The science and wisdom which are the foundation of the caste system of the Silver Age people and which still form the backbone of the degenerate remnants of these primeval people, now known as Hindoos, are worthy of study of all civilized mankind of the present day. It is the scientific law of the caste system which has preserved the indestructible individuality of the Hindoos as a race; it is the chief source of strength which has supplied their inexhaustible vitality as a nation; the never failing force which has insured the permanency of their existence on the face of the globe. It is a system, the absence of which in the organization of all other human societies, modern and ancient, has been the cause of their decay and death. The Hindoo caste system is based upon laws of the inmost science of life, the laws which modern scientists are trying so hard and yet so hopelessly to discover and understand through wrong processes of investigation. Modern scientists are boastful of their achievements in the field of discovery of Nature's laws and imagine they have learned almost all of Nature's secrets, while in truth they know but a few of her surface-laws the mainsprings of which are to be found deep down in the mental and spiritual strata of which they even dream not of—a realm which must ever remain closed to purely objective investigation.
It is as wrong to try to study Nature from the operations of her physical laws as to govern and guide human beings by the aid of the deceptive light of those laws. The physical is the manifestation of the mental plane, as the mental is the manifestation of the spiritual plane, as I have shown in previous Sections. The phenomena of the physical plane of Nature are deceptive to the purely physical vision because they are the product of Tama—darkened Rāja. Deceptive also are the phenomena of the mental plane—though not as deceptive as those of the physical—to a mental vision the light of which is not derived from the spiritual plane—the mysterious machine room which alone supplies the life-substance and springy of action to the mental and physical planes. The student of physical and mental Nature who is not provided with the microscope of spiritual insight is apt almost invariably to read her in both these aspects incorrectly. He should not, therefore, be considered a safe guide for the healthy and harmonious development of human character, which is but a part and phase of one whole Nature called the Universe.
The laws operating in the deepest depth of Nature can only be seen and studied by the illumination of the soul, the Radiance of Krishna's Body. These the Brāhmans, the portion of the Golden Age people who still retain their high state of spirituality, study and learn and utilize in codifying principles and rules for regulating the daily life of the rest of the people. The conception of the caste system betrays their intimate knowledge of these inner natural laws upon which it is based and the profound wisdom with which its organization to the minutest details is arranged. The organization of the caste system is, in fact, devised after the organization of the human body—after the inner and the outer human body. The entire caste system is like a huge living human body—living with its organs and senses in harmonious working order and its mind contributing to and enjoying the effect of that harmony and feeling the higher planes to which the effect of that harmony elevates.
What is the most needed essential for the healthy, harmonious and useful conduct of human life? Love, Intelligence and Wisdom. I had almost said Love or Wisdom, for Intelligence and Wisdom are but manifestations of Love. Intelligence is the light of Love, and wisdom is but its reflection on its own enlightened shadow—the mind. Wisdom likewise embodies both Love and its light. Without wisdom a human being is like a wayward, mischievous animal. Our wisdom (intelligence and thought) inspire and guide our actions. Good thoughts lead us to good actions, bad thoughts lead us to bad actions. We are nothing but our mind and our mind is nothing but our thoughts—commingled effects of the reflections upon the mind of external objects and internal impressions of previous reflections of objects, called Ideas. Thoughts that lead us to bad actions, that is to say, actions which hurt others and us too, which bring inharmony to others and finally to our own mind, are neither beneficial nor useful to our life; they are injurious to its best interests. Wisdom (harmonious, useful thoughts) is therefore the most essential requisite of human life. Without it power and wealthy are apt always to be misused and misdirected, resulting in loss of harmony. And harmony is happiness, happiness which is the goal of all our quests and efforts in life.
