ब्राह्मणक्षत्रियविशां शूद्राणां च परन्तप ।कर्माणि प्रविभक्तानि स्वभावप्रभवैर्गुणैः ॥
brāhmaṇakṣatriyaviśāṃ śūdrāṇāṃ ca parantapa |karmāṇi pravibhaktāni svabhāvaprabhavair guṇaiḥ ||
- ब्राह्मणक्षत्रियविशाम् · brāhmaṇakṣatriyaviśām
- of brahmanas, kshatriyas, vaishyas
- शूद्राणाम् · śūdrāṇām
- of shudras
- परन्तप · parantapa
- O scorcher of foes
- कर्माणि · karmāṇi
- duties
- प्रविभक्तानि · pravibhaktāni
- apportioned
- स्वभावप्रभवैः · svabhāvaprabhavaiḥ
- arising from one's nature
- गुणैः · guṇaiḥ
- by the guṇas
“The duties of brahmanas, kshatriyas, vaishyas, and shudras, O scorcher of foes, are apportioned according to the guṇas arising from their nature.”
— Original plain-language translation
Krishna grounds the four social orders in nature (svabhāva) and guṇa, not mere birth — continuing 4.13, where the fourfold order is divided by quality and work. Read as a teaching on aptitude: duty should fit temperament. Modern readers should note the text's own criterion is character, which later tradition often flattened into heredity.
— Reader's notes (original)