RACES AND CULTURES

More on different races and cultures..

Who were the Kirāta, Hūṇa, Āndhra, Pulinda, Pulkaśa, Ābhīra, Śumbha, Yavana, Khasa races mentioned throughout the Srimad Bhagavatam?

"Kirāta, Hūṇa, Āndhra, Pulinda, Pulkaśa, Ābhīra, Śumbha, Yavana, members of the Khasa races and even others addicted to sinful acts can be purified by taking shelter of the devotees of the Lord, due to His being the supreme power. I beg to offer my respectful obeisances unto Him." SB 2.4.18 Sukadeva Goswami is offering prayers of glorification of Lord Krishna before he begins to answer the questions put before him by Maharaja Pariksit.
http://prabhupadabooks.com/sb/2/4/18?d=1

Srila Prabhupada gives a fantastic purport to this verse beginning with... "The above-mentioned historical names are different nations of the world."

My understanding is that at one time nations were the same as races. Like everything else over time there has been a mixing and intermixing so that within nations there may be many people from different races. For purposes of discussion I will use race interchangeably with nationality since at one time they were non-different.

He specifies the roots of these different races (nationalities) and correlates them to the part of the world they inhabit. It is not that everyone looks alike. These are different races. The climates are different. The bodies look different...skin tone,...facial features. The foods are different. Sometimes wheat cannot be grown, so the main grain is corn. The clothing is different.... some parts of the world are very cold much of the year. Languages. History of development. Music. Art. Science. Medicine. There are differences.

In the battle of  battle of Kuruksetra there were kings from all over the world present. They were not fighting race against race. They were all of different races fighting together for a higher principle. The highest religious principle. Krishna consciousness. It was not one people against other people. Fighting for national supremacy or racial supremacy. Arjuna clears that up in the second chapter of Gita, the fighting was not for anything material... not a kingdom, not power, not wealth. Serving Krishna unified in purpose... for the progressive values of life.... and yet remaining racially distinct.

All blood lines have been lost and are contaminated.
This is the great mercy of Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and His sankirtan movement. From the purport SB 2.4.18

 "A Vaiṣṇava, therefore, can accept a bona fide disciple from any part of the world without any consideration of caste and creed and promote him by regulative principles to the status of a pure Vaiṣṇava who is transcendental to brahminical culture. The system of caste, or varṇāśrama-dharma, is no longer regular even amongst the so-called followers of the system. Nor is it now possible to reestablish the institutional function in the present context of social, political and economic revolution. Without any reference to the particular custom of a country, one can be accepted to the Vaiṣṇava cult spiritually, and there is no hindrance in the transcendental process. So by the order of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the cult of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or the Bhagavad-gītā can be preached all over the world, reclaiming all persons willing to accept the transcendental cult."