Brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas and śūdras are distinguished by the qualities born of their own natures in accordance with the material modes, O chastiser of the enemy.
TEXT 42
शमो दमस्तपः शौचं क्षान्तिरार्जवमेव च ।
ज्ञानं विज्ञानमास्तिक्यं ब्रह्मकर्म स्वभावजम् ।। 42 ।।
śamo damas tapaḥ śaucaṁ
kṣāntir ārjavam eva ca
jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyaṁ
brahma-karma svabhāva-jam
śamaḥ – peacefulness; damaḥ – self-control; tapaḥ – austerity; śaucam – purity; kṣāntiḥ – tolerance; ārjavam – honesty; eva – certainly; ca – and; jñānam – knowledge; vijñānam – wisdom; āstikyam – religiousness; brahma – of a brāhmaṇa; karma – duty; svabhāva-jam – born of his own nature.
Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, knowledge, wisdom and religiousness – these are the natural qualities by which the brāhmaṇas work.
TEXT 43
शौर्यं तेजो धृतिर्दाक्ष्यं युद्धे चाप्यपलायनम् ।
दानमीश्वरभावश्च क्षात्रं कर्म स्वभावजम् ।। 43 ।।
śauryaṁ tejo dhṛtir dākṣyaṁ
yuddhe cāpy apalāyanam
dānam īśvara-bhāvaś ca
kṣātraṁ karma svabhāva-jam
śauryam – heroism; tejaḥ – power; dhṛtiḥ – determination; dākṣyam – resourcefulness; yuddhe – in battle; ca – and; api – also; apalāyanam – not fleeing; dānam – generosity; īśvara – of leadership; bhāvaḥ – the nature; ca – and; kṣātram – of a kṣatriya; karma – duty; svabhāva-jam – born of his own nature.
Heroism, power, determination, resourcefulness, courage in battle, generosity and leadership are the natural qualities of work for the kṣatriyas.
TEXT 44
कृषिगौरक्ष्यवाणिज्यं वैश्यकर्म स्वभावजम् ।
परिचर्यात्मकं कर्म शूद्रस्यापि स्वभावजम् ।। 44 ।।
kṛṣi-go-rakṣya-vāṇijyaṁ
vaiśya-karma svabhāva-jam
paricaryātmakaṁ karma
śūdrasyāpi svabhāva-jam
kṛṣi – plowing; go – of cows; rakṣya – protection; vāṇijyam – trade; vaiśya – of a vaiśya; karma – duty; svabhāva-jam – born of his own nature; paricaryā – service; ātmakam – consisting of; karma – duty; śūdrasya – of the śūdra; api – also; svabhāva-jam – born of his own nature.
Farming, cow protection and business are the natural work for the vaiśyas, and for the śūdras there are labor and service to others.
TEXT 45
स्वे स्वे कर्मण्यभिरतः संसिद्धिं लभते नरः ।
स्वकर्मनिरतः सिद्धिं यथा विन्दति तच्छृणु ।। 45 ।।
sve sve karmaṇy abhirataḥ
saṁsiddhiṁ labhate naraḥ
sva-karma-nirataḥ siddhiṁ
yathā vindati tac chṛṇu
sve sve – each his own; karmaṇi – work; abhirataḥ – following; saṁsiddhim – perfection; labhate – achieves; naraḥ – a man; sva-karma – in his own duty; nirataḥ – engaged; siddhim – perfection; yathā – as; vindati – attains; tat – that; śṛṇu – listen.
By following his qualities of work, every man can become perfect. Now please hear from Me how this can be done.
TEXT 46
यतः प्रवृत्तिर्भूतानां येन सर्वमिदं ततम् ।
स्वकर्मणा तमभ्यर्च्य सिद्धिं विन्दति मानवः ।। 46 ।।
yataḥ pravṛttir bhūtānāṁ
yena sarvam idaṁ tatam
sva-karmaṇā tam abhyarcya
siddhiṁ vindati mānavaḥ
yataḥ – from whom; pravṛttiḥ – the emanation; bhūtānām – of all living entities; yena – by whom; sarvam – all; idam – this; tatam – is pervaded; sva-karmaṇā – by his own duties; tam – Him; abhyarcya – by worshiping; siddhim – perfection; vindati – achieves; mānavaḥ – a man.
By worship of the Lord, who is the source of all beings and who is all-pervading, a man can attain perfection through performing his own work.
As stated in the Fifteenth Chapter, all living beings are fragmental parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord. Thus the Supreme Lord is the beginning of all living entities. This is confirmed in the Vedānta-sūtra – janmādy asya yataḥ. The Supreme Lord is therefore the beginning of life of every living entity.
And as stated in the Seventh Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, the Supreme Lord, by His two energies, His external energy and internal energy, is all-pervading. Therefore one should worship the Supreme Lord with His energies. Generally the Vaiṣṇava devotees worship the Supreme Lord with His internal energy. His external energy is a perverted reflection of the internal energy. The external energy is a background, but the Supreme Lord by the expansion of His plenary portion as Paramātmā is situated everywhere. He is the Supersoul of all demigods, all human beings, all animals, everywhere. One should therefore know that as part and parcel of the Supreme Lord one has his duty to render service unto the Supreme. Everyone should be engaged in devotional service to the Lord in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is recommended in this verse.
