Yog of Knowledge and Action
Chapter 4, Verse 13
cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ
guṇa karma vibhāgaśaḥ
tasya kartāram api māṁ
viddhy-akartāram avyayam
The system of four castes was generated by Me according to the division of gunas and karma. Though I am the generator, know Me as a non-agent and immutable.
Here, Sri Krishna reveals to Arjuna that the system of the four castes is based on the gunas and karma. He places everyone where one has to be, according to the gunas and one’s karma. He determines the birth according to these qualities, so that those who have sattvic qualities are born as very high sages, saints. That’s why I said that a saint is born a saint, because the saints have good qualities, good punya, from past lives. Saint Francis refused to be born inside the house, because he wanted to be born in a stable like Jesus. Saint Francis was born already realised, even though he had to go through a worldly life like a normal person until it was time for his awakening. God was making him ready.
Here Krishna says that those who have good karma are born in the Brahmin caste. They have this Grace to be on the spiritual path, to know about God, to be on the path towards God-Realisation. Here Krishna was actually talking about everybody who longs for God. The quality of a Brahmin is to guide others towards God-Realisation, towards loving God. However, nowadays, the so-called brahmins are not doing it. The true Brahmin has the qualities of the Divine and respects all, knowing that God Himself is the One who creates everything and places each one where he should be.
Krishna also says that the ones who have rajasic qualities are born as warriors, in the Kshatriya caste. These people have a certain good punya from past lives, but they still have to purify themselves. Due to their good punya, they are born in this world and God allows them to find their way in life.
People with a mixture of rajasic and tamasic qualities are born in the Vaishya caste. They are born in this world, they are also on the path, but they are not as far along as the Kshatriyas or the Brahmins. It’s like they are in kindergarten, waiting to move to the next grade.
Then, there are people with tamasic qualities, who are born in the Shudra caste and are far away from the Divine, far away from God Consciousness, from God-Realisation. Even if you talk to them about God, the animalistic qualities are too strong inside of them, for them to listen: they can’t perceive anything and they don’t want to change.
Krishna says, “It is I who have created and placed each one in these categories. I am the generator, I am the One who controls these four orders and keeps the natural balance of this system. O high souls, O Brahmins, you should control your minds and senses! You should focus on attaining Me. Kshatriyas, you should fight all the negative qualities inside of you! Vaishyas, you should do your work, accepting it as if God had given it to you. And, O Shudras, you should accept the physical tests of the outside, the difficulties of the outside.” These are the four orders in the society. If one accepts one’s duty and changes oneself, one moves towards God-Realisation.
“Know Me as a non-agent and immutable. Man doesn’t have any power over all this; it is only Me who is doing it; I am the Author of creation, but I’m not doing it through pride or any sense of doership. It is happening, yet I am not attached to it.” Krishna remains totally indifferent and unattached to action, whereas when people do something, automatically a certain attachment arises. Krishna says that due to His Maya, His Yogmaya, everything is in accordance with His Will. He is not controlled by the cycles of creation. Whereas creation, which is in Maya, has certain limitations. It’s through Prakriti that His Will is manifested, but He’s ever-free from it. Everything and everybody is under His influence and supervision. Wherever He has placed each one and however He is guiding each one, is perfect. And one has to learn to accept this.
When one learns to accept it, one moves through the stages that I spoke of earlier: Shudra, Vaishya, Kshatriya, and Brahmin. Later on, the Lord Himself will explain that these four castes represent His own Body, His cosmic Self: His Feet are represented by the Shudra caste, His thighs by the Vaishya caste, His arms by the Kshatriya caste and His head by the Brahmin caste. However, this doesn’t affect or touch Him in any way, because He has full supervision over everything. Everything happens through His Will and He manifests Himself through His own Will.
Bhagavad Gita
