The American boys, who have simply been trained as shudras, are not at all fit to fight in battle.

Fit for duty: physical fitness is not the main criterion

Incompatible temperaments

Dhruva Maharaja indirectly informed the great sage Narada that there are four kinds of human spirit—the brahminical spirit, the kshatriya spirit, the vaishya spirit and the shudra spirit. The spirit of one caste is not applicable to the members of another. The philosophical spirit enunciated by Narada Muni might have been suitable for a brahmana spirit, but it was not suitable for a kshatriya. Dhruva frankly admitted that he was lacking in brahminical humility and was therefore unable to accept the philosophy of Narada Muni.

The statements of Dhruva Maharaja indicate that unless a child is trained according to his tendency, there is no possibility of his developing his particular spirit. It was the duty of the spiritual master or teacher to observe the psychological movement of a particular boy and thus train him in a particular occupational duty. Dhruva Maharaja, having already been trained in the kshatriya spirit, would not accept the brahminical philosophy. In America we have practical experience of this incompatibility of the brahminical and kshatriya temperaments. The American boys, who have simply been trained as shudras, are not at all fit to fight in battle. Therefore, when they are called to join the military, they refuse because they do not have kshatriya spirit. This is a cause of great dissatisfaction in society. That the boys do not have the kshatriya spirit does not mean that they are trained in brahminical qualities; they are trained as shudras, and thus in frustration they are becoming hippies. However, as soon as they enter the Krishna consciousness movement being started in America, they are trained to meet the brahminical qualifications, even though they have fallen to the lowest conditions as shudras.

In other words, since the Krishna consciousness movement is open for everyone, people in general can attain the brahminical qualifications. This is the greatest need at the present moment, for now there are actually no brahmanas or kshatriyas but only some vaishyas and, for the most part, shudras. The classification of society into brahmanas, kshatriyas, vaishyas and shudras is very scientific. In the human social body, the brahmanas are considered the head, the kshatriyas are the arms, the vaishyas are the belly, and the shudras are the legs. At the present moment the body has legs and a belly, but there are no arms or head, and therefore society is topsy-turvy. It is necessary to reestablish the brahminical qualifications in order to raise the fallen human society to the highest standard of spiritual consciousness.