Shloka : 44

सच्छूद्रा: कृष्णभक्ता ये तैस्तु भालोर्ध्वपुण्ड्रके ।

द्विजातिवद्धारणीये निजधर्मेषु संस्थितै: ॥ 44 ॥

અને પોતાના ધર્મને વિષે રહ્યા અને શ્રીકૃષ્ણના ભક્ત એવા જે સચ્છૂદ્ર તેમણે તો, તુલસીની માળા અને ઊર્ધ્વપુંડ્ર, તિલક તે, બ્રાહ્મણ, ક્ષત્રિય, વૈશ્યની પેઠે ધારવાં. ॥ 44 ॥

And the Shudras, who perform their duties properly and who are devotees of Shri Krishna, should wear the Kanthi of Tulsi beads and Urdhvapundra Tilak just like Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaishya. || 44 ||

Commentary

The Shudras (the people of lower castes), who are devotees of Shri Swaminarayan Mahaprabhu and who perform their duty of serving Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaishya, should wear double-folded Kanthi made of Tulsi beads and Urdhvapundra Tilak just like the devotees belonging to the other three categories. Here, it is mentioned 'to wear' which includes the initiation and Guru Man­tra also. Therefore, they should get property initiated.

Now, there are two types of Shudras. One with the proper code of conduct and the other who do not follow the code fo conduct sincerely, Here the shepherd, barber, potter, tailor, etc. are considered as the Shudras with proper code of conduct. Such Shu­dras, who perform their duties properly, are instructed by Shriji Maharaj to wear Tilak Chandrak i.e. upward mark of U-shape with a dot in the center.

Moreover, a Shudra, who is born in pious family, who has given up meat etc., who has characteristics of a Vaishya and who respects the Brahmins, is considered to be a Shudra with proper code of conduct.