Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 18: Freedom through Renunciation

Bhagavad Gita 18.41

brāhmaṇakṣatriyaviśāṃ śūdrāṇāṃ ca paraṃtapa | karmāṇi pravibhaktāni svabhāvaprabhavairguṇaiḥ ||

The duties of brahmins, kshatriyas, vaishyas, and shudras, Arjuna, are distributed according to the qualities that arise from their own nature.

Modern context

The duties of the four social orders, Krishna says, are distributed according to the qualities born of each person's own nature. As in 4.13, the basis given is nature and quality. These verses have been read in very different ways over the centuries. Some have used them to defend a hereditary caste system. Many others, including modern reformers, have read them as saying that a person's work should follow their temperament and gifts, not their birth.