muñi — nÄ«ca-jÄti, kichu nÄ jÄnoá¹… ÄcÄra
mo-haite kaiche haya smá¹›ti-paracÄra

 muñi - I; nÄ«ca-jÄti - belong to a lower caste; kichu - anything;  - not; jÄnoá¹… - I know; ÄcÄra - about proper behavior; mo-haite - from me; kaiche - how; haya - there is; smá¹›ti-paracÄra - propagation of the directions of Vaiṣṇava behavior.


Text

“I am a most lowborn person. I have no knowledge of good behavior. How is it possible for me to write authorized directions about Vaiṣṇava activities?â€

Purport

Actually SanÄtana GosvÄmÄ« belonged to a very respectable brÄhmaṇa family. Nonetheless, he submitted himself as a fallen, lowborn person because he had served in the Muslim government. A brÄhmaṇa is never supposed to engage in anyone’s service. Serving others for a livelihood (paricaryÄtmakaá¹ karma) is the business of śūdras. The brÄhmaṇa is always independent and busy studying Å›Ästra and preaching Å›Ästra to subordinate social members such as ká¹£atriyas and vaiÅ›yas. SanÄtana GosvÄmÄ« felt unfit to write Vaiṣṇava smá¹›ti about the behavior of Vaiṣṇavas because he had fallen from the brahminical position. Thus SanÄtana GosvÄmÄ« clearly admits that the brahminical culture should be standardized. Presently in India, so-called brÄhmaṇas are almost all engaged in some mundane service, and they do not understand the import of the Vedic Å›Ästras. Nonetheless, they are passing themselves off as brÄhmaṇas on the basis of birth. In this connection, SanÄtana GosvÄmÄ« declares that a brÄhmaṇa cannot be engaged in anyone’s service if he wants to take a leading part in society. In ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam NÄrada Muni states that even if a brÄhmaṇa is in a difficult position, he should not accept the occupation of a śūdra. This means that he should not be engaged in service for another, for this is the business of dogs. Under the circumstances, SanÄtana GosvÄmÄ« felt very low because he had accepted a position of service in the Muslim government. The conclusion is that no one should claim to be a brÄhmaṇa simply by birthright while engaging in someone else’s service.