It is this divine varnasrama-dharma that Krsna recommends, not the caste system as it is understood today. This modern caste system is now condemned in India also, and it should be condemned, for the classification of different types of men according to birth is not the Vedic or the divine caste system.
There are many classes of men in society - some men are engineers, some are medical practitioners, some are chemists, tradesmen, businessmen, and so on. These varieties of classes are not to be determined by birth, however, but by quality. No such thing as the caste-by-birth system is sanctioned by the Vedic literature, nor do we accept it. We have nothing to do with the caste system, which is also at present being rejected by the public in India.
THE SCIENCE OF SELF REALIZATION pg. 118:
India's actual culture is described in the Bhagavad-gita, where it is stated that according to the different qualities or modes of nature there are different types of men, who are generally classified into four social orders and four spiritual orders. This system of social and spiritual division is known as varnasrama-dharma. The four varnas, or social orders, are brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, and sudra. The four asramas, or spiritual orders, are brahmacarya, grhastha, vanaprastha, and sannyasa. The varnasrama system is described in the Vedic scriptures known as the Puranas. The goal of this institution of Vedic culture is to educate every man for advancement in knowledge of Krsna, or God. That is the entire Vedic program.
BHAGAVAD-GITA [Ch. 18 TEXT 41-50]
TEXT 41
brahmana-ksatriya-visam sudranam ca parantapa karmani pravibhaktani svabhava-prabhavair gunaihWORD FOR WORD
brahmana -- of the brahmanas; ksatriya -- the ksatriyas; visam -- and the vaishyas; sudranam -- of the sudras; ca -- and; parantapa -- O subduer of the enemies; karmani -- the activities; pravibhaktani -- are divided; svabhava -- their own nature; prabhavaih -- born of; gunaih -- by the modes of material nature.
TRANSLATION
Brahmanas, ksatriyas, vaishyas and sudras are distinguished by the qualities born of their own natures in accordance with the material modes, O chastiser of the enemy.
TEXT 42
samo damas tapah saucam ksantir arjavam eva ca jnanam vijnanam astikyam brahma-karma svabhava-jamWORD FOR WORD
samah -- peacefulness; damah -- self-control; tapah -- austerity; saucam -- purity; ksantih -- tolerance; arjavam -- honesty; eva -- certainly; ca -- and; jnanam -- knowledge; vijnanam -- wisdom; astikyam -- religiousness; brahma -- of a brahmana; karma -- duty; svabhavajam -- born of his own nature.
TRANSLATION
Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, knowledge, wisdom and religiousness -- these are the natural qualities by which the brahmanas work.
TEXT 43
sauryam tejo dhrtir daksyam yuddhe capy apalayanam danam isvara-bhavas ca ksatram karma svabhava-jamWORD FOR WORD
sauryam -- heroism; tejah -- power; dhrtih -- determination; daksyam -- resourcefulness; yuddhe -- in battle; ca -- and; api -- also; apalayanam -- not fleeing; danam -- generosity; isvara -- of leadership; bhavah -- the nature; ca -- and; ksatram -- of a ksatriya; karma -- duty; svabhava-jam -- born of his own nature.
TRANSLATION
Heroism, power, determination, resourcefulness, courage in battle, generosity and leadership are the natural qualities of work for the ksatriyas.
TEXT 44
krsi-go-raksya-vanijyam vaishya-karma svabhava-jam paricaryatmakam karma sudrasyapi svabhava-jamWORD FOR WORD
krsi -- plowing; go -- of cows; raksya -- protection; vanijyam -- trade; vaishya -- of a vaishya; karma -- duty; svabhava jam -- born of his own nature; paricarya -- service; atmakam -- consisting of; karma -- duty; sudrasya -- of the sudra; api -- also; svabhava-jam -- born of his own nature.
TRANSLATION
Farming, cow protection and business are the natural work for the vaishyas, and for the sudras there is labor and service to others.
TEXT 45
sve sve karmany abhiratah samsiddhim labhate narah sva-karma-niratah siddhim yatha vindati tac chrnuWORD FOR WORD
sve sve -- each his own; karmani -- work; abhiratah -- following; samsiddhim -- perfection; labhate -- achieves; narah -- a man; sva-karma -- in his own duty; niratah -- engaged; siddhim -- perfection; yatha -- as; vindati -- attains; tat -- that; srnu -- listen.
TRANSLATION
By following his qualities of work, every man can become perfect. Now please hear from Me how this can be done.
TEXT 46
yatah pravrttir bhutanam yena sarvam idam tatam sva-karmana tam abhyarcya siddhim vindati manavahWORD FOR WORD
yatah -- from whom; pravrttih -- the emanation; bhutanam -- of all living entities; yena -- by whom; sarvam -- all; idam -- this; tatam -- is pervaded; sva-karmana -- by his own duties; tam -- Him; abhyarcya -- by worshiping; siddhim -- perfection; vindati -- achieves; manavah -- a man.
TRANSLATION
By worship of the Lord, who is the source of all beings and who is all-pervading, a man can attain perfection through performing his own work.
