Devanagari
यद्वाचि तन्त्यां गुणकर्मदामभि:
सुदुस्तरैर्वत्स वयं सुयोजिता: ।
सर्वे वहामो बलिमीश्वराय
प्रोता नसीव द्विपदे चतुष्पद: ॥ १४ ॥
Verse text
yad-vāci tantyāṁ guṇa-karma-dāmabhiḥ
sudustarair vatsa vayaṁ suyojitāḥ
sarve vahāmo balim īśvarāya
protā nasīva dvi-pade catuṣ-padaḥ
Synonyms
yat
—
of whom
;
vāci
—
in the form of Vedic instruction
;
tantyām
—
to a long rope
;
guṇa
—
of quality
;
karma
—
and work
;
dāmabhiḥ
—
by the ropes
;
su
—
dustaraiḥ — very difficult to avoid
;
vatsa
—
my dear boy
;
vayam
—
we
;
su
—
yojitāḥ — are engaged
;
sarve
—
all
;
vahāmaḥ
—
carry out
;
balim
—
orders to please Him
;
īśvarāya
—
unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead
;
protāḥ
—
being bound
;
nasi
—
in the nose
;
iva
—
like
;
dvi
—
pade — to the two-legged (driver)
;
catuḥ
—
padaḥ — the four-legged (bulls) .
Translation
My dear boy, all of us are bound by the Vedic injunctions to the divisions of varṇāśrama according to our qualities and work. These divisions are difficult to avoid because they are scientifically arranged. We must therefore carry out our duties of varṇāśrama-dharma, like bulls obliged to move according to the direction of a driver pulling on ropes knotted to their noses.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O child! All of us must obey the orders of the Lord, by whose words we are bound tightly to actions and designations arising from the guṇa, just as oxen, bound by the nose, must carry burdens.
Just as the jīvas are dependent on the Lord for accepting bodies, they are dependent for doing activities. Dear child! We are all bound firmly to actions according to the guṇas and to designations such as brāhmaṇa by the rope of injunctions of the Lord. To that Lord we offer tribute. We perform actions as he orders. An example is given. We are like oxen, who, bound by their noses, in carrying loads given by humans and moving about without independence, receive punishment.
Purport
In this verse, the words
tantyāṁ guṇa-karma-dāmabhiḥ
are very important. We each get a body according to our association with the
guṇas,
the qualities or modes of material nature, and we act accordingly. As stated in
Bhagavad-gītā,
the four orders of the social system — namely
brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya
and
śūdra
— are arranged according to
guṇa
and
karma,
their qualities and work. There is some controversy about this, however, because some say that since one receives a body according to the
guṇa
and
karma
of his past life, it is one’s birth that determines his social status. Others say, however, that one’s birth according to the
guṇa
and
karma
of his past life is not the essential consideration, since one can change his
guṇa
and
karma
even in this life. Thus they say that the four divisions of the social order —
brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya
and
śūdra
— should be arranged according to the
guṇa
and
karma
of this life. This version is confirmed in
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
by Nārada Muni. While instructing Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira about the symptoms of
guṇa
and
karma,
Nārada Muni said that these symptoms must govern the division of society. In other words, if a person born in the family of a
brāhmaṇa
has the symptoms of a
śūdra,
he should be designated as a
śūdra.
Similarly, if a
śūdra
has brahminical qualities, he should be designated a
brāhmaṇa.
The
varṇāśrama
system is scientific. Therefore if we accept the divisions of
varṇa
and
āśrama
according to the Vedic instructions, our lives will be successful. Unless human society is thus divided and arranged, it cannot be perfect. As stated in the
Viṣṇu Purāṇa
(3.8.9):
varṇāśramācāravatā
puruṣeṇa paraḥ pumān
viṣṇur ārādhyate panthā
nānyat tat-toṣa-kāraṇam
“The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Viṣṇu, is worshiped by the proper execution of prescribed duties in the system of
varṇa
and
āśrama.
There is no other way to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One must be situated in the institution of the four
varṇas
and
āśramas.
” All of human society is meant to worship Lord Viṣṇu. At the present moment, however, human society does not know that this is the ultimate goal or perfection of life. Therefore instead of worshiping Lord Viṣṇu, people have been educated to worship matter. According to the direction of modern society, men think they can advance in civilization by manipulating matter to build skyscrapers, big roads, automobiles and so on. Such a civilization must certainly be called materialistic because its people do not know the goal of life. The goal of life is to reach Viṣṇu, but instead of reaching Viṣṇu, people are bewildered by the external manifestation of the material energy. Therefore progress in material advancement is blind, and the leaders of such material advancement are also blind. They are leading their followers in the wrong way.
It is best, therefore, to accept the injunctions of the
Vedas,
which are mentioned in this verse as
yad-vāci.
In accordance with those injunctions, everyone should find out whether he is a
brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya
or
śūdra
and should thus be educated accordingly. Then his life will be successful. Otherwise, all of human society will be confused. If human society is divided scientifically according to
varṇa
and
āśrama,
and if the Vedic directions are followed, one’s life, regardless of his position, will be successful. It is not that
brāhmaṇas
will be elevated to the transcendental platform but not the
śūdras.
If the Vedic injunctions are followed, all of them —
brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas
and
śūdras
— will be elevated to the transcendental platform, and their lives will be successful. The injunctions in the
Vedas
are explicit directions from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The example cited in this verse is that bulls tied by ropes in their nostrils move according to the direction of the driver. Similarly, if we move according to the instructions of the
Vedas,
the perfect paths for our lives will be set. Otherwise, if we do not move in that way but act according to our whimsical ideas, our lives will be spoiled by confusion and will end in despair. Actually, because people at the present moment are not following the instructions of the
Vedas,
they are all confused. We must therefore accept this instruction by Lord Brahmā to Priyavrata as the factual scientific direction leading to the success of life. This is also confirmed in
Bhagavad-gītā
(16.23)
:
yaḥ śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya
vartate kāma-kārataḥ
na sa siddhim avāpnoti
na sukhaṁ na parāṁ gatim
If we do not live according to the injunctions of the
śāstras,
the
Vedas,
we shall never achieve success in life, to say nothing of happiness or elevation to higher statuses of living.