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Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 3, Ch. 6]
viśo 'vartanta tasyorvor loka-vṛttikarīr vibhoḥ vaiśyas tad-udbhavo vārtām nṛṇām yaḥ samavartayat
viśaḥ —means of living by production and distribution;  avartanta —generated;  tasya —His (the gigantic form's);  ūrvoḥ —from the thighs;  loka-vṛttikarīḥ —means of livelihood;  vibhoḥ —of the Lord;  vaiśyaḥ —the mercantile community;  tat —their;  udbhavaḥ —orientation;  vārtām —means of living;  nṛṇām —of all men;  yaḥ —one who;  samavartayat —executed.
TRANSLATION
The means of livelihood of all persons, namely production of grains and their distribution to the prajās, was generated from the thighs of the Lord's gigantic form. The mercantile men who take charge of such execution are called vaiśyas.
PURPORT
Human society's means of living is clearly mentioned here as  viśa , or agriculture and the business of distributing agricultural products, which involves transport, banking, etc. Industry is an artificial means of livelihood, and large-scale industry especially is the source of all the problems of society. In  Bhagavad-gītā  also the duties of the  vaiśyas , who are engaged in  viśa , are stated as cow protection, agriculture and business. We have already discussed that the human being can safely depend on the cow and agricultural land for his livelihood.
The exchange of produce by banking and transportation is a branch of this type of living. The  vaiśyas  are divided into many subsections: some of them are called  khetry , or landowners, some are called  kṛṣana , or land tillers, some of them are called  tilvanika , or grain raisers, some are called  gandhavanika , or merchants in spices, and some are called  suvarṇavanika , or merchants in gold and banking. The  brāhmaṇas  are the teachers and spiritual masters, the  kṣatriyas  protect the citizens from the hands of thieves and miscreants, and the  vaiśyas  are in charge of production and distribution. The  śūdras , the unintelligent class of men who cannot act independently in any of the above mentioned activities, are meant for serving the three higher classes for their livelihood.
Formerly, the  brāhmaṇas  were given all the necessities of life by the  kṣatriyas  and  vaiśyas  because they had no time to spend making a living. The  kṣatriyas  would collect taxes from the  vaiśyas  and  śūdras , but the