When they are thus valued (as any great wealth is), they will be protected by those who value them. Lack of protection indicates a lack of appreciation – that is, the fault is not with the wealth, it is with the unappreciative wealth holder. Danakeli Dasi once wrote a very nice explanation why they should be protected.
1. COWS: These animals are extremely valuable because they give a most wonderful food to us (milk), a most wonderful fertilizer & fuel (their dung), a wonderful medicine (their urine), & an eco-friendly, sustainable working power (they pull loads, till fields, etc.). Their milk, dung & urine are even used in Vedic religious performances/rituals. W/o cows, brahminical culture is extinguished.
Cows, however, are helpless. Wild animals may attack them. Greedy men can easily exploit them in the meat & dairy industry. Thus these valuable beings require life long care & protection by humans. This is not an insult to or condemnation of cows. It is a call for humans to wake up & to properly value & responsibly protect the cows.
2. ELDERLY PERSONS: These people are very valuable because they provide wisdom & experiential knowhow to society. W/o them, family religious traditions get lost.
The elderly, however, are helpless. They can easily be physically attacked because they are physically slowed down & weakened. Unscrupulous persons try to cheat them of their retirement funds, etc. Even the medical industry is known to sometimes exploit the elderly, because the aged will do almost anything to alleviate their pains of old age. Thus the elderly require care & protection by their younger family members. This is not an insult to or condemnation of the aged. It is a call for humans to wake up & to properly value & responsibly protect the elderly.
3. BRAHMANAS: This group of persons performs free service to society in the form of education (spiritual & material), priestly services & the like. W/o them, human society is no longer human, but instead animalistic.
Brahmanas, however, are helpless. Due to being nonviolent, gentle people, they are relatively easy to physically exploit. And because they fully depend on the charity of others, they can be economically mistreated as well. Thus brahmanas must be protected by the leaders of the state (the ksatriyas). These ksatriyas protect brahmanas living in the forest from ferocious animals; they protect them from outside attackers; & they protect them economically by providing any necessities to them. And most importantly, the ksatriyas protect dharma.
That brahmanas require protection is not an insult to or condemnation of them. It is a call for humans in general, & ksatriyas specifically, to wake up & to properly value & responsibly protect the brahmanas.
4. CHILDREN: Children are the future – a good future if they are trained w/ good character, a hellish future if they are tossed to the chaotic winds of this degraded age. They are the inheritors of all knowledge, wisdom, tradition, etc., amassed by their forefathers. W/o children, the human race (which is the only opportunity for God realization & liberation) would become extinct.
But children are helpless. They don’t have the physical, emotional or intellectual faculties to distinguish right from wrong, foe from friend, illusion from reality. They can easily be abused or coerced into foul play (intoxication, child prostitution, criminal gangs, etc.). Thus children require full protection on many levels. This is not an insult to or condemnation of children. Rather, it is a call for humans (esp. parents) to wake up & to properly value & responsibly protect them.
5. WOMEN: In addition to being sources of inspiration to men, women are the mothers of society’s children – they are considered the child’s first guru. The more pure the women are, the better the progeny are. Unwanted or impure progeny gives rise to a hellish society of criminals, rogues & generally self-centered 4-legged animals. W/o pure women, human civilization is doomed.
Women, however, are helpless. Nine out of ten times a woman cannot protect herself from rape or other kinds of physical assault. Moreover, women generally have a more trusting mentality, &, like children, tend to put their attention toward those who pay them attention. Thus an ill-motivated man can easily woo a woman into a relationship that is not in the best interest of the woman. He can even leave her w/ an unwanted, “accidental” child. On a broader scale, ill-motivated men can covertly cheat women (through advertisements, mass media, social indoctrinations, mis-education, etc.) into believing that they (the women) will be happier if they dress more & more scantily in public, if they take up degraded activities like smoking & drinking, if they practice artificial birth control & abortion, if they abandon their gemlike female qualities to cultivate the coarser male qualities, etc.
Due to their great value on the familial & social levels, women need a great amount of protection. This is not an insult to or condemnation of women. It is a call for humans (particularly males) to wake up & to properly appreciate & responsibly protect women of all ages.
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