Srila Prabhupada has described the caste system as “vitiated” or perverted, corrupted and debased. In Srimad Bhagavatam, 1.18.18, he writes, “The rigidity of the so-called caste system in Hindu society became prominent within only one hundred years or so when the number of dvija-bandus, or disqualified men in the families of higher castes, increased. Lord Sri Caitanya revived the original Vedic system, and He elevated Thakura Haridasa to the position of namacarya, or the authority in preaching the glories of the holy name of the Lord, although His Holiness Srila Haridasa Thakura was pleased to appear in a family of Mohammedans.