18.44
Chapter 18, Verse 44
कृषिगौरक्ष्यवाणिज्यं वैश्यकर्म स्वभावजम्। परिचर्यात्मकं कर्म शूद्रस्यापि स्वभावजम्৷৷
kṛṣigaurakṣyavāṇijyaṅ vaiśyakarma svabhāvajam. paricaryātmakaṅ karma śūdrasyāpi svabhāvajam৷৷
Translation
Agriculture, protection of the cow and trade are the duty of a trader, again in accordance with his nature. The duty of a servant is to serve, and that too agrees with his nature.
Translation — Purohit Swami
Commentary
कृषिगौरक्ष्यवाणिज्यम् agriculture, cattlerearing and trade, वैश्यकर्म the duties of Vaisya, स्वभावजम् born of nature, परिचर्यात्मकम् consisting of service, कर्म action, शूद्रस्य of the Sudra, अपि also, स्वभावजम् born of nature. Commentary: When a man performs his duties rightly according to his caste and order of life his heart is purified and he goes to heaven. Apastambha Dharma Sutra declares, Men of severla,castes and orders, each devoted to his respective duties, reap the fruits of their actions after death, and then by the residual Karma attain to births in superior Dharma, span of life, learning, conduct, wealth, happiness and intelligence (2,2,2,3). There is a vivid description in the Puranas also of the different results and worlds which men of the four castes and orders obtain by discharging their respective duties.
Commentary — Swami Sivananda
Sanskrit and transliteration of the Bhagavad Gita. Corpus compiled from the vedabase and the IIT Kanpur Gita Supersite.