Thus the Brāhmans, who devote themselves absolutely to acquiring wisdom by communing with the Soul of Nature and its finest and purest attributes, and to supplying them to those who do not any more enjoy that advantage and privilege, naturally form the head —the seat of wisdom and intelligence—of the social organization, called the four-castes. The lower three castes are indebted to the Brāhmans for wisdom which they receive from them in the form of lessons and codified laws of life which guide their daily existence, just as every one of us is indebted to our intelligence and wisdom for performing the functions of life to our own and our neighbors' benefit. Hence the Brāhmans, who supply the most important essential of life, are protected, provided for and paid utmost homage to, by all the other castes.
Next to wisdom comes strength, physical and mental, another greatly needed requisite of human life. A man needs mind-force to rule his own mind and body as well as those of others to whom he is related, in order to maintain harmony within and without. He needs also physical strength to defend himself and others against attacks and aggressions and prevent encroachments by others upon his property and interests. The Kshatriyas (Kings) form and supply this requisite to the four-caste organism. They form the arms of the Caste-Body, arms being symbolical of strength and ruling power. Without a powerful, noble ruler, all communities of men are liable to find themselves in disorder and inharmony and to suffer from lawlessness and injustice, just as a man who has no strength to defend himself from aggression is liable to be robbed of his possessions and be miserable.
More important than the duty of protecting the life and property of his subjects is the King's duty to help their moral and spiritual well-being. And this the king does by enforcing the performance of the religious duties appertaining to each of the three castes as enjoined in the Vedic laws, discovered and enunciated by the holy ones. Those who do not perform these duties and practices are punished by temporary excommunication and, if still persistent in disobeying the injunctions, by absolute banishment from all societies. These early sages have always held that prevention is better and easier than cure of diseases, physical, mental or spiritual. Regular spiritual practices, performed daily, form habits, and spiritual habits cleanse the impurities of the mind which then becomes fit to reflect the highest spiritual truths by the light of which man witnesses the unity of all Nature, feels the ecstasy of the One Essence which pervades it and stands face to face with his Maker.
The next essential of harmonious human life is food. Most people of our day will say that food is rather the first essential of life. We, in this degenerate age, have indeed come to think so. But the Silver Age people, as well as all really thoughtful people amongst us, do not think so. Food does sustain life, no doubt, but that life, if void of wisdom and force of mind, is not worth living. It is the life of an animal or a vegetable. Food is essential to life; so are wisdom and mental force. Is our life sustained by food alone? I should think not, unless it be the life of a man who is but a little removed from a beast. Happy thoughts furnish the chief support of our life. Our life depends more upon happy and harmonious thoughts than food. If our thoughts are sad and gloomy, we do not enjoy life at all or feel that we are living, although we may eat the daintiest food, be surrounded by luxuries and have plenty of the world's goods. Many of us destroy this food-sustained life suffering from the pangs of miserable thoughts, many die of broken heart and other diseases brought on by the continued pressure of sad thoughts, although well fed and well clothed and well supplied with money and other material comforts of life.
The Vaishyas represent the vital vigor of the Four-Caste organism, and as, according to the Shāstras, the seat of the vital vigor is the loins, the Vaishyas form the loins of that body. The Silver Age Vaishyas take to cultivation of the soil, raising of cattle and trade more for the weal of all mankind than for their own personal aggrandizement.
The Sudras are the feet of the Four-Caste organism, very important members of the body too. They represent devotion through service. Indeed, devotion is the training which each caste passes through while fulfilling the duties of its profession. The Brāhmans are to practise meditation on God and study the Veda; the object is devotion to the Supreme Being. The Kshatriyas are to rule the other two castes with the aid of the Brāhmans, with love, justice and fatherly care according to inspired laws; the object is to acquire devotion to the Supreme Being. The Vaishyas are to till the land and raise cattle only to serve God's creatures; the object is to cultivate devotion to the Supreme Being thereby. The Sudras must serve the three pure and spiritual upper castes for the purpose of absorbing their spiritual magnetism through association and examples; the object is the same, cultivating devotion to the Supreme Being by loving service rendered to His devotees.