19.16
lobhi kayastha-gana raja-karya kare
apane svagrhe kare sastrera vicare
SYNONYMS
lobhi—greedy; kayastha-gana—persons engaged in secretarial and clerical work; raja-karya kare—executed the government service; apane—personally; sva-grhe—at home; kare—did; sastrera vicare—discussion of the revealed scriptures.
The greedy masters of his clerical and secretarial staff performed the government duties while Sanatana personally remained home and discussed revealed scriptures.
PURPORT
Sanatana Gosvami was the minister in charge of the government secretariat, and his assistants-the undersecretaries and clerks-all belonged to the kayastha community.
Formerly the kayasthas belonged to the clerical and secretarial staff of the government, and later if one served in such a post, he was called a kayastha.
Eventually if a person could not identify himself as a brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya or sudra, he used to introduce himself as a kayastha to get a wealthy and honorable position.
In Bengal it is said that if one cannot give the identity of his caste, he calls himself a kayastha.
On the whole, the kayastha community is a mixture of all castes, and it especially includes those engaged in clerical or secretarial work.
Materially such people are always busy occupying responsible government posts.
When Sanatana Gosvami was relaxing and feeling inclined to retire from government service, many kayasthas on his secretarial staff were very eager to occupy his post.
In this regard, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura states that when Sanatana Gosvami was a government minister and the kayasthas who assisted him saw that he was reluctant to continue, they became very expert in their duties.
Sanatana Gosvami was a brahmana belonging to the Sarasvata brahmana community.
It is said that when he resigned, an underworker named Purandara Khan, who was a kayastha, occupied his post.