According to Osho, in the ancient, well‑channeled varna order, a Shudra-born with Brahmin qualities was a rare exception whose evident talent naturally crossed into Brahminhood—no rules, no obstruction. Today the canals are broken, yet the principle remains: live by your authentic guna and karma. If birth and qualities diverge, follow the qualities; forcing birth-duty breeds restlessness and suffering.
If you’re born in one caste but truly have another’s nature, trust your real qualities and do that work, or you’ll feel troubled inside.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Osho, the second part of the question is: moved by Krishna’s stream of life, into what dimensions of living might human civilization and culture enter? Please outline it briefly and clearly.
For this one would have to speak at great length. In fact, that is what we have been doing all these days. Two–three words can be said. Through Krishna’s understanding, human civilization will become effortless and natural; it will become moment-to-moment; it will be devoted to joy; it will no longer be sorrow-centered, time-centered, negation-centered, renunciation-centered. Life will be recognized, graciously, as a benediction. And there will be no division between life and God: life itself is God. That dignity will, little by little, grow. There is no God sitting somewhere opposed to life—life itself is God. There isn’t some creator sitting apart from creation; the very process of creation, the energy of creation—creativity itself—is the Divine. If you keep in mind all that I have been saying in the meantime, the last point I have just made will become clear. In these days I said many things to you;…
Osho, I am a Brahmin, and perhaps that very identity is becoming a barrier to surrender. I am not accustomed to bowing, and now even when I wish to, the old habit obstructs me. Please help.
So being a Brahmin is not something bad. It is good fortune—you were born in a house where there was talk of God; even if only in words, there was some hint of the divine, a far-off echo of God’s voice. There was the hum of the rishis, the Vedas and Upanishads. It has become very old, covered in dust, but behind it truth still lies. However deep the embers lie under ash, they are not extinguished. Even if only the ash is being worshiped, remove a little and you will find the coal aglow. Consider it a blessing. When I say consider it a blessing, do not misunderstand me. Do not think I imply that one born in a Shudra’s house is not blessed. I say to him as well: you too are blessed—blessed that you escaped the pundits’ nuisance, escaped the nets of doctrines and scriptures; you are…
Osho, if we have the talent to give birth to a scientist, then surely we also have the talent to give him a job.
India divided the whole society into four varnas, and it tried to ensure that when a Brahmin’s soul dies, it enters the Brahmin varna; when a Kshatriya’s soul dies, it enters the Kshatriya varna. Naturally, if varna is assured in a society, when a Kshatriya dies he is very likely to search in the neighborhood and enter a Kshatriya family. And if a person’s soul remains Kshatriya for five or ten births, the kind of Kshatriya that emerges cannot be produced by a day of military training. And if a soul is born for ten or twenty births in Brahmin families, the purest Brahminhood that arises cannot be created by setting up a gurukul and schooling someone. You will be surprised to know that while we think of educational methods within one lifetime, some people devised an educational arrangement across countless lifetimes. Hence it was a marvelous experiment. But it…
Verse (Sanskrit): ब्राह्मणक्षत्रियविशां शूद्राणां च परंतप। कर्माणि प्रविभक्तानि स्वभावप्रभवैर्गुणैः।। 41।। शमो दमस्तपः शौचं क्षान्तिरार्जवमेव च। ज्ञानं विज्ञानमास्तिक्यं ब्रह्मकर्म स्वभावजम्।। 42।। शौर्यं तेजो धृतिर्दाक्ष्यं युद्धे चाप्यपलायनम्। दानमीश्वरभावश्च क्षात्रं कर्म स्वभावजम्।। 43।। कृषिगौरक्ष्यवाणिज्यं वैश्यकर्म स्वभावजम्। परिचर्यात्मकं कर्म शूद्रस्यापि स्वभावजम्।। 44।। Transliteration: brāhmaṇakṣatriyaviśāṃ śūdrāṇāṃ ca paraṃtapa| karmāṇi pravibhaktāni svabhāvaprabhavairguṇaiḥ|| 41|| śamo damastapaḥ śaucaṃ kṣāntirārjavameva ca| jñānaṃ vijñānamāstikyaṃ brahmakarma svabhāvajam|| 42|| śauryaṃ tejo dhṛtirdākṣyaṃ yuddhe cāpyapalāyanam| dānamīśvarabhāvaśca kṣātraṃ karma svabhāvajam|| 43|| kṛṣigaurakṣyavāṇijyaṃ vaiśyakarma svabhāvajam| paricaryātmakaṃ karma śūdrasyāpi svabhāvajam|| 44|| Translation: Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras, O scorcher of foes,। Their works are apportioned by the qualities born of their own nature।। 41।। Tranquility, self-restraint, austerity, purity, patience, and straightness,। Knowledge, wisdom, and faith—these are the Brahmin’s works, born of nature।। 42।। Valor, radiance, fortitude, skill, and not fleeing in battle,। Generosity and lordliness—these are the Kshatriya’s works, born of nature।। 43।। Agriculture, cattle-tending, and trade are the Vaishya’s works, born of nature,। Service in…
A friend has asked: Osho, why should we think about death at all? We have life—let us live it. Be in what is present. Why allow the thought of death to come in between?
Just as there can be fear of sleep. Sleep is, in a way, a daily death. The day is life; the night is death. It is a piecemeal death. Every day we die a little, we sink within; in the morning we return fresh again. Then after seventy or eighty years the whole body gets tired—work, work, work—the body wears out. Then full death takes hold; the entire body changes. But we are very afraid of that. It is a deep sleep. Yet we are very afraid of it. Have you noticed that the body changes every morning too? It changes a little, which is why you don’t notice. It does not change completely; there is a partial transformation. When you go to sleep in the evening, your body is in one condition; when you wake in the morning, your body is in another. By morning the body has become…