Å›rÄ«-camasa uvÄca
mukha-bÄhÅ«ru-pÄdebhyaḥ
puruá¹£asyÄÅ›ramaiḥ saha
catvÄro jajñire varṇÄ
guṇair viprÄdayaḥ pá¹›thak
2 times this text was mentioned in purports to other texts: NBS(1) , TLC(1)
Å›rÄ«-camasaḥ uvÄca - ÅšrÄ« Camasa said; mukha - face; bÄhu - arms; Å«ru - thighs; pÄdebhyaḥ - from the feet; puruá¹£asya - of the Supreme Lord; ÄÅ›ramaiḥ - the four spiritual orders; saha - with; catvÄraḥ - four; jajñire - were born; varṇÄḥ - the social orders; guṇaiḥ - by the modes of nature; vipra-Ädayaḥ - headed by the brÄhmaṇas; pá¹›thak - various.
ÅšrÄ« Camasa said: Each of the four social orders, headed by the brÄhmaṇas, was born through different combinations of the modes of nature, from the face, arms, thighs and feet of the Supreme Lord in His universal form. Thus the four spiritual orders were also generated.
Those who are not spontaneously attracted to the devotional service of the Lord can be gradually purified by observing the varṇÄÅ›rama system of four social orders and four spiritual orders. According to ÅšrÄ«dhara SvÄmÄ«, the brÄhmaṇas are born of the mode of goodness, the ká¹£atriyas of a combination of goodness and passion, the vaiÅ›yas of a combination of passion and ignorance and the śūdras of the mode of ignorance. Just as the four social orders are born from the face, arms, thighs and feet of the Lord’s universal form, similarly the brahmacÄrÄ«s are generated from the heart of the Lord, the householder order from His loins, the vÄnaprasthas from His chest and the sannyÄsa order from His head.
A similar verse is found in the Ṛk-saá¹hitÄ (8.4.19), as well as the Åšukla-yajur Veda (34.11) and the Atharva Veda (19.66):
brÄhmaṇo ’sya mukham ÄsÄ«d
bÄhÅ« rÄjanyaḥ ká¹›taḥ
ūrū tad asya yad vaiśyaḥ
padbhyÄṠśūdro ’jÄyata
“The brÄhmaṇa appeared as His face, the king as His arms, the vaiÅ›ya as His thighs, and the śūdra was born from His feet.â€
It is understood that pure devotional service to the Lord has already been described by two of the Yogendras, Drumila and Ä€virhotra. Camasa Muni now describes the system of varṇÄÅ›rama-dharma, because this system is meant to gradually purify those who are inimical to the Supreme Lord, bringing them back to their constitutional position of love of Godhead. Similarly, the virÄá¹-rÅ«pa, or universal form of the Lord, is an imaginary form meant to help the gross materialists gradually understand the position of the Personality of Godhead. Since the foolish materialist cannot understand anything beyond matter, he is encouraged to see the entire universe as a personal form of the Supreme Lord’s body. The impersonal conception of formlessness is a mere negation of temporary material variety without any concept of the Lord’s spiritual potency. The impersonal view is another kind of material speculative conception. The Supreme Lord is full of spiritual potencies under the principal headings hlÄdinÄ«, or unlimited bliss, sandhinÄ«, or eternal existence, and saá¹vit, or omniscience. It is understood from this verse that the varṇÄÅ›rama-dharma system generated from the universal form of the Lord is a program offered by the Lord to engage the conditioned souls in a complete social and religious system that gradually brings them back home, back to Godhead.
