250 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 5, Ch. 19

mode of goodness; lohita—of the mode of passion; krsna—of the mode
of ignorance; varmena—according to the division; sva—by himself;
arabdhena—begun; karmand—by activities; divya—divine; manusa—
human; ndraka—hellish; gatayah—goals; bahvyah—many; 4t-
manah—of his own; Gnupirvyena—according to acts performed pre-
viously; sarvah—all; hi—certainly; eva—indeed; sarvesim—of all of
them; vidhiyante—are allotted; yathd-varna-vidhanam—in terms of
different castes; apavargah—the path of liberation; ca—and; api—also;
bhavati—is possible.

TRANSLATION

The people who take birth in this tract of land are divided ac-
cording to the qualities of material nature— the modes of goodness
[sattva-guna], passion [rajo-guna], and ignorance [tamo-guna].
Some of them are born as exalted personalities, some are ordinary
human beings, and some are extremely abominable, for in
Bharata-varsa one takes birth exactly according to one’s past
karma. If one’s position is ascertained by a bona fide spiritual
master and one is properly trained to engage in the service of Lord
Visnu according to the four social divisions [brahmana, ksatriya,
vaisya and Sidra] and the four spiritual divisions [brahmacari,
grhastha, vanaprastha and sannyasaj, one’s life becomes perfect.

PURPORT

For further information, one should refer to Bhagavad-gita (14.18
and 18.42-45), Srila Ramanujacarya writes in his book Veddnta-
sangraha:

evam-vidha-parabhakti-svariipa-jnana-visesasyotpadakah _ pitirvok-
taharahar Tent aatees eaten karmanugrhita-bhakti-yoga
eva; yathoktamm bhagavata pardsarena —varndasrameti. nikhila-jagad-
uddharandyavanitale ’vatirnam para-brahma-bhitah purusottamah
svayam etad uktavan — “‘svakarma-niratah siddhim yatha vindati tac

chrnu” “yatah pravrttir bhiitandm yena sarvam idam tatam/ svakar-
mand tam abhyarcya siddhim vindati manavah”

Quoting from the Visnu Purana (389), the great sage Parasara Muni has
recommended:
