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The Duties of the Brahmacharin and the Householder
In the beginning, in the Krita or Satya Yuga, men had but one caste which was known as Hamsa. Men attained the consummation of their desires from their very birth. They had by nature all their objects accomplished. They were in full touch with Me and knew that the object of their lives was to worship Me. Hence it was called the Krita Yuga (the time that makes everything ready for men, achieved).
In that primeval age, the sacred syllable OM was the Veda and I was Dharma in the form of a bull having four feet. Men of that age were pure and firm in Tapas. They meditated on Me, the pure one.
In the beginning of Treta, O blessed one! The Vedas became revealed from My heart through the Prana, out of which I became the sacrifice with its three main characteristics viz., the Hota, Adhvaryu, and Udgata who perform the different functions of a Vedic sacrifice.
The four castes Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaisya and Sudra with their separate duties and callings were created from the face, hands, thighs and legs of the Virat Purusha respectively. The householder’s life had its origin from My thighs, the student life from My heart, the life of a Vanaprastha in the forest from My chest and the life of Sannyasa from My head.
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