Devanagari
जघन्यो नोत्तमां वृत्तिमनापदि भजेन्नर: ।
ऋते राजन्यमापत्सु सर्वेषामपि सर्वश: ॥ १७ ॥
Verse text
jaghanyo nottamāṁ vṛttim
anāpadi bhajen naraḥ
ṛte rājanyam āpatsu
sarveṣām api sarvaśaḥ
Synonyms
jaghanyaḥ
—
low (person)
;
na
—
not
;
uttamām
—
high
;
vṛttim
—
means of livelihood
;
anāpadi
—
when there is no social upheaval
;
bhajet
—
may accept
;
naraḥ
—
a man
;
ṛte
—
except
;
rājanyam
—
the profession of the kṣatriyas
;
āpatsu
—
at times of emergency
;
sarveṣām
—
of everyone in every status of life
;
api
—
certainly
;
sarvaśaḥ
—
all professions or occupational duties .
Translation
Except in a time of emergency, lower persons should not accept the occupational duties of those who are higher. When there is such an emergency, of course, everyone but the kṣatriya may accept the means of livelihood of others.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Except in a time of emergency, lower persons should not accept the occupational duties of those who are higher. When there is such an emergency, everyone but the kṣatriya may accept any of the others’ occupations.
This verse describes emergency situations. Those lower should not accept higher professions like teaching. The kṣatriya can also take other occupations except receiving charity.
Purport
The occupational duty of a
brāhmaṇa
should not be accepted by persons in lower social orders, especially
vaiśyas
and
śūdras.
For example, an occupational duty of the
brāhmaṇa
is to teach Vedic knowledge, but unless there is an emergency, this professional duty should not be accepted by the
kṣatriyas, vaiśyas
or
śūdras.
Even a
kṣatriya
cannot accept the duties of a
brāhmaṇa
unless there is an emergency, and then even if he does so he should not accept charity from anyone else. Sometimes
brāhmaṇas
protest against our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement for creating
brāhmaṇas
from Europeans, or, in other words, from
mlecchas
and
yavanas.
This movement, however, is here supported in
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
At the present moment, society is in a chaotic condition, and everyone has given up the cultivation of spiritual life, which is especially meant for the
brāhmaṇas.
Because spiritual culture has been stopped all over the world, there is now an emergency, and therefore it is now time to train those who are considered lower and condemned, so that they may become
brāhmaṇas
and take up the work of spiritual progress. The spiritual progress of human society has been stopped, and this should be considered an emergency. Here is solid support from Nārada Muni of the movement known as Kṛṣṇa consciousness.