prabhu kahe, — "paá¸a Å›loka sÄdhyera nirṇaya"
rÄya kahe, — "sva-dharmÄcaraṇe viṣṇu-bhakti haya"

 prabhu kahe - Lord ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu said; paá¸a - just recite; Å›loka - a verse from the revealed scriptures; sÄdhyera - of the aim of life; nirṇaya - an ascertainment; rÄya kahe - RÄmÄnanda RÄya replied; sva-dharma-Äcaraṇe - by executing one's occupational duty; viṣṇu-bhakti - devotional service to Lord Viṣṇu; haya - there is.


Text

ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu ordered RÄmÄnanda RÄya, “Recite a verse from the revealed scriptures concerning the ultimate goal of life.â€

Purport

RÄmÄnanda replied, “If one executes the prescribed duties of his social position, he awakens his original Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

In this connection, ÅšrÄ« RÄmÄnujÄcÄrya states in the VedÄrtha-saá¹…graha that devotional service is naturally very dear to the living entity. Indeed, it is life’s goal. This devotional service is supreme knowledge, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and it brings detachment from all material activity. In the transcendental position, a living being can perfectly acknowledge the superiority of serving the Supreme Lord. The devotees attain the Supreme Lord only by devotional service. Having such knowledge, one engages in his occupational duty, and that is called bhakti-yoga. By performing bhakti-yoga, one can rise to the platform of pure devotional service.

A great saint, the father of ÅšrÄ«la VyÄsadeva, ParÄÅ›ara Muni, has specifically mentioned that devotional service to the Lord can ultimately be awakened in human society by the discharge of duties in accordance with the varṇÄÅ›rama system. The Supreme Personality of Godhead instituted varṇÄÅ›rama-dharma to give human beings a chance to return home, back to Godhead. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa, who is known in the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ as Puruá¹£ottama — the greatest of all personalities — personally came and declared that the institution of varṇÄÅ›rama-dharma was founded by Him. As stated in the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (4.13):

cÄtur-varṇyaá¹ mayÄ sṛṣṭaá¹ guṇa-karma-vibhÄgaÅ›aḥ
tasya kartÄram api mÄá¹ viddhy akartÄram avyayam

Elsewhere in the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (18.45-46) the Lord says:

sve sve karmaṇy abhirataḥ saá¹siddhiá¹ labhate naraḥ
sva-karma-nirataḥ siddhiá¹ yathÄ vindati tac chṛṇu
yataḥ pravá¹›ttir bhÅ«tÄnÄá¹ yena sarvam idaá¹ tatam
sva-karmaá¹‡Ä tam abhyarcya siddhiá¹ vindati mÄnavaḥ

Human society should be divided into four divisions — brÄhmaṇa, ká¹£atriya, vaiÅ›ya and śūdra — and everyone should always engage in his occupational duty. The Lord says that those engaged in their occupational duty can attain perfection simply by rendering loving devotional service to the Lord while executing their particular duty. Actually the modern ideal of a classless society can be introduced only by Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Let men perform their occupational duty, and let them give their profits to the service of the Lord. In other words, one can attain the perfection of life by discharging one’s occupational duty and employing the results in the service of the Lord. This method is confirmed by great personalities like BodhÄyana, Taá¹…ka, Dramiá¸a, Guhadeva, Kapardi and BhÄruci. It is also confirmed by the VedÄnta-sÅ«tra.