Brahminical Culture

(written on April 6, 2020)

In the purport of SB 1.16.18, Srila Prabhupada blatantly elucidates that the cultivation of brahminical culture is required for peace and prosperity. He wrote, “The bull and the cow can be protected for the good of all human society simply by the spreading of brahminical culture as the topmost perfection of all cultural affairs. By advancement of such culture, the morale of society is properly maintained, and so peace and prosperity are also attained without extraneous effort.” What is brahminical culture? Most importantly, what does culture mean? Culture is defined by the dictionary as the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or another social group. Generally, however, the definition of culture is the way that people do things.

Brahminical culture is said to be the topmost culture of this material world. It runs parallel with the undeniable truth that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the controller and creator of everything. This is blatantly put forth in Brahma Samhita 5.1 where Lord Brahma prays, “Kṛṣṇa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.” Therefore, the brahmanas, who have realized this knowledge, follow the instructions of the Lord in all matters of life to attain prosperity.

One of the other main qualities of a brahmana is simple living and higher thinking. Real brahmanas do not work for lower-class men and they do not indulge themselves in sense gratification. They follow the 4 regulative principles (no meat eating, no intoxication, no illicit sex, and no gambling) and they instead indulge themselves in worshipping the Lord. More important qualities of a brahmana are further explained in BG 18.42, in which Lord Krsna says, “Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, knowledge, wisdom and religiousness – these are the natural qualities by which the brāhmaṇas work.”

As a part of maintaining the qualities mentioned above, having and taking care of cows is a substantial part of the culture. In the Krsna book it is explained how those who take care of cows are prosperous. In the chapter of the meeting of Vasudeva and Nanda, it is stated that the residents of Vrndavana were very wealthy because their economy was mainly based on raising cows. Cows are considered one of the seven mothers of the living entity because all of their by-products (milk, urine, dung, yogurt, butter, etc.) are healthy and have medicinal properties.

Despite having such a great culture, the brahmana culture is not actually the topmost. Srila Prabhupada explains in his lecture about SB.5.5.2, “[Bg. 18.42], this is the first-class quality within this material world. But that is also not svarūpa. That is also not svarūpa. One may become the topmost person within human society by acquiring brahminical qualification, but that is also not svarūpa. Real svarūpa is above that brahminical qualification. That is Vaiṣṇava.” The difference between a brahmana and a vaishnava is that a vaishnava is completely dedicated to the service of Krsna. They are always thinking about Krsna favorably and how to serve in the best way possible to make Him happy. (This is called anukulyena-bhakti as explained from Brs. 1.1.11). The vaishnava culture is pure devotional service. One can take brahminical culture and transform it into vaishnava culture by dovetailing all their activities for the service of the Lord.

In the vaishnava culture, the devotees are not affected by the dualities of the material world. Whether they are materially prosperous or not is of no significance. They are simply satisfied in serving the Lord and chanting his names. In Siksastakam, the mood of a vaishnava is explained. The vaishnava says: “O almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor do I desire beautiful women, nor do I want any number of followers. I only want Your causeless devotional service birth after birth.” The devotee is so immersed in devotional service that they have no desire for even liberation. Such a devotee is truly happy and prosperous at all times.