26
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 5, Ch. 1]
TEXT 14
यद्वाचि तन्त्यां गुणकर्मदामभिः
सुदुस्तरैर्वत्स वयं सुयोजिताः ।
सर्वे वहामो बलिमीश्वराय
प्रोता नसीव द्विपदे चतुष्पदः ॥१४॥
yad-vāci tantyāṁ guṇa-karma-dāmabhiḥ
sudustarair vatsa vayaṁ suyojitāḥ
sarve vahāmo balim īśvarāya
protā nasīva dvi-pade catuṣ-padaḥ
yat —of whom;  vāci —in the form of Vedic instruction;  tantyām —to a long rope;  guṇa —of quality;  karma —and work;  dāmabhiḥ —by the ropes;  su-dustaraiḥ —very difficult to avoid;  vatsa —my dear boy;  vayam —we;  su-yojitāḥ —are engaged;  sarve —all;  vahāmaḥ —carry out;  balim —orders to please Him;  īśvarāya —unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead;  protāḥ —being bound;  nasi —in the nose;  iva —like;  dvi-pade —to the two-legged (driver);  catuḥ-padaḥ —the four-legged (bulls).
TRANSLATION
My dear boy, all of us are bound by the Vedic injunctions to the divisions of varṇāśrama according to our qualities and work. These divisions are difficult to avoid because they are scientifically arranged. We must therefore carry out our duties of varṇāśrama-dharma, like bulls obliged to move according to the direction of a driver pulling on ropes knotted to their noses.
PURPORT
In this verse, the words  tantyāṁ guṇa-karma-dāmabhiḥ  are very important. We each get a body according to our association with the  guṇas , the qualities or modes of material nature, and we act accordingly. As stated in  Bhagavad-gītā , the four orders of the social system—namely  brāhmaṇa ,  kṣatriya ,  vaiśya  and  śūdra —are arranged according to  guṇa  and  karma , their qualities and work. There is some controversy about