How can we determine our varna?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So, the question is how can we know our varna? First and foremost, we look at what scripture says guna karma vibhagashah according to qualities and activities.
Now, actually the word qualities and activities is a concise translation of the word guna and karma. More precisely, if you want to elaborate this translation when we have certain gunas that means we are we are internally comfortable doing something and when we have a particular karma that means we are externally competent in doing that thing. So, somebody who is an intellectual feels internally comfortable yes, this is what I would like to do and secondly, externally also the person is competent yes, I can do this very well.
So, in general if we observe ourselves it may take sometimes months or years sometimes even decades to determine what it is that we are externally competent and internally comfortable in doing and over a period of time we will see ourselves gravitating towards that kind of that kind of vocation. Now, because there has been so much say inter-caste marriages and mixing of the Varanas so it may well be that one person may not just have just one Varana’s influence alone. In the Mahabharata we see that Yudhishthira Maharaj is born as a Kshatriya but at the same time he has more a disposition of a Brahmana he is when he is exiled in the forest Bhima is most of the time fuming at the injustice of it all and is longing for the war to happen so that they can get back the kingdom but Yudhishthira Maharaj relatively he is satisfied to be with the sages and he is discussing spiritual subjects with them and enriching himself in spiritual knowledge Bhima also hears it but he is not having got that much taste in it because so that means we shouldn’t think that it is like a watertight division this person is a Brahmana and this person is a Kshatriya there may be some interlapping also that’s why in our practical situation rather than trying to find out precisely what is our Varana because in today’s society there are so many professions so rather than focusing on trying to determine what is our profession and how that correlates with our or what our Varana is we should focus on okay what is it that I can do reasonably well that I am internally comfortable doing and I am externally competent in doing that and then we do that so our focus can be in trying to do that kind of occupation which we are compatible and more importantly if somebody has already taken up a career in a particular field and although one may not be very comfortable in that field but if one has achieved a reasonable level of success and just because it is not one’s compatible nature one doesn’t have to necessarily give it up to follow Bhagavad Gita because the ultimate principle of the Bhagavad Gita is not Varanashram it is sarva-dharman parityajyamā me kamśaranam vraja that ultimately we have to practice devotional service to Krishna so then devotees can try to see how in their professional situation they can how we can in us make it favorable to devotional service and take shelter of Krishna so whatever job enables us to have a reasonable material situation and also reasonable security, respectability and also along with that it gives us time for practicing spiritual life that whatever is anukul to our bhakti we can choose so we don’t have to get too obsessed about discovering our varna but we should focus on choosing that profession which enables us to also pursue the ultimate purpose of Varanashram that is devotional service