PURPORT
As stated in the Fifteenth Chapter, all living beings are fragmental parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord. Thus the Supreme Lord is the beginning of all living entities. This is confirmed in the Vedanta-sutra -- janmady asya yatah. The Supreme Lord is therefore the beginning of life of every living entity. And as stated in the Seventh Chapter of Bhagavad-gita, the Supreme Lord, by His two energies, His external energy and internal energy, is all-pervading. Therefore one should worship the Supreme Lord with His energies. Generally the Vaisnava devotees worship the Supreme Lord with His internal energy. His external energy is a perverted reflection of the internal energy. The external energy is a background, but the Supreme Lord by the expansion of His plenary portion as Paramatma is situated everywhere. He is the Supersoul of all demigods, all human beings, all animals, everywhere. One should therefore know that as part and parcel of the Supreme Lord one has his duty to render service unto the Supreme. Everyone should be engaged in devotional service to the Lord in full Krishna consciousness. That is recommended in this verse.
Everyone should think that he is engaged in a particular type of occupation by Hrsikesa, the master of the senses. And by the result of the work in which one is engaged, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna, should be worshiped. If one thinks always in this way, in full Krishna consciousness, then, by the grace of the Lord, he becomes fully aware of everything. That is the perfection of life. The Lord says in Bhagavad-gita (12.7), tesam aham samuddharta. The Supreme Lord Himself takes charge of delivering such a devotee. That is the highest perfection of life. In whatever occupation one may be engaged, if he serves the Supreme Lord he will achieve the highest perfection.
TEXT 47
sreyan sva-dharmo vigunah para-dharmat sv-anusthitat svabhava-niyatam karma kurvan napnoti kilbisamWORD FOR WORD
sreyan -- better; sva-dharmah -- one's own occupation; vigunah -- imperfectly performed; para-dharmat -- than another's occupation; su-anusthitat -- perfectly done; svabhava-niyatam -- prescribed according to one's nature; karma -- work; kurvan -- performing; na -- never; apnoti -- achieves; kilbisam -- sinful reactions.
TRANSLATION
It is better to engage in one's own occupation, even though one may perform it imperfectly, than to accept another's occupation and perform it perfectly. Duties prescribed according to one's nature are never affected by sinful reactions.
PURPORT
One's occupational duty is prescribed in Bhagavad-gita. As already discussed in previous verses, the duties of a brahmana, ksatriya, vaishya and sudra are prescribed according to their particular modes of nature. One should not imitate another's duty. A man who is by nature attracted to the kind of work done by sudras should not artificially claim to be a brahmana, although he may have been born into a brahmana family. . . . .
TEXT 49
asakta-buddhih sarvatra
jitatma vigata-sprhah
naiskarmya-siddhim paramam
sannyasenadhigacchati
WORD FOR WORDasakta-buddhih -- having unattached intelligence; sarvatra -- everywhere; jita-atma -- having control of the mind; vigata-sprhah -- without material desires; naiskarmya-siddhim -- the perfection of nonreaction; paramam -- supreme; sannyasena -- by the renounced order of life; adhigacchati -- one attains.
TRANSLATION
One who is self-controlled and unattached and who disregards all material enjoyments can obtain, by practice of renunciation, the highest perfect stage of freedom from reaction.
PURPORT
Real renunciation means that one should always think himself part and parcel of the Supreme Lord and therefore think that he has no right to enjoy the results of his work. Since he is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, the results of his work must be enjoyed by the Supreme Lord. This is actually Krishna consciousness. The person acting in Krishna consciousness is really a sannyasi, one in the renounced order of life. By such a mentality, one is satisfied because he is actually acting for the Supreme. Thus he is not attached to anything material; he becomes accustomed to not taking pleasure in anything beyond the transcendental happiness derived from the service of the Lord. A sannyasi is supposed to be free from the reactions of his past activities, but a person who is in Krishna consciousness automatically attains this perfection without even accepting the so-called order of renunciation. This state of mind is called yogarudha, or the perfectional stage of yoga. As confirmed in the Third Chapter, yas tv atma-ratir eva syat: one who is satisfied in himself has no fear of any kind of reaction from his activity.
TEXT 50
siddhim prapto yatha brahma tathapnoti nibodha me samasenaiva kaunteya nistha jnanasya ya paraWORD FOR WORD
siddhim -- perfection; praptah -- achieving; yatha -- as; brahma -- the Supreme; tatha -- so; apnoti -- one achieves; nibodha -- try to understand; me -- from Me; samasena -- summarily; eva -- certainly; kaunteya -- O son of Kunti; nistha -- the stage; jnanasya -- of knowledge; ya -- which; para -- transcendental.
TRANSLATION
O son of Kunti, learn from Me how one who has achieved this perfection can attain to the supreme perfectional stage, Brahman, the stage of highest knowledge, by acting in the way I shall now summarize.
PURPORT
The Lord describes for Arjuna how one can achieve the highest perfectional stage simply by being engaged in his occupational duty, performing that duty for the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 1, Ch. 2 TEXT 13]
PURPORT
Human society all over the world is divided into four castes and four orders of life. The four castes are the intelligent caste, the martial caste, the productive caste, and the laborer caste. These castes are classified in terms of one's work and qualification and not by birth. Then again there are four orders of life, namely, the student life, the householders life, the retired and the devotional life. In the best interest of human society there must be such divisions of life, otherwise no social institution can grow in a healthy state. And in each and every one of the above-mentioned divisions of life, the aim must be to please the supreme authority of the Personality of Godhead. This institutional function of human society is known as the system of varnasrama-dharma, which is quite natural for the civilized life. The varnasrama institution is constructed to enable one to realize the Absolute Truth. It is not for artificial domination of one division over another. . . . . The divisions of castes and orders of life are meant for smooth social intercourse and high thinking self realization and not for any other purpose. . . . . The highest aim of the institution of varnasrama-dharma is to cooperate jointly for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord.