Upanishads · Kṛṣṇa 2.8
॥
Devanāgarī
स एव सौमित्रिरैक्ष्वाकः सर्वाणि धानुषशस्त्राणि सर्वाण्यस्त्रशस्त्राणि बहुधा विप्रीयमानो रक्षांसि सर्वाणि विनिघ्नंश्चातुर्वर्ण्यधर्मान् प्रवर्तयामास
Transliteration (IAST)
sa eva saumitriraikṣvākaḥ sarvāṇi dhānuṣaśastrāṇi sarvāṇyastraśastrāṇi bahudhā viprīyamāno rakṣāṃsi sarvāṇi vinighnaṃścāturvarṇyadharmān pravartayāmāsa
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सः एव सौमित्रिः ऐक्ष्वाकःsaḥ eva saumitriḥ aikṣvākaḥhe himself, Saumitri, descendant of Ikṣvāku
सर्वाणि धानुष-शस्त्राणिsarvāṇi dhānuṣa-śastrāṇiall bow-weapons
बहुधा विप्रीयमाणःbahudhā viprīyamāṇaḥdelighting in many forms
रक्षांसि सर्वाणि विनिघ्नन्rakṣāṃsi sarvāṇi vinighnandestroying all the rākṣasas
चातुर्वर्ण्य-धर्मान् प्रवर्तयामासcāturvarṇya-dharmān pravartayāmāsaestablished the codes of the four castes
Translation
"He himself is Saumitri, descendant of Ikṣvāku, delighting in many forms with all bow-and-missile weapons, destroying all the rākṣasas, established the codes of the four castes."
Version
3f7e1126de36 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Saumitri, "son of Sumitrā," is Lakṣmaṇa; and of him as a manifestation of Śeṣa it was said when reading the Tārasāra (2.9). It is worth noting that here too viprīyamāṇaḥ, "delighting," is repeated: Lakṣmaṇa serves in exile and thereby delights. This position is exemplary in Vaiṣṇava tradition: Lakṣmaṇa accomplishes nothing for himself and has no story of his own; everything told of him is a tale of his service.
Let us add what is worth saying about the last words of the line: cāturvarṇya-dharmān pravartayāmāsa, "established the codes of the four castes." Let us say plainly that here we part ways, and part ways over the very thing we have parted ways over before. A caste code, taken as an arrangement of duties, is an ordinary worldly matter and, in its time, reasonable. Taken as a distribution of access to the highest, it is unacceptable; and this was discussed when reading the Rudrākṣa-jābāla (1.10) and the Bhasma-jābāla (1.18).
Let us add, however, what is worth saying in favor of the present passage. It says dharmān pravartayāmāsa, "established the codes," that is, the order of duties; nothing is said here of access to liberation. And the Gītā, which calls the four castes its own creation, immediately qualifies the basis: guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ, "by the division of qualities and deeds" (4.13); and that the emphasis there is on qualities, not on origin, was discussed when reading the Jābāla-darśana (1.8).