Duty of the legs

Expressions researched:
"duty of the legs"

SB Canto 4

Thus the brahminical or intelligent men have to execute the duty of the head, the kṣatriyas must fulfill the duty of the arms, the vaiśya class must fulfill the duty of the belly, and the śūdras must fulfill the duty of the legs

SB 4.21.33, Purport: As stated in the Eighteenth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita, sva-karmana tam abhyarcya: one has to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead by one's occupational duties. This necessitates accepting the principle of four varnas and four asramas. Prthu Maharaja therefore says, gunaih sva-karmabhih. This phrase is explained in Bhagavad-gita. Catur-varnyam maya srstam guna-karma-vibhagasah: "The four castes (the brahmanas, ksatriyas, vaisyas and sudras) are created by the Supreme Personality of Godhead according to the material modes of nature and the particular duties discharged in those modes." A person who is situated in the mode of goodness is certainly more intelligent than others. Therefore he can practice the brahminical activities -- namely speaking the truth, controlling the senses, controlling the mind, remaining always clean, practicing tolerance, having full knowledge about one's self-identity, and understanding devotional service. In this way, if he engages himself in the loving service of the Lord as an actual brahmana, his aim to achieve the final interest of life is attained. Similarly, the ksatriya's duties are to give protection to the citizens, to give all his possessions in charity, to be strictly Vedic in the management of state affairs and to be unafraid to fight whenever there is an attack by enemies. In this way, a ksatriya can satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead by his occupational duties. Similarly, a vaisya can satisfy the Supreme Godhead by properly executing his occupational duties -- engaging himself in producing foodstuffs, giving protection to cows, and trading if necessary when there is an excess of agricultural production. Similarly, because sudras do not have ample intelligence, they should simply engage as workers to serve the higher statuses of social life. Everyone's aim should be to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead by engaging his mind in thinking always of Krsna, his words in always offering prayers to the Lord or preaching about the glories of the Lord, and his body in executing the service required to satisfy the Lord. As there are four divisions within our body -- the head, the arms, the belly and the legs -- similarly, human society, taken as a whole, is divided into four classes of men according to their material qualities and occupational duties. Thus the brahminical or intelligent men have to execute the duty of the head, the ksatriyas must fulfill the duty of the arms, the vaisya class must fulfill the duty of the belly, and the sudras must fulfill the duty of the legs. In executing the prescribed duties of life, no one is higher or lower; there are such divisions as "higher" and "lower," but since there is actually a common interest -- to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead -- there are no distinctions between them.

Philosophy Discussions

The service is the main point. The same example of our body, that the duty of eyes, seeing, it is different from the duty of the legs, walking. But walking and seeing, both of them are being utilized for the whole body; therefore all of them are useful

Philosophy Discussion on Immanuel Kant:: Therefore, as soon as you say duty, duty should be prescribed by some higher authority. In that sense, this system is very scientific: brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra. It is very scientific. For brahmana, these are the duties; a ksatriya, these are the duties. Every duty may appear different, but because it is a command of the Supreme, by discharging these duties on different platform, he is serving the Supreme. If Krsna says, "All right, I see you are a brahmana. Your duties are like this," "I see you are a ksatriya. Your duties are like this," "I see you are a vaisya. Your duties are like this..." But Krsna says catur-varnyam maya srstam [Bg. 4.13]. I have divided, so Krsna gives duty, that "Your duty is this, your duty is this, and your duty is this." And if he faithfully serves the duty, that means he is serving Krsna. The duties may appear different, but because he is serving Krsna, he is going to perfection. Just like in our institution, I am the head man, so I may say, "You paint. You preach. You type. You do this." So the duties may be different, but by discharging duty, you are serving me; therefore you are perfect. Similarly, duties are given by the Supreme. Because I see that you are a sudra, you cannot discharge the duties of a brahmana. That is not possible. So you do your duty like this. So superficially it may seem that a sudra's duty is inferior to the brahmana's duty, but if the sudra is performing his duty in accordance to the order of the Supreme, then he is also serving. The service is the main point. The same example of our body, that the duty of eyes, seeing, it is different from the duty of the legs, walking. But walking and seeing, both of them are being utilized for the whole body; therefore all of them are useful. So there cannot be any fixed-up duty, neither is everyone able to follow the same principles. Therefore this varnasrama-dharma is very scientific. That is to be understood.