| 41. Of Brahmanas
and Kshatriyas and Vaisyas as also of Sadras, O Parantapa, the duties are divided
according to the qualities born of nature.Sudras are separated from otherswho
are all mentioned together in one compound wordbecause Sudras are of one birth
and are debarred from the study of the Vedas. Divided: the duties are allotted
to each class, as distinguished from those pertaining to the other classes.By
what standard ? According to the qualities (gunas) born of nature. Nature (svabhava)
is the Isvaras Prakriti, the Maya made up of the three gunas It is in accordance
with the gunas of the Prakriti that dutiessuch as serenity and the likeare
assigned to the Brahmans, etc. respectively. Or to explain in another way:
The source of the Brahmanas nature (svabhava) is the guna of Sattva; the source
of the Kshatriyas nature is Rajas and Sattva, the latter being subordinate
to the former ; the source of the Vaisyas nature is Rajas and Tamas, the latter
being subordinate to the former ; the source of the sudras nature is Tamas
and Rajas, the latter being subordinate to the former. For, as we see, the
characteristic features of their nature are serenity, lordliness, activity,
and dullness respectively.Or to interpret yet in another way:Nature (svabhava)
is the tendency (Samskara, Vasana) in living beings acquired by them in the
past .births, and manifesting itself in the present birth by way of being ready
to yield its effects: and this nature is the source of the gunas, it being
impossible for the gunas to manifest themselves without a cause. The assertion
that nature (Samskara, Vasana) is the cause (of the gunas) means that it is
a kind of specific cause. |
