Devanagari
ते तु ब्राह्मणदेवस्य वात्सल्यं वीक्ष्य संस्तुतम् ।
प्रीता: क्लिन्नधियस्तस्मै प्रत्यर्प्येदं बभाषिरे ॥ ५ ॥
Verse text
te tu brāhmaṇa-devasya
vātsalyaṁ vīkṣya saṁstutam
prītāḥ klinna-dhiyas tasmai
pratyarpyedaṁ babhāṣire
Synonyms
te
—
the hotā, brahmā and other priests
;
tu
—
but
;
brāhmaṇa
—
devasya — of Lord Rāmacandra, who loved the brāhmaṇas so much
;
vātsalyam
—
the paternal affection
;
vīkṣya
—
after seeing
;
saṁstutam
—
worshiped with prayers
;
prītāḥ
—
being very pleased
;
klinna
—
dhiyaḥ — with melted hearts
;
tasmai
—
unto Him (Lord Rāmacandra)
;
pratyarpya
—
returning
;
idam
—
this (all the land given to them)
;
babhāṣire
—
spoke .
Translation
All the brāhmaṇas who were engaged in the various activities of the sacrifice were very pleased with Lord Rāmacandra, who was greatly affectionate and favorable to the brāhmaṇas. Thus with melted hearts they returned all the property received from Him and spoke as follows.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
All the brāhmaṇas were very pleased with Rāmacandra, who was greatly affectionate to the brāhmaṇas and worthy of praise. Thus, with melted hearts they returned all the property received from him and spoke as follows.
Purport
In the previous chapter it was said that the
prajās,
the citizens, strictly followed the system of
varṇāśrama-dharma.
The
brāhmaṇas
acted exactly like
brāhmaṇas,
the
kṣatriyas
exactly like
kṣatriyas,
and so on. Therefore, when Lord Rāmacandra gave everything in charity to the
brāhmaṇas,
the
brāhmaṇas,
being qualified, wisely considered that
brāhmaṇas
are not meant to possess property to make a profit from it. The qualifications of a
brāhmaṇa
are given in
Bhagavad-gītā
(18.42)
:
śamo damas tapaḥ śaucaṁ
kṣāntir ārjavam eva ca
jṣānaṁ vijṣānam āstikyaṁ
brahma-karma svabhāvajam
“Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge, and religiousness — these are the qualities by which the
brāhmaṇas
work.” The brahminical character offers no scope for possessing land and ruling citizens; these are the duties of a
kṣatriya.
Therefore, although the
brāhmaṇas
did not refuse Lord Rāmacandra’s gift, after accepting it they returned it to the King. The
brāhmaṇas
were so pleased with Lord Rāmacandra’s affection toward them that their hearts melted. They saw that Lord Rāmacandra, aside from being the Supreme Personality of Godhead, was fully qualified as a
kṣatriya
and was exemplary in character. One of the qualifications of a
kṣatriya
is to be charitable. A
kṣatriya,
or ruler, levies taxes upon the citizens not for his personal sense gratification but to give charity in suitable cases.
Dānam īśvara-bhāvaḥ
. On one hand,
kṣatriyas
have the propensity to rule, but on the other they are very liberal with charity. When Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira gave charity, he engaged Karṇa to take charge of distributing it. Karṇa was very famous as Dātā Karṇa. The word
dātā
refers to one who gives charity very liberally. The kings always kept a large quantity of food grains in stock, and whenever there was any scarcity of grains, they would distribute grains in charity. A
kṣatriya’s
duty is to give charity, and a
brāhmaṇa’s
duty is to accept charity, but not more than needed to maintain body and soul together. Therefore, when the
brāhmaṇas
were given so much land by Lord Rāmacandra, they returned it to Him and were not greedy.