"4,00,000 'species' are human beings. (The meaning of 'species' is explained in the Padma Purana)
As per Padma Purana, the meaning of "species" understood by biologists is different from the meaning implied here. The meaning used by biologists applies to the gross physical appearance or the gross morphological feature of the living material bodies. The Vedic meaning, however, which is derived after thorough and careful analysis, is based on the level of consciousness of the living being. For example, biologists say that all human beings belong to one species, whereas the Vedic literatures list 400,000 species. In other words, there are 400,000 grades of human beings on different levels of consciousness. Thus, here, species should be understood as grade."
As per Padma Purana, the meaning of "species" understood by biologists is different from the meaning implied here. The meaning used by biologists applies to the gross physical appearance or the gross morphological feature of the living material bodies. The Vedic meaning, however, which is derived after thorough and careful analysis, is based on the level of consciousness of the living being. For example, biologists say that all human beings belong to one species, whereas the Vedic literatures list 400,000 species. In other words, there are 400,000 grades of human beings on different levels of consciousness. Thus, here, species should be understood as grade."
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These Categorizations are further broken down into mixes of the three fundamental modes of nature. Ex; one part ignorance, plus two of passion, and add 1/2 of goodness, equals one of these grades, etc to 400,000.
One can assume that not all of these grades of humans will appear at the same time necessarily. It is quite superficial and arbitrary to then assign the varied races, so-called, to various grades or levels without careful analysis of these mixtures. Possibly a better word is the word genotypes, which is defined by genetic coding and how it manifests in the actual form, such as dark skinned Italians versus white skinned Eurasians.
At any rate, it is clear then that there is better and worser, ie gradations, based upon a scale of higher and lower, . It is also clear then that all is not exactly One All the Time, and thus we have choices to make as to how to elevate ourselves.