Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.24.20
Manvantara· The Manus and right dutyPrescribed Duty Is Not Whimsical Activity
“The brāhmaṇa maintains his life by studying and teaching the Vedas, the member of the royal order by protecting the earth, the vaiśya by trade, and the śūdra by serving the higher, twice-born classes.”
What the purport teaches
- The brāhmaṇa maintains life by studying and teaching the Vedas, while the royal order protects the earth.
- The vaiśya lives by trade, and the śūdra by serving the higher, twice-born classes.
- Kṛṣṇa is explaining duties born of one’s nature within varṇāśrama, the Vedic social system. He is referring to prescribed religious duties, not any activity chosen on a whim.
Try this today
Choose one existing responsibility and carry it out carefully today instead of setting it aside for a passing impulse.
Ask yourself
Do I approach my responsibilities thoughtfully, or simply follow whatever impulse arises?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
From Canto 10, chapter 14 onward, the translation and purports were completed by Śrīla Prabhupāda's disciples after his departure, and published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.