Study a Verse

• The word sārva-varṇika indicates that the above-mentioned principles constitute general piety, which should be observed by all members of society, even those outside the varṇāśrama system.
• We practically find that even in societies that have fallen away from the varṇāśrama system, the above-mentioned principles are honored and encouraged.
• Such principles do not constitute a specific path of liberation but are perennial virtues in human society.

The purport's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.

Uncertainty → Clarity. The coming separation makes the instruction personally urgent.

Chapters 10–20 of Canto 11: Kṛṣṇa's teachings on self, yoga and wisdom. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 17: Lord Kṛṣṇa’s Description of the Varṇāśrama System

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

At that time the system of four varṇas and four āśramas, which prescribes material and spiritual duties for the different members of society, appeared from the bodily limbs of the Lord. According to how the social divisions took birth from higher and lower features of the Lord’s body, they became endowed with higher and lower qualities.