. First of all, Brāhmin, Kṣatriya, Vaiśyas; and others, those who have no sufficient brain, they are counted as Śūdra. Still, Śūdras have also prescribed duties. If there are others, those who are less than Śūdras, or even the Śūdra qualities are wanting—they are doing anything and everything, without any control—they are called mleccha-yavana. Mleccha-yavana. This is the pañcamasi, fifth grade. First grade, Brāhmin; second grade, Kṣatriya; third grade, Vaiśyas; fourth grade, Śūdras; and all others, rejected, fifth grade, they are called caṇḍālas, caṇḍāla.
But this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is so nice that even caṇḍālas can be also raised to the platform of Brāhmin. Caṇḍālo 'pi dvija-śreṣṭho hari-bhakti-parāyaṇaḥ. Even if a caṇḍāla is trained up as a devotee, he can be better than a qualified Brāhmin. These are the śāstric injunctions. Kirāta-hūṇāndhra-pulinda-pulkaśā ābhīra-śumbhā yavanāḥ khasādayaḥ (SB 2.4.18). The yavanas' names are there also. Yavana-mleccha means generally they are meat-eaters, especially cow meat, cow-flesh eaters. They are called yavanas, mlecchas. So the higher caste, they cannot become meat-eaters. No. Meat-eating is there. That is for the lower class, not for the higher class. If anyone gives up meat-eating or the bad habits of lower class—illicit sex, meat-eating, intoxication, gambling—and if he's trained how to become a qualified Brāhmin, then he can be accepted. That is sanctioned in the Bhagavad-gītā.