Human civilization requires austerity and restriction; without protection of brahmanas and proper social order, society inevitably degrades.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.16.21 — January 17, 1974, Honolulu 740117SB-HONOLULU [50:11 Minutes] SB-01.16.21_740117SB-HONOLULU Pradyumna: [leads chanting of verse] [devotees repeat] arakṣyamāṇāḥ striya urvi bālān śocasy atho puruṣādair ivārtān vācaṁ devīṁ brahma-kule kukarmaṇy abrahmaṇye rāja-kule kulāgryān [SB 1.16.21] [break] [leads synonyms]
Prabhupāda: [interrupts the synonyms] Hmm? Puruṣādaiḥ—by men? Puruṣādaiḥ, puruṣādaiḥ means rākṣasa, the cannibals. So there has been...
"Cannibals" it should be. You can have a notebook. Whenever there is some discrepancy, you note in the next. Puruṣādaiḥ means "by the cannibals, rākṣasas." Pradyumna: [synonyms continue] [break] [03:07] Translation: "Are you feeling compunction for the unhappy women and children who are left forlorn by unscrupulous persons?
Or are you unhappy because the goddess of learning is being handled by brāhmaṇas addicted to acts against the principles of religion? Or are you sorry to see that the brāhmaṇas have taken shelter of administrative families that do not respect brahminical culture?" Prabhupāda: In the last verse, the another question was vṛṣalaiḥ. Vṛṣalair bhokṣyamāṇam. All these questions are being asked by Dharmarāja to the unprotected cows.
Cow is the representative of earth, so if there was one question, ātmānaṁ vā vṛṣalair bhokṣyamāṇam [SB 1.16.20]. The cow is being questioned, "Whether you are afraid of the meat-eaters who want to eat you?" Vṛṣalaiḥ. What is the meaning of vṛṣalaiḥ? Hmm?
Unlawful meat-eaters. Unlawful meat-eaters. Just like at the modern age everyone is unlawful meat-eaters. There is a certain class of men always who are meat-eaters.
Not the higher class. The society is divided into four classes: the first class, namely the brahminical class; second class, the kṣatriya, less important; the third class, the mercantile, less important; and the fourth class, less important. And below the fourth class, they are not counted among human beings. This is the Vedic division.