How Prabhupada gave us the true essence of Varṇāśrama, and how we misunderstand it

We often discuss about implementing "Vedic society", but which version are we trying to implement? There were different versions of Vedic society practiced at different historical periods.

One essential topic to keep in mind when we discuss Vedic society and the idea of Varṇāśrama is the difference between parā-vidyā and aparā-vidyā. When we get this wrong, all kinds of aberrations can appear in the name of dharma.

This is a point Srila Madhvācārya makes in his commentary on the Muṇḍaka Upanisad, and something that Krsna hints at when He speaks the Gītā to Arjuna. Take verses 42 to 46 of the second chapter, for example:

"Men of small knowledge are very much attached to the flowery words of the Vedas, which recommend various fruitive activities for elevation to heavenly planets, resultant good birth, power, and so forth. Being desirous of sense gratification and opulent life, they say that there is nothing more than this. In the minds of those who are too attached to sense enjoyment and material opulence, and who are bewildered by such things, the resolute determination for devotional service to the Supreme Lord does not take place. The Vedas deal mainly with the subject of the three modes of material nature. O Arjuna, become transcendental to these three modes. Be free from all dualities and from all anxieties for gain and safety, and be established in the self. All purposes served by a small well can at once be served by a great reservoir of water. Similarly, all the purposes of the Vedas can be served to one who knows the purpose behind them."

We hear that the Vedas are the source of perfect, transcendental knowledge. The Vedic knowledge was originally transmitted by Krsna to Brahma, from Brahma to Nārada, and so on, resulting in the pure chain of paramparā that brings it all the way to us. All conditioned souls are plagued by four types of defects, but the transcendental knowledge of the Vedas is infallible.

Considering these points, how is it that Krsna describes the Vedas as containing flowery knowledge based on fruitive activities, dealing mainly with material subjects, and giving the impression that they are something to be rejected? This is connected with the division of parā-vidyā and aparā-vidyā inside the Vedas I just mentioned.

The Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (1.1.5) mentions: "All the Vedas, including the Ṛg Veda, Yajur Veda, Sāma Veda, and Atharva Veda, along with their corollaries, known as śikṣā, kalpa, vyākaraṇa, nirukta, chanda and jyotiṣa belong to the inferior system of material knowledge (aparā-vidyā). By parā-vidyā one can understand the akṣara: Brahman or the Absolute Truth."

This verse defines different branches of knowledge inside the Vedas as aparā-vidyā (inferior knowledge), contrasting with knowledge about the absolute truth, which is defined as parā-vidyā, or superior knowledge. In his commentary on this verse, Srila Madhvācārya explains that these branches are considered inferior, or aparā when they do not designate Viṣṇu but are employed in a ritualistic sense. However, they become parā-vidyā, when they directly express Lord Viṣṇu and service to Him.

How does it work? In essence, the whole Vedic literature exists with the sole purpose of glorifying the Lord and bringing one to the platform of devotional service to Him. However, when one misses this purpose and instead focuses on rituals and fruitive results (karma-kanda), he deals with the inferior knowledge mentioned in the verse.

Madhvācārya explains that in Satya-Yuga, the Vedas were one. This single and undivided Veda revealed a single ultimate truth: Lord Viṣṇu as the Supreme Lord, without a second. Inhabitants of Satya-yuga respected the demigods, but not as separate deities. They were seen as guardians, transmitters of Vedic knowledge, and representatives of the Lord. Because at the time, there was no worship apart from the worship of the Lord, there was no concept of higher and lower Vedic knowledge. The division between parā-vidyā and aparā-vidyā started in Treta-yuga when people manifested the desire for fruitive activities. The Vedas were then divided into three: Ṛg, Yajur, and Sāma, and people began to worship through these divisions by performing Vedic ceremonies. Everything that deals directly with devotional service and worship of the Lord started then being classified as parā-vidyā, and knowledge connected with the worship of demigods, as well as fruitive activities and material subjects, was defined as aparā-vidyā.

