Prahlāda Mahārāja, he says: "I think." So whatever he thinks, we have to accept. That is very nice. And what he thinks? He thinks, manye viprād dvi-ṣaḍ-guṇa-yutād aravinda-nābha pādāravinda-vimukhāt, śvapacaṁ variṣṭham (SB 7.9.10). He says that, "If a brahmin . . ." Brahmin is considered to be the highest qualified man in the human society. Why? Because he has got twelve qualification. We don't speak brahmin by birth.
Brahmin does not become by birth. Brahmin is a qualification. That is the injunction of Vedic literatures. The most intelligent man is called brahmin. And how his intelligence is exhibited? There are twelve qualities. If you find those twelve qualities in any person . . . it doesn't matter whether it is in India or in Czechoslovakia or anywhere. Simply you have to find out whether that man is qualified.
These qualifications are stated in Bhagavad-gītā also, satyam śaucam sama dama titikṣā ārjava:
- jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyaṁ
- brahma-karma svabhāva-jam
- (BG 18.42).
If a person is a brahmin, then his natural qualification will be like this. What is that? Satyam: he is truthful. In any circumstances he will be truthful. Even to an enemy he will disclose the secret, "This is the fact." That is truthfulness, not that I am very truthful, but when my interest is jeopardized, I tell lie. That is not truthfulness. Truthfulness means at any circumstances one will speak the plain truth. That is truthfulness. Satya śama.
Satya śaucam. Śaucam, cleanliness. There are two kinds of cleanliness: external and internal. External cleanliness by taking bath with soap and other cleansing material . . . of course, in India, the brahmins, they take . . . they cleanse themselves externally at least three times a day: in the morning, early in the morning; at noon before taking lunch; and in the evening before going to the temple. Tri-sandhyā. There are so many rules and regulation for becoming cleansed. This is external cleanliness. And there is internal cleanliness. The internal cleanliness is this chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ (CC Antya 20.12, Śikṣāṣṭaka 1), cleansing the heart. So satya śaucam and śama, equilibrium of the mind, not to become disturbed in any circumstances. That is called śama.
Dama. Dama means controlling the senses. Every one of us, we are all controlled by the senses. But one has to become the controller of the senses. That is brahmin. That is svāmī. Svāmī or gosvāmī means who is controller of the senses. My tongue wants to eat something, and if I say: "No, you cannot eat this," then . . . my eyes see something. I say: "No, you cannot see this." My hand wants to touch something.