Verse 4.13

चातुर्वर्ण्यं मया सृष्टं गुणकर्मविभागशः ।

तस्य कर्तारमपि मां विद्ध्यकर्तारमव्ययम् ॥

4.13

Transliteration

cāturvarṇyaṃ mayā sṛṣṭaṃ guṇakarmavibhāgaśaḥ |

tasya kartāramapi māṃ viddhyakartāramavyayam ||

By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · @indic-transliteration/sanscript 1.3.3

Translation

The fourfold caste has been created by Me according to the differentiation of Guna and Karma; though I am the author thereof know Me as non-doer and immutable.

From the owner's sheet · +1 more

Word by word

the fourfold order
by me
was created
by division of gunas and actions

of that
the maker
though
me
know
non-doer
imperishable

By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · claude-opus-5-5 · 2026-11-08

Explanation

Krishna speaks of cāturvarṇya, the fourfold social order of the time, and says he created it according to guṇa and karma, qualities and actions. This verse has been read in very different ways. Some take it as describing a social order fixed by birth; many others stress that it names temperament and work, not birth, as the basis. Krishna then adds that though he made it, he is akartṛ, a non-doer, untouched by what he brings about. This prepares the teaching that action need not bind its doer.