Lord Krishna

Lord Krishna

Divine Teacher

The Supreme Lord, the charioteer and divine guide of Arjuna. Krishna delivers the eternal wisdom of the Gita, revealing the nature of the soul, duty, and the path to liberation.

Speaking: Chapter 4, Verse 13

13

Verse 13

Hard Verse

The Yoga of Knowledge and Action

According to the three modes of material nature and the work associated with them, the four divisions of human society are created by Me. And although I am the creator of this system, you should know that I am yet the non-doer, being unchangeable.

Context & Meaning

The four-fold social order (varnas) was established by Krishna based on qualities (gunas) and work (karma), not birth. Yet Krishna remains the non-doer — the system operates through nature, not personal involvement.

Scholar Commentaries

1 commentary · Public domain

Bal Gangadhar Tilak

Gita Rahasya — B.G. Tilak

Tilak stressed that "guṇakarmavibhāgaśaḥ" — by the division of qualities and actions — is the operative principle of varna. It is a functional classification, not a hereditary one. A person is a Brahmin by virtue of knowledge and character, not by birth. This verse has been used by reformers to argue for a merit-based, not caste-by-birth, social order.