Devanagari
वर्तेत ब्रह्मणा विप्रो राजन्यो रक्षया भुव:
वैश्यस्तु वार्तया जीवेच्छूद्रस्तु द्विजसेवया ॥ २० ॥
Verse text
varteta brahmaṇā vipro
rājanyo rakṣayā bhuvaḥ
vaiśyas tu vārtayā jīvec
chūdras tu dvija-sevayā
Synonyms
varteta
—
lives
;
brahmaṇā
—
by the Vedas
;
vipraḥ
—
the brāhmaṇa
;
rājanyaḥ
—
the member of the ruling class
;
rakṣayā
—
by protection
;
bhuvaḥ
—
of the earth
;
vaiśyaḥ
—
the vaiśya
;
tu
—
on the other hand
;
vārtayā
—
by trade
;
jīvet
—
lives
;
śūdraḥ
—
the śūdra
;
tu
—
and
;
dvija
—
sevayā — by serving the twice-born brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas and vaiśyas. .
Translation
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.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
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.
KB 10.24.20
“The proper prescribed duty of the brāhmaṇas is the study of the Vedas; the proper duty of the royal order, the kṣatriyas, is engagement in protecting the citizens; the proper duty of the vaiśya community is agriculture, trade and protection of the cows; and the proper duty of the śūdras is service to the higher classes, namely the brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas and vaiśyas.
Purport
After glorifying
karma,
or work, Lord Kṛṣṇa now explains what He means by prescribed duties born of one’s nature. He was not referring to any whimsical activity, but rather to the religious duties prescribed in the
varṇāśrama,
or Vedic social system.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
"The means by which we maintain our lives is our devata." To give examples he speaks of others. "For the brahmanas the vedic scriptures are the devata. For the ksatriya the earth is the deavata. For the vaisya agriculture, trade, and other occupations are the devatas. For the sudras the higher castes are the devatas."
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
In two verses Kṛṣṇa first speaks of their own occupation of herding cows in order to make them worship the means of their livelihood.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
In verse 10 Nanda said “By accepting the remnants of sacrifices performed to Indra, people sustain their lives.” That is now rejected. In two verses Kṛṣṇa first speaks of their own occupation of herding cows, which is easy to perform. The śudras should serve the other three varṇas or the brāhmaṇas who are the most prominent of the three.