Class |
Spiritual
practice done |
Minimum Spiritual level the seeker of that
class should be to do corresponding Spiritual practice (%) |
Proportion of Annual Progress (%) |
Shudra |
A seeker who serves God by offering his body |
25 |
0.25 |
Vaishya |
A seeker who serves God by offering wealth |
30 |
0.50 |
Kshatriya |
A seeker who serves God by offering his life |
40 |
1 |
Brahmin |
A seeker who serves God by mind and intellect
to study Spirituality and impart the knowledge |
70 |
2 |
Determination of class
To determine the class of a seeker, one has to be beyond
the three components (gunas) to recognize the qualities and actions (karmas)
of another. Only Saints can do this, but They, too, do not answer such queries
and only recommend the appropriate spiritual practice.
Actual practice
Spiritual practice can be accomplished by offering whatever
one has unto God. A Shudra is one who offers his body, as he does not have anything
else to offer. A Vaishya is one who, along with offering his body, offers his
wealth, too. A Kshatriya is one who offers his body, wealth and life, and a Brahmin
is one who offers his body, wealth, life as well as intellect for the Absolute
Truth, that is, God.
An individual is born in the class conducive for his spiritual progress.
Therefore, a seeker should do the spiritual practice that he requires, and not
what he wants to do. When an individual studies and preaches about the Absolute Truth (God),
he is a Brahmin; when he fights for Absolute Truth, he is a Kshatriya; when he
offers money for the Absolute Truth, he is a Vaishya; when he does some physical
work for the Absolute Truth, he is a Shudra. This implies that an individual
belongs to each of these classes for some part of the day; hence, he needs to
follow the spiritual practice of each of the four classes at some point every
day. The origin of the system of the four classes dates back to thousands of
years ago. Since then, nearly 70% of the population has been born of interclass
(not inter caste) marriages. If spiritual practice of each class is followed
in this birth itself, it is possible to make faster spiritual progress and attain
Final Liberation. It is not possible to undertake spiritual practice for the sake of the
society without doing individual spiritual practice. Therefore, to make rapid
spiritual progress, a seeker should do both. It is primarily Brahmins and Kshatriyas
who can undertake spiritual practice for the sake of society, as opposed to the
other two. In the case of a Kshatriya, it is sacrificing even one’s life
for the protection of society, should the need arise, while for the Brahmin it
involves teaching Spirituality to others. Since the Brahmin desires to bring
about spiritual upliftment of society, his ‘I’ ness acquires an expansive
form. That amounts to spiritual practice for the sake of society.
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