SB 3.16.4 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

तद्व: प्रसादयाम्यद्य ब्रह्म दैवं परं हि मे । तद्धीत्यात्मकृतं मन्ये यत्स्वपुम्भिरसत्कृता: ॥ ४ ॥

Verse text

tad vaḥ prasādayāmy adya brahma daivaṁ paraṁ hi me tad dhīty ātma-kṛtaṁ manye yat sva-pumbhir asat-kṛtāḥ

Synonyms

tat — therefore ; vaḥ — you sages ; prasādayāmi — I am seeking your forgiveness ; adya — just now ; brahma — the brāhmaṇas ; daivam — most beloved personalities ; param — highest ; hi — because ; me — My ; tat — that offense ; hi — because ; iti — thus ; ātma — kṛtam — done by Me ; manye — I consider ; yat — which ; sva — pumbhiḥ — by My own attendants ; asat — kṛtāḥ — having been disrespected .

Translation

To Me, the brāhmaṇa is the highest and most beloved personality. The disrespect shown by My attendants has actually been displayed by Me because the doormen are My servitors. I take this to be an offense by Myself; therefore I seek your forgiveness for the incident that has arisen.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Today I must ask you for forgiveness. I worship the brāhmaṇas above all else by me. Since my servants disrespected you, I consider that I have committed the offense to you. “Moreover, I have made offense against you.” How is it your offense? “If Jaya and Vijaya were not my servants, and I had not been so affectionate to them, there would be no offense on my part.”

Purport

The Lord is always in favor of the brāhmaṇas and the cows, and therefore it is said, go-brāhmaṇa-hitāya ca. Lord Kṛṣṇa, or Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is also the worshipable Deity of the brāhmaṇas. In the Vedic literature, in the ṛg-mantra hymns of the Ṛg Veda, it is stated that those who are actually brāhmaṇas always look to the lotus feet of Viṣṇu: oṁ tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padaṁ sadā paśyanti sūrayaḥ. Those who are qualified brāhmaṇas worship only the Viṣṇu form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, which means Kṛṣṇa, Rāma and all Viṣṇu expansions. A so-called brāhmaṇa who is born in the family of brāhmaṇas but performs activities aimed against the Vaiṣṇavas cannot be accepted as a brāhmaṇa, because brāhmaṇa means Vaiṣṇava and Vaiṣṇava means brāhmaṇa. One who has become a devotee of the Lord is also a brāhmaṇa. The formula is brahma jānātīti brāhmaṇaḥ. A brāhmaṇa is one who has understood Brahman, and a Vaiṣṇava is one who has understood the Personality of Godhead. Brahman realization is the beginning of realization of the Personality of Godhead. One who understands the Personality of Godhead also knows the impersonal feature of the Supreme, which is Brahman. Therefore one who becomes a Vaiṣṇava is already a brāhmaṇa. It should be noted that the glories of the brāhmaṇa described in this chapter by the Lord Himself refer to His devotee- brāhmaṇa, or the Vaiṣṇava. It should never be misunderstood that the so-called brāhmaṇas who are born in brāhmaṇa families but have no brahminical qualifications are referred to in this connection.