In Dvāpara-yuga, the capacity of the general population to understand the Vedas decayed further, and the Vedas were parted into five divisions, including also the Atharva-Veda, and the fifth Veda in the form of the Purāṇas, Mahābhārata, etc., making the knowledge of the Vedas more accessible. Still, most of the population was not able to directly understand the Vedas, and thus they were advised to worship the Lord in the temples, following the rules and regulations of the pañcarātric system. The Vedic system degraded further into a series of rules and rituals that one was supposed to perform daily. We can observe that in India, people often worship very faithfully some deity, even though they don't have a very clear philosophical understanding. When we worship like this, the true goal is easily lost.

In Kali-yuga, the knowledge of the Vedas practically disappears. We are also not capable of rigidly following the pañcarātric system of temple worship, therefore, the only hope for us is to directly surrender to the Lord by adopting the process of devotional service, which is the essence and ultimate purpose of the Vedas.

Therefore, when Krsna says that "Men of small knowledge are very much attached to the flowery words of the Vedas", He refers to this limited understanding of the Vedas as a source of material knowledge and fruitive rituals to obtain material results. Varṇāśrama implemented with the idea of building a perfect society is also included here, because it is also a mundane endeavor, different from Varṇāśrama practiced with the sole goal of improving our attitude of service to the Lord.

By these instructions, Krsna instructs Arjuna to look for the real purpose of the Vedas, which is pure devotional service to Krsna.

This is emphasized in verse 2.44 of the Gītā, where He explains that excessive attachment to sense enjoyment keeps one bewildered and bound to the material energy, incapable of ascending to the platform of devotional service. The reason the Vedas offer the path of fruitive activities is to attract the conditioned souls, offering material rewards. By following the regulations of the scriptures, one becomes gradually purified, and after ascending to the celestial planets and eventually coming back to Earth, he has an opportunity to come in contact with devotees and start on the path of devotional service. However, one who misses the opportunity and again just performs fruitive activities is defined by the Lord as avipaścitaḥ, a man with a poor fund of knowledge, lacking discernment or wisdom.

Aparā-vidyā is not transcendental knowledge. The karma-kanda sections of the Vedas (which encompass most of the verses of the four Vedas) contain thus knowledge that is still under the three modes of material nature, as indicated by the Lord with the words trai-guṇya-viṣayā vedā ("the Vedas deal mainly with the subject of the three modes of material nature"). Krsna thus encourages Arjuna to transcend this limited understanding, coming to the platform of devotional service, which exists in the transcendental plane.

Arjuna could argue about the importance of dharma, of fulfilling his material obligations, but Krsna explains that "all the purposes of the Vedas can be served to one who knows the purpose behind them", just like all purposes served by a small well can be served by a great reservoir of water.

Typically, in villages, people would have several smaller reservoirs of water that would be used for different purposes. Water from a clean well would be used exclusively for drinking and cooking, while other sources could be used for washing, bathing, etc. However, when there is a very large, unpolluted river crossing the village, there is no necessity for such considerations, since being so large, the river could fulfill all purposes simultaneously, without ever becoming compromised. Similarly, the Lord explains that when one adopts the path of unalloyed devotional service, there is no need for minor considerations about fruitive activities, since all these purposes are automatically fulfilled by the process of devotional service. One who dedicates himself to the practice of devotional service is not deprived of the results of all other processes, just like being a billionaire includes possessing a thousand and a million. Material opulence, elevation to the heavenly planets, mystic powers, and even impersonal liberation stand at the door of a pure devotee, anxious to serve him, but have little opportunity of doing so, since a pure devotee does not desire anything apart from the transcendental service to the Lord.

In verse 2.52, Krsna refers to this fruitive mentality based in the Vedas as "the dense forest of delusion", implying that detachment and work in devotion are the right processes to become free from material illusion. The recommendation of fruitive activities in the Vedas, including Varṇāśrama followed with material purposes, follows the same logic of prescribing a medicine with side effects to a cancer patient, hoping that the positive effects will outweigh the risks. The Vedas prescribe fruitive activities and promise material benefits just to make the less intelligent classes of people acquire faith in Vedic knowledge and thus be gradually guided into the path of knowledge. Just like cancer medicine, it is just a temporary measure, and one is supposed to get out of it once his condition improves. Without an attitude of service to Krsna, Varṇāśrama brings to bodily identification, maintenance of privileges, pride, and discrimination, attitudes that we can see present even nowadays in some discussions, like the topic of female diksa gurus.

