kvÄhaá¹ daridraḥ pÄpÄ«yÄn
kva kṛṣṇaḥ śrī-niketanaḥ
brahma-bandhur iti smÄhaá¹
bÄhubhyÄá¹ parirambhitaḥ
kva - whereas; aham - I (am); daridraḥ - very poor; pÄpÄ«yÄn - sinful; kva - whereas; kṛṣṇaḥ - the Supreme Personality of Godhead; Å›rÄ«-niketanaḥ - the shelter of the goddess of fortune; brahma-bandhuḥ - a caste brÄhmaṇa without brahminical qualifications; iti - thus; sma - certainly; aham - I (am); bÄhubhyÄm - by the arms; parirambhitaḥ - embraced.
“ ‘Since I am but a poor, sinful brahma-bandhu, not brahminically qualified although born in a brÄhmaṇa family, and You, Lord Kṛṣṇa, are the shelter of the goddess of fortune, it is simply wonderful, my dear Lord Kṛṣṇa, that You have embraced me with Your arms.’ â€
This is a verse from ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (10.81.16) spoken by SudÄmÄ Vipra in the presence of Lord ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa. This and the previous verse quoted from ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam clearly indicate that although Kṛṣṇa is so great that it is not possible for anyone to satisfy Him, He exhibits His greatness by being personally satisfied even with one who is unqualified from so many angles of vision. SudÄmÄ Vipra was born in a family of brÄhmaṇas, and he was a learned scholar and a class friend of Kṛṣṇa’s, yet he considered himself unfit to be strictly called a brÄhmaṇa. He called himself a brahma-bandhu, meaning “one born in a brÄhmaṇa family but not brahminically qualified.†Because of His great respect for brÄhmaṇas, however, Kṛṣṇa embraced SudÄmÄ Vipra, although he was not a regular brÄhmaṇa but a brahma-bandhu, or friend of a brÄhmaṇa family. MurÄri Gupta could not be called even a brahma-bandhu because he was born of a vaidya family and according to the social structure was therefore considered a śūdra. But Kṛṣṇa bestowed special mercy upon MurÄri Gupta because he was a beloved devotee of the Lord, as stated by ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu. The purport of ÅšrÄ« BhaktisiddhÄnta SarasvatÄ« ṬhÄkura’s elaborate discussion of this subject is that no qualification in this material world can satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, yet everything becomes successful simply through development of devotional service to the Lord.
The members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness cannot even call themselves brahma-bandhus. Therefore our only means for satisfying Kṛṣṇa is to pursue the injunctions of Lord ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu, who says:
yÄre dekha, tÄre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeÅ›a
ÄmÄra ÄjñÄya guru haÃ±Ä tÄra’ ei deÅ›a
“Whomever you meet, instruct him on the teachings of Kṛṣṇa. In this way, on My order, become a spiritual master and deliver the people of this country.†(Cc. Madhya 7.128) Simply trying to follow the orders of ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu, we speak to the people of the world about Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ As It Is. This will make us qualified to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa.
