Devanagari
यावद्बलिं तेऽज हराम काले
यथा वयं चान्नमदाम यत्र ।
यथोभयेषां त इमे हि लोका
बलिं हरन्तोऽन्नमदन्त्यनूहा: ॥ ४९ ॥
Verse text
yāvad baliṁ te ’ja harāma kāle
yathā vayaṁ cānnam adāma yatra
yathobhayeṣāṁ ta ime hi lokā
baliṁ haranto ’nnam adanty anūhāḥ
Synonyms
yāvat
—
as it may be
;
balim
—
offerings
;
te
—
Your
;
aja
—
O unborn one
;
harāma
—
shall offer
;
kāle
—
at the right time
;
yathā
—
as much as
;
vayam
—
we
;
ca
—
also
;
annam
—
food grains
;
adāma
—
shall partake
;
yatra
—
whereupon
;
yathā
—
as much as
;
ubhayeṣām
—
both for You and for us
;
te
—
all
;
ime
—
these
;
hi
—
certainly
;
lokāḥ
—
living entities
;
balim
—
offerings
;
harantaḥ
—
while offering
;
annam
—
grains
;
adanti
—
eat
;
anūhāḥ
—
without disturbance .
Translation
O unborn one, please enlighten us regarding the ways and means by which we can offer You all enjoyable grains and commodities so that both we and all other living entities in this world can maintain ourselves without disturbance and can easily accumulate the necessities of life both for You and for ourselves.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O birthless Lord! We should profusely offer you objects at the appropriate time. We should eat food. All the living beings should offer to you and us worthy objects and should eat food without conjecture.
“Please tell me how I can fulfill your desires.” O birthless Lord! At the appropriate time we should offer you complete (yāvat) articles of worship. Constructing a host of playthings in the form of the material world composed of men, devatās and various houses, we should offer it to you. Being functions of your māyā-śakti, we should eat food. This means that, ordered by the king, the householders, mothers and elders eat food to full satisfaction for subsistence. All these beings (ime lokā) such as devatās and animals, functions of your jīva-śakti, should offer objects to you and us (ubhayeṣām) since they are dependent on us and on your māyā-śakti. They should perform worship in the form of various sacrifices, yoga and jṣāna, and eat food. They should enjoy the results of their respective karmas. Without conjecture such as “Will the Lord give results of karma or not?” they should receive their results. Give this to us. This is what we desire. The śruti says tā enam abruvan āyatanaṁ naḥ prajṣānīhi yasmin pratiṣṭhitā annam adāma: they said to the Lord, “provide us an abode where we can eat food.” (Aitareya Upaniṣad 2.1)
Purport
Developed consciousness begins from the human form of life and further increases in the forms of the demigods living in higher planets. The earth is situated almost in the middle of the universe, and the human form of life is the intermediate stage between the life of the demigods and that of the demons. The planetary systems above the earth are especially meant for the higher intellectuals, called demigods. They are called demigods because although their standard of life is far more advanced in culture, enjoyment, luxury, beauty, education and duration of life, they are always fully God conscious. Such demigods are always ready to render service to the Supreme Lord because they are perfectly aware of the fact that every living entity is constitutionally an eternal subordinate servitor of the Lord. They also know that it is the Lord only who can maintain all living entities with all the necessities of life. The Vedic hymns,
eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti kāmān, tā enam abruvann āyatanaṁ naḥ prajānīhi yasmin pratiṣṭhitā annam adāme,
etc., confirm this truth. In
Bhagavad-gītā
also, the Lord is mentioned as
bhūta-bhṛt,
or the maintainer of all living creatures.
The modern theory that starvation is due to an increase in population is not accepted by the demigods or the devotees of the Lord. The devotees or demigods are fully aware that the Lord can maintain any number of living entities, provided they are conscious of how to eat. If they want to eat like ordinary animals, who have no God consciousness, then they must live in starvation, poverty and want, like the jungle animals in the forest. The jungle animals are also maintained by the Lord with their respective foodstuffs, but they are not advanced in God consciousness. Similarly, human beings are provided with food grains, vegetables, fruits and milk by the grace of the Lord, but it is the duty of human beings to acknowledge the mercy of the Lord. As a matter of gratitude, they should feel obliged to the Lord for their supply of foodstuff, and they must first offer Him food in sacrifice and then partake of the remnants.
In
Bhagavad-gītā
(3.13)
it is confirmed that one who takes foodstuff after a performance of sacrifice eats real food for proper maintenance of the body and soul, but one who cooks for himself and does not perform any sacrifice eats only lumps of sin in the shape of foodstuffs. Such sinful eating can never make one happy or free from scarcity. Famine is not due to an increase in population, as less intelligent economists think. When human society is grateful to the Lord for all His gifts for the maintenance of the living entities, then there is certainly no scarcity or want in society. But when men are unaware of the intrinsic value of such gifts from the Lord, surely they are in want. A person who has no God consciousness may live in opulence for the time being due to his past virtuous acts, but if one forgets his relationship with the Lord, certainly he must await the stage of starvation by the law of the powerful material nature. One cannot escape the vigilance of the powerful material nature unless he leads a God conscious or devotional life.