When Krsna says "you shall become indifferent to all that has been heard and all that is to be heard", it means that when Arjuna becomes free from illusion by the cultivation of transcendental knowledge, his intelligence will become fixed (vyavasāyātmikā buddhiḥ) and he will become indifferent to all material things. In this way, "nirvedam śrotavyasya śrutasya" (become indifferent to all that has been heard and all that is to be heard) applies to material topics. A pure devotee remains interested in hearing about spiritual topics and acting on the spiritual platform, even after achieving this stage of material indifference. The logic is similar to the famous verse "atmaramas ca munayo" of the Srimad Bhagavatam: Liberated souls who achieved liberation from all that is material are still attracted by the transcendental qualities of Krsna, which transcend all material identification.

Krsna concludes this part of His instructions in verse 2.53, by concluding that "When your mind is no longer disturbed by the flowery language of the Vedas, and when it remains fixed in the trance of self-realization, then you will have attained the divine consciousness."

This brings us to the teachings of Prabhupada, who tried to give us the essence of the Vedas, beyond the mundane interpretations we tend to get stuck into. He tried to teach us the perfect understanding of the Vedas, like people followed in Satya-yuga, when everyone was pure, and saw himself as a soul, striving to reestablish his relationship with the Lord, when everyone was a brāmana, a hamsa, and thus there was no artificial emphasis in social division. At the time, there was no worship of demigods and no ritualistic performances for achieving material purposes. Everyone was considered equal, and the purpose of everyone was to satisfy the Lord by cooperating in the service to Him. That was the perfect manifestation of Vedic culture.

As time progressed into Tretā Yuga, Aparā-vidyā replaced Parā-vidyā. Although people continued to study the same Vedas, the interpretation became externalized. The Vedas were divided, and the meanings were reduced to rituals for material gain, demigod worship, and fruitive actions. The heart of devotion became obscured.

Tretā Yuga thus maintained Vedic society, but in a degraded form. Social stratification emerged: Varṇāśrama-dharma became rigid, women and śūdras were excluded from Vedic study, and one's birth locked him into a certain social role. The possibility of spiritual elevation diminished significantly. The ideal of unity in devotional service was lost in favor of external classifications and rituals.

By the time of Dvāpara-yuga, the Pāñcarātrika system—temple worship and deity service became dominant. The deeper understanding of the Vedas was mostly lost. People continued worshiping, some even performing sacrifices, but the philosophical clarity of Satya-yuga had largely vanished. Even among kings, morality declined. Only Vaiṣṇavas like the Pāṇḍavas retained the original spirit.

Prabhupada was trying to implement the original, pure interpretation of the Vedas, like in Satya-yuga, by stressing the importance of maintaining purity, by allowing ladies to worship in the altar, live in the temples, write articles and so on, and by even teaching his early disciples to call each other "Prabhu" (master), regardless of gender, addressing the soul, and not the body. Some argue that "Prabhu" is a masculine noun and thus inappropriate to address ladies, forgetting that in the Sanskrit language, "soul" (ātma) is a masculine noun. When we address the soul, "Prabhu" is the correct form, regardless of what kind of body the soul is carrying.

After Prabhupada's departure, we massively covered these pure teachings with all kinds of practices based on bodily identification, but for a sincere follower of the teachings of Prabhupada, it is always possible to find the purity he originally transmitted.

Prabhupada didn't want to implement the version of Vedic society people followed in Treta-yuga or even Dvāpara-yuga, this Vedic system that was flawed in many ways, being based on discrimination and bodily classifications. Prabhupada wanted to skip all of these and instead go to the perfect understanding of the Vedas, which is basically forgotten since the beginning of the last Treta-yuga, going directly to the perfect version of Vedic society, where everyone is a soul, where everyone should be trained to worship the Lord and educated in understanding the scriptures, where devotional service is accepted as the ultimate goal of life, where there is no worship of demigods, and so on.

That's the point we often miss. Because we often are not capable of understanding the purity of the teachings of Prabhupada, we often reject or cover them in favor of all the rituals, social restrictions, and bodily identification in the name of Varṇāśrama or Vedic society. When we do that, we end up losing everything, because we end up not practicing pure Krsna Krsna Consciousness and also not being able to follow all the intricate social rules people were following in Treta and Dvāpara-yuga. We end up thus becoming mlecchas, incapable of achieving anything valuable in life.