“You do your prescribed duty”

Devotee: sarva-guhyatamam bhuyah srnu me paramam vacah isto ’si me drdham iti tato vaksyami te hitam

“Because you are My very dear friend, I am speaking to you the most confidential part of knowledge. Hear this from Me, for it is for your benefit.”

Bhagavad-gita As It Is – Chapter 18 Verse 64

Prabhupada: Guhyatamam, most confidential. This is not for all, but for the advanced person and who is in confidence of Krsna, He says, isto ’si me. Te hitam. So it is not for all. One who is in confidence of Krsna, a pure devotee, for him, not for the ordinary man. Ordinary man—“You do your prescribed duty.” But they have no prescribed duty even. The people of this age, they are so fallen, they have no prescribed duty. They are simply engaged like animals—eating, sleeping, sex, and defense. That’s all. Animal is engaged like that, eating, sleeping, sex, and defense. So we are being educated only like animals. We do not know the value of life, how nature is working, how we are changing our body. No education all over the world. Simply making plans how to eat, how to sleep, how to enjoy senses, how to defend, that’s all. This is animal life. This is not prescribed duty. Prescribed duty is above this. From animal, one has to become brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, utmost, sudra, like that.

That is prescribed duty. And simply whole day working for eating, sleeping, mating, that is the business of the hog. Hog is also whole day working for eating, sleeping, and sex, and defense. Therefore sastra says, nayam deho deha-bhajam nrloke kastan kaman arhate vid-bhujam ye [Bhag. 5.5.1]. You should not live the life of a hog, vid-bhujam. Vid-bhujam means the stool eater. He is also working day and night. What is the business? “Where is stool?” That’s all. And as soon as he’s strong then, “Where is sex,” without any discrimination. That is hog’s life. So human life is not meant for spoiling like hog’s life. Therefore niyatam kuru karma tvam. You should classify yourself amongst the four divisions, catur-varnyam maya srstam guna-karma-vibhagasah [Bg. 4.13], and then your prescribed duties are there. If you want to become a brahmana, then samo damas titiksa arjavam, jnanam vijnanam astikyam brahma-karma svabhava-jam. If you want to be ksatriya, tejah… What is that? Tejah sauryam yujyam yuddhe capy apalayanam isvara-bhavas ca ksatram karma svabhava-jam. If you want to be a vaisya, krsi-go- raksya-vanijyam vaisya-karma svabhava-jam [Bg. 18.44]. And if you want to remain a sudra, paricaryatmakam karma sudra-karma svabhava-jam. And that is prescribed duty. You classify yourself, either as a brahmana or as a ksatriya or a vaisya, by quality, not by caste or by whims, no. Actually by qualification. Then you engage yourself in that duty. That is niyatam karma tvam. Otherwise, jumping like monkeys, that is not karma. That is monkey’s dance. It has no value. Wasting time. You should not waste time, a single moment.

Morning Walk Conversation
with His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
December 5, 1976, Hyderabad