Sanskrit
चातुर्वर्ण्यं मया सृष्टं गुणकर्मविभागशः । तस्य कर्तारमपि मां विद्ध्यकर्तारमव्ययम् ॥
cātur-varṇyaṃ mayā sṛṣṭaṃ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ tasya kartāram api māṃ viddhy akartāram avyayam
Translation
The four castes were emanated by Me, by the different distribution of qualities and actions; know Me to be the author of them, though the actionless and inexhaustible.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Krishna claims authorship of the four-fold caste system but explicitly grounds it in the distribution of guna and karma — qualities and actions — rather than birth, while also naming himself its actionless, imperishable author, echoing verse 6’s paradox of being both agent and unmoved. This verse has anchored centuries of dispute over whether the Gita endorses hereditary caste or a qualities-based division that later hardened into heredity; the Sanskrit alone doesn’t settle that argument, and it’s worth being direct that this verse’s real-world social consequences and interpretive fights go well beyond anything decided here. Worth reading alongside 1.41’s very different, and much harsher, treatment of caste from Arjuna’s own mouth.
Concepts