mora sparÅ›e nÄ karile ghṛṇÄ, veda-bhaya
mora darÅ›ana tomÄ vede niá¹£edhaya

 mora - of me; sparÅ›e - by the touch;  - not; karile - You did; ghá¹›á¹‡Ä - hatred; veda-bhaya - afraid of the injunctions of the Vedas; mora - of me; darÅ›ana - seeing; tomÄ - You; vede - the Vedic injunctions; niá¹£edhaya - forbid.


Text

“You do not fear the Vedic injunctions stating that You should not associate with a śūdra. You were not contemptuous of my touch, although in the Vedas You are forbidden to associate with śūdras.

Purport

In the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (9.32) the Lord says:

mÄá¹ hi pÄrtha vyapÄÅ›ritya ye ’pi syuḥ pÄpa-yonayaḥ
striyo vaiÅ›yÄs tathÄ Å›Å«drÄs te ’pi yÄnti parÄá¹ gatim

“O son of Pá¹›thÄ, those who take shelter in Me, though they be of lower birth — women, vaiÅ›yas [merchants], as well as śūdras [workers] — can attain the supreme destination.â€

The word pÄpa-yonayaḥ means “born into a lower-class.†According to the Vedic system of classification, women, vaiÅ›yas, and śūdras belong to a lower social order. A low life means a life without Kṛṣṇa consciousness. High and low positions in society are calculated by considering a person’s Kṛṣṇa consciousness. A brÄhmaṇa is considered to be on the highest platform because he knows Brahman, the Absolute Truth. The second caste, the ká¹£atriya caste, also know Brahman, but not as well as the brÄhmaṇas. The vaiÅ›yas and śūdras do not clearly understand God consciousness, but if they take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa and the spiritual master, they do not remain in the lower castes (pÄpa-yonayaḥ). It is clearly stated: te ’pi yÄnti parÄá¹ gatim.

Unless one has attained the highest standard of life, one cannot return home, back to Godhead. One may be a śūdra, vaiÅ›ya or woman, but if one is situated in the service of the Lord in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one should not be considered strÄ«, śūdra, vaiÅ›ya or lower than śūdra. Though a person may be from a lowborn family, if he is engaged in the Lord’s service he should never be considered to belong to a lowborn family. The Padma PurÄṇa forbids, vÄ«ká¹£ate jÄti-sÄmÄnyÄt sa yÄti narakaá¹-dhruvam. A person goes to hell quickly when he considers a devotee of the Lord in terms of birth. Although ÅšrÄ« RÄmÄnanda RÄya supposedly took birth in a śūdra family, he is not to be considered a śūdra, for he was a great advanced devotee. Indeed, he was on the transcendental platform. ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu therefore embraced him. Out of spiritual humility, ÅšrÄ« RÄmÄnanda RÄya presented himself as a śūdra (rÄja-sevÄ« viá¹£ayÄ« śūdrÄdhama). Even though one may engage in government service or in any other pounds-shillings-pence business — in short, in materialistic life — he need only take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is a very simple process. One need only chant the holy names of the Lord and strictly follow the principles forbidding sinful activity. In this way one can no longer be considered an untouchable, a viá¹£ayÄ« or a śūdra. One who is advanced in spiritual life should not associate with nondevotees — namely men in government service and men engaged in materialistic activity for sense gratification or in the service of others. Such men are considered viá¹£ayÄ«, materialistic. It is said:

niṣkiñcanasya bhagavad-bhajanonmukhasya
 pÄraá¹ paraá¹ jigamiá¹£or bhava-sÄgarasya
sandarÅ›anaá¹ viá¹£ayiṇÄm atha yoá¹£itÄá¹ ca
 hÄ hanta hanta viá¹£a-bhaká¹£aṇato ’py asÄdhu

“A person who is very seriously engaged in cultivating devotional service with a view to crossing the ocean of nescience and who has completely abandoned all material activities should never see a śūdra, a vaiÅ›ya or a woman.†(ÅšrÄ« Caitanya-candrodaya-nÄá¹­aka 8.23)