यद्यपि स्वविदितं सकलधर्मं ब्राह्मं गुह्यं ब्राह्मणैर्दर्शितमार्गेण सामादिभिरुपायै
र्जनतामनुशशास ॥१६॥

yadyapi sva-viditaá¹ sakala-dharmaá¹ brÄhmaá¹ guhyaá¹ brÄhmaṇair darÅ›ita-mÄrgeṇa sÄmÄdibhir upÄyair janatÄm anuÅ›aÅ›Äsa

 yadyapi - although; sva-viditam - known by Him; sakala-dharmam - which includes all different types of occupational duties; brÄhmam - Vedic instruction; guhyam - very confidential; brÄhmaṇaiḥ - by the brÄhmaṇas; darÅ›ita-mÄrgeṇa - by the path showed; sÄma-Ädibhiḥ - sÄma, dama, titiká¹£Ä (controlling the mind. controlling the senses, practicing tolerance) and so on; upÄyaiḥ - by the means; janatÄm - the people in general; anuÅ›aÅ›Äsa - he ruled over.


Text

Although Lord Ṛṣabhadeva knew everything about confidential Vedic knowledge, which includes information about all types of occupational duties, He still maintained Himself as a ká¹£atriya and followed the instructions of the brÄhmaṇas as they related to mind control, sense control, tolerance and so forth. Thus He ruled the people according to the system of varṇÄÅ›rama-dharma, which enjoins that the brÄhmaṇas instruct the ká¹£atriyas and the ká¹£atriyas administer to the state through the vaiÅ›yas and śūdras.

Purport

Although Ṛṣabhadeva knew all the Vedic instructions perfectly well, He nonetheless followed the instructions of the brÄhmaṇas in order to perfectly maintain the social order. The brÄhmaṇas would give advice according to the Å›Ästras, and all the other castes would follow. The word brahma means “perfect knowledge of all activities,†and this knowledge is very confidentially described in the Vedic literatures. Men trained perfectly as brÄhmaṇas should know all Vedic literature, and the benefit derived from this literature should be distributed to the general populace. The general populace should follow the perfect brÄhmaṇa. In this way, one can learn how to control the mind and senses and thus gradually advance to spiritual perfection.