Everyone should think that he is engaged in a particular type of occupation by Hṛṣīkeśa, the master of the senses. And by the result of the work in which one is engaged, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, should be worshiped. If one thinks always in this way, in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then, by the grace of the Lord, he becomes fully aware of everything. That is the perfection of life. The Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (12.7), teṣām ahaṁ samuddhartā. The Supreme Lord Himself takes charge of delivering such a devotee. That is the highest perfection of life. In whatever occupation one may be engaged, if he serves the Supreme Lord he will achieve the highest perfection.
TEXT 47
श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात् ।
स्वभावनियतं कर्म कुर्वन्नाप्नोति किल्बिषम् ।। 47 ।।
śreyān sva-dharmo viguṇaḥ
para-dharmāt sv-anuṣṭhitāt
svabhāva-niyataṁ karma
kurvan nāpnoti kilbiṣam
śreyān – better; sva-dharmaḥ – one’s own occupation; viguṇaḥ – imperfectly performed; para-dharmāt – than another’s occupation; su-anuṣṭhitāt – perfectly done; svabhāva-niyatam – prescribed according to one’s nature; karma – work; kurvan – performing; na – never; āpnoti – achieves; kilbiṣam – sinful reactions.
It is better to engage in one’s own occupation, even though one may perform it imperfectly, than to accept another’s occupation and perform it perfectly. Duties prescribed according to one’s nature are never affected by sinful reactions.
One’s occupational duty is prescribed in Bhagavad-gītā. As already discussed in previous verses, the duties of a brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya and śūdra are prescribed according to their particular modes of nature. One should not imitate another’s duty. A man who is by nature attracted to the kind of work done by śūdras should not artificially claim to be a brāhmaṇa, although he may have been born into a brāhmaṇa family. In this way one should work according to his own nature; no work is abominable, if performed in the service of the Supreme Lord. The occupational duty of a brāhmaṇa is certainly in the mode of goodness, but if a person is not by nature in the mode of goodness, he should not imitate the occupational duty of a brāhmaṇa.
For a kṣatriya, or administrator, there are so many abominable things; a kṣatriya has to be violent to kill his enemies, and sometimes a kṣatriya has to tell lies for the sake of diplomacy. Such violence and duplicity accompany political affairs, but a kṣatriya is not supposed to give up his occupational duty and try to perform the duties of a brāhmaṇa.
One should act to satisfy the Supreme Lord. For example, Arjuna was a kṣatriya. He was hesitating to fight the other party. But if such fighting is performed for the sake of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, there need be no fear of degradation.
In the business field also, sometimes a merchant has to tell so many lies to make a profit. If he does not do so, there can be no profit. Sometimes a merchant says, “Oh, my dear customer, for you I am making no profit,” but one should know that without profit the merchant cannot exist. Therefore it should be taken as a simple lie if a merchant says that he is not making a profit. But the merchant should not think that because he is engaged in an occupation in which the telling of lies is compulsory, he should give up his profession and pursue the profession of a brāhmaṇa.
That is not recommended. Whether one is a kṣatriya, a vaiśya, or a śūdra doesn’t matter, if he serves, by his work, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Even brāhmaṇas, who perform different types of sacrifice, sometimes must kill animals because sometimes animals are sacrificed in such ceremonies. Similarly, if a kṣatriya engaged in his own occupation kills an enemy, there is no sin incurred. In the Third Chapter these matters have been clearly and elaborately explained; every man should work for the purpose of Yajña, or for Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Anything done for personal sense gratification is a cause of bondage. The conclusion is that everyone should be engaged according to the particular mode of nature he has acquired, and he should decide to work only to serve the supreme cause of the Supreme Lord.
TEXT 48
सहजं कर्म कौन्तेय सदोषमपि न त्यजेत् ।
सर्वारम्भा हि दोषेण धूमेनाग्निरिवावृताः ।। 48 ।।
saha-jaṁ karma kaunteya
sa-doṣam api na tyajet
sarvārambhā hi doṣeṇa
dhūmenāgnir ivāvṛtāḥ
saha-jam – born simultaneously; karma – work; kaunteya – O son of Kuntī; sa-doṣam – with fault; api – although; na – never; tyajet – one should give up; sarva-ārambhāḥ – all ventures; hi – certainly; doṣeṇa – with fault; dhūmena – with smoke; agniḥ – fire; iva – as; āvṛtāḥ – covered.
Every endeavor is covered by some fault, just as fire is covered by smoke. Therefore one should not give up the work born of his nature, O son of Kuntī, even if such work is full of fault.
In conditioned life, all work is contaminated by the material modes of nature. Even if one is a brāhmaṇa, he has to perform sacrifices in which animal killing is necessary. Similarly, a kṣatriya, however pious he may be, has to fight enemies. He cannot avoid it. Similarly, a merchant, however pious he may be, must sometimes hide his profit to stay in business, or he may sometimes have to do business on the black market. These things are necessary; one cannot avoid them. Similarly, even though a man is a śūdra serving a bad master, he has to carry out the order of the master, even though it should not be done. Despite these flaws, one should continue to
