Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 18, Verse 44
कृषिगौरक्ष्यवाणिज्यं वैश्यकर्म स्वभावजम्।परिचर्यात्मकं कर्म शूद्रस्यापि स्वभावजम्।।
kṛṣi-gau-rakṣya-vāṇijyaṁ vaiśya-karma svabhāva-jam
paricaryātmakaṁ karma śūdrasyāpi svabhāva-jam
also searched as "krishi gaurakshya vanijyam vaishyakarma svabhavajam"
Translation
Agriculture, cattle-breeding, and trade are the duties of the Vaisya, born of their nature. And the duty of a Sudra is one of service, born of their nature.
Vāṇi's rendering
Farming, tending cattle, and trade are the merchant's natural work; work whose heart is service is the worker's.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| कृषिkṛṣi | farming, working the soil |
| गौरक्ष्यgau-rakṣya | the tending and protecting of cattle |
| वाणिज्यंvāṇijyaṁ | trade, buying and selling |
| वैश्य-कर्मvaiśya-karma | the work of the merchant |
| स्वभावजम्svabhāva-jam | born out of one's own nature |
| परिचर्या-आत्मकंparicaryā-ātmakaṁ | having service as its very heart (paricaryā + ātmakam joined by sandhi) |
| कर्मkarma | work, action |
| शूद्रस्यśūdrasya | of the one who serves, the worker |
| अपिapi | also, equally (śūdrasya + api joined by sandhi) |
| स्वभावजम्svabhāva-jam | born out of one's own nature |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 Verse 44 mean?
It names two more kinds of work. Farming, cattle, trade — the merchant's natural labour. And work whose whole substance is service — the worker's. Krishna attaches the same phrase to both, svabhāva-jam, born of nature. No task here is a demotion. Each is simply what a particular nature does when it acts honestly.
What does krishi gaurakshya vanijyam vaishyakarma svabhavajam teach?
That growing food, keeping animals, and exchanging goods are not lesser occupations waiting to be outgrown. They rise from svabhāva, one's own grain. Krishna gives them the same standing he gave courage and learning. The dignity is not in the category of work but in the honesty with which it is done.
Does this verse justify the caste system?
Krishna is describing temperaments and the work that flows from them, not birth-certificates or hereditary rank. The line he repeats is svabhāva-jam — born of nature, not born of family. What the verse insists on is that service-work carries no shame. Any reading that turns it into permanent hierarchy has reversed its plain sense.
Why is service listed last?
Because it is the one most easily despised, and Krishna wanted it standing in the same sentence as the rest, wearing the same words. Service is not the leftover after the noble roles are taken. Somebody feeds, carries, cleans, attends. The Gītā calls that natural work and moves on without apology.
Themes in this verse
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Commentary
Krishna names four kinds of work and ends with the one nobody wants. Service. Not the merchant's ledger, not the warrior's courage — plain attendance on another's need. And he calls it svabhāva-jam, born of nature, exactly as he called the rest. The word for born is the same word. The chapter has been building to a single claim: the work does not rank the worker. What ranks is whether the doing is yours. Arjuna wanted a nobler task than the one in front of him. You want that too. Look at what your hands actually do tomorrow — that is the field.