How do You correlate good and bad qualities with professional qualities and professional deeds in the caste system?

Ms. Laxmi Thrylokya asked (on phone): How do You correlate good and bad qualities with professional qualities and professional deeds in the caste system?

Swami replied (answer dictated on phone): Varna means colour that represents the inherent interest of a soul in a set of professional qualities and professional deeds. We also find the general comment “he showed his true colour”. A person’s interest may change from time to time due to various association-effects. But the person’s inherent interest is always constant. Poet Kalidasa said that inherent interest in a set of qualities and deeds may change temporarily due to association, but, the inherent interest will return back shortly just like the white moon may look red in the evening for a short time due to association with red twilight, but will become white immediately (Raktabhāva mapahāya…). A caste is called varṇa, which indicates the constant specific inherent interest based on the set of professional qualities and professional deeds. Good or bad character has nothing to do with the professional qualities and professional deeds. Therefore, in every caste there will be good and bad people. If good and bad character are the basis of the caste system, there will be only two castes (good and bad castes) and not four castes.

Caste is decided by professional qualities and not by birth or character. The two best examples for this concept are from the Veda itself, in which Satyakaama Jaabaala was decided as Braahmana by his quality of speaking the truth even though his birth was an unknown secret. Speaking truth is very important for a Braahmana’s profession because a Brahmana shall be the preacher of true spiritual knowledge. Similarly, the Shuudra doing agriculture and other public services must be always worried about the materialistic line only and not about the spiritual line. Hence, the materialistic worry of a Shuudra is also his professional quality. King Janashruti born as Kshatriya was addressed as shuudra by sage Raikva when the king was in a worried state of materialism and not bothered about administration of a Kshatriya or spirituality of a Brahmana or about business of a Vaishya. Worry about materialism is a professional quality of a Shuudra and hence, he was called as Shuudra. A person with materialistic worry was called as shuudra (śocati iti śūdraḥ). Even though a Kshatriya, a Vaishya and a Shuudra belong to the line of materialism and are worried about materialism, the worry of the Shuudra is the highest. The professional qualities of a Kshatriya, a Vaishya and a Shudra belong to Pravritti or materialism whereas the professional quality of a Brahmana is Nivritti or spiritualism. Nivritti is greater than Pravritti and hence, the Brahmana is greater than the other three castes and this greatness of Brahmana is through a new angle, which is the sacredness of spirituality. But a person becomes Brahmana by his spiritual qualities and not by birth. In this way, any person can belong to any caste by his/her professional qualities and professional deeds. The Gita also tells that the four castes are created based on professional qualities and subsequent professional deeds, and not on birth or character (cāturvarṇyaṃ mayā sṛṣṭam…).