Varna means

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"Varna means"

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Varṇa means "division of society". Just like varṇa means color.

Lecture on BG 4.13 -- New York, April 8, 1973:

So Kṛṣṇa says four classes of men, catur varṇyam... Catur means "four", and varṇa means "division of society". Just like varṇa means color. As there are division of color, red, blue and yellow, similarly human being, human society should be divided according to the quality. The quality's also called color. Catur varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ (BG 4.13). So there are three qualities in this material world. Three qualities. Or three colors. Red, blue and yellow. You mix it. Then you become eighty-one colors. Three colors, three upon three, multiplied, it becomes nine. Nine upon nine, multiplied, it becomes eighty-one. So there are eight million four hundred thousands different forms of living entities. Due to this mixture of different qualities. Nature is manufacturing different types of body according to the association of the living entity to the particular type of quality.