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life and support this by the perfect organiza on of society in the
th
7 Canto, chapter 11 of the Srimad Bhagavatam. Maharaja Yudhisthira
asks the great saint Narada Muni how a person can a ain the ul mate
goal of life – devo onal service to God. He also asks about the scien-
fic organiza on of society for training people in God-centered devo-
onal service.

Bhak vedanta Swami Prabhupada explains that service is the eternal
characteris c of a person.

Sanātana-dharma means devo onal service. The word sanātana refers
to that which is eternal, which does not change but con nues in all
circumstances. We have several mes explained what the eternal oc-
cupa onal duty of the living being is. Indeed, it has been explained by
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya — kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-
dāsa’: the real occupa onal duty of the living en ty is to serve the Su-
preme Personality of Godhead. Even if one prefers to deviate from this
principle he remains a servant because that is his eternal posi on; but
one serves māyā, the illusory, material energy. The Kṛṣṇa conscious-
ness movement, therefore, is an a empt to guide human society to
serving the Personality of Godhead instead of serving the material
world with no real profit. Our actual experience is that every man, ani-
mal, bird and beast — indeed, every living en ty — is engaged in ren-
dering service. Even though one’s body or one’s superficial religion
may change, every living en ty is always engaged in the service of
someone. Therefore, the mentality of service is called the eternal oc-
cupa onal duty. This eternal occupa onal duty can be organized
through the ins tu on of varṇāśrama, in which there are
four varṇas (brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya and śūdra) and
four āśramas (brahmacarya, gṛhastha, vānaprastha and sannyāsa).
Thus, Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja inquired from Nārada Muni about the
principles of sanātana-dharma for the benefit of human society. (SB
7.11.2)

Lord Krishna established the divisions of society at the beginning of
material crea on based on quality and work.

cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ / guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ
tasya kartāram api māṁ / viddhy akartāram avyayam

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