Prabhupāda: Now, truthfulness is a, nowadays, is a matter of dream only. There is no truthfulness. Everyone is... beginning from the president and down to the ordinary man in the street, nobody is truthful. Now the president in your country is being questioned so many ways because he has proved himself not truthful. So this is a forgotten story, truthfulness. That is brahminical qualification. All these qualification are mentioned. It is not possible to acquire all the qualities by one man. That is not possible. Just like we divide some... if there is something to be done, we divide the task, "Mr. You, you do this. And you, you do this. You do this." Similarly, all these qualities must be divided amongst the whole population. Therefore, in the Bhagavad-gītā we have got the direction from the Supreme Lord, cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ (BG 4.13). One man cannot be... suppose a businessman. A businessman, he cannot become strictly truthful. That is not possible. A politician, he cannot become actually truthful. Then the whole business will be spoiled. Everyone... suppose you go to a store. The storekeeper says: "Oh, you are my dear friend. I will not take any profit from you. I will give you at cost price. You take." So you believe. But actually, how it is possible to give at cost price? How he'll maintain the business establishment? I know that he's speaking untruth, still, I accept, "Oh, he is very truthful." So there are so many things.
So first thing is truth. Therefore... then truthfulness has to be rejected? No. Another class, the brāhmaṇa class, he must be truthful. The idea must be there. Just like in the university, educational department, there is law department. It is not that the whole population of the state becomes lawyers. No. A section of the people may be lawyers. Another section may be other—engineer, medical man. So all these qualification must remain there. Just like educational system: "Here is law class. Here is botany class. Here is chemist class." Whatever you are prepared to accept, you can accept. But these qualities must be there. The... not that because it is impossible to become truthful, therefore truthfulness should be rejected altogether. No. One section must be there. That is the qualification of a brāhmaṇa: satyaṁ śamo damas titikṣā ārjavam. But these qualities must be there in the society, some way or other. And they should cooperate. That is the perfection of society.
(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, Hawaii, January 21, 1974)
.
