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Brahmana or Devotional Service?

Bhakti-caru Swami: One time in India, while Srila Prabhupada was staying in Vrindavan, two of Srila Prabhupada's Western-born sannyasis visited a temple and heard an odd comment from a pujari. While Srila Prabhupada's men were taking darsana of the Deities, the pujari seemed to appreciate their reverence and demeanor. "Continue to render devotional service," the pujari brahmana advised them, "and maybe in your next life you will be born as a brahmana." The disciples later went to Srila Prabhupada and told him of the incident.

Prabhupada smiled and told a story. Once there was an old lady who lived in a remote village. One day the British district magistrate visited her town. This old lady had been entangled in a quarrel regarding possession of land, which some of her relatives were trying to take from her. Friends advised that she see the magistrate and present the matter to him for a settlement. When she did so, the magistrate immediately ruled in her favor and made sure the land was put in her name. Delighted, the old lady attempted to bless the magistrate. "I bless you," she said, "that in your next life you will become a police constable." In the old lady's mind, Srila Prabhupada explained, the office of police constable was the highest thing she could imagine. "Similarly," said Srila Prabhupada, "these caste brahmanas do not know that pure devotional service is much higher than being born as a brahmana."



Reference: Srila Prabhupada Nectar by Bhakti Caru Swami