The human avatars, in turn, follow the varna system: Parashurama is a Brahmana who behaves as a Kshatriya, Ram is a Kshatriya by birth and action, Krishna is a Kshatriya by birth but functions as a Vaishya (cowherd) and Shudra (charioteer). They also follow the ashrama-system: Parashurama is a Brahmachari, Ram and Krishna are Grihastis, Buddha becomes a Vanaprasthi and finally, Sanyasi.
