तद्वः प्रसादयाम्यद्य ब्रह्म दैवं परं हि मे ।
तद्धीत्यात्मकृतं मन्ये यत्स्वपुम्भिरसत्कृताः ॥४॥

tad vaḥ prasÄdayÄmy adya
brahma daivaá¹ paraá¹ hi me
tad dhÄ«ty Ätma-ká¹›taá¹ manye
yat sva-pumbhir asat-ká¹›tÄḥ

 tat - therefore; vaḥ - you sages; prasÄdayÄmi - I am seeking your forgiveness; adya - just now; brahma - the brÄhmaṇas; daivam - most beloved personalities; param - highest; hi - because; me - My; tat - that offense; hi - because; iti - thus; Ätma-ká¹›tam - done by Me; manye - I consider; yat - which; sva-pumbhiḥ - by My own attendants; asat-ká¹›tÄḥ - having been disrespected.


Text

To Me, the brÄhmaṇa 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.

Purport

The Lord is always in favor of the brÄhmaṇas and the cows, and therefore it is said, go-brÄhmaṇa-hitÄya ca. Lord Kṛṣṇa, or Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is also the worshipable Deity of the brÄhmaṇas. In the Vedic literature, in the á¹›g-mantra hymns of the Ṛg Veda, it is stated that those who are actually brÄhmaṇas always look to the lotus feet of Viṣṇu: oá¹ tad viṣṇoḥ paramaá¹ padaá¹ sadÄ paÅ›yanti sÅ«rayaḥ. Those who are qualified brÄhmaṇas worship only the Viṣṇu form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, which means Kṛṣṇa, RÄma and all Viṣṇu expansions. A so-called brÄhmaṇa who is born in the family of brÄhmaṇas but performs activities aimed against the Vaiṣṇavas cannot be accepted as a brÄhmaṇa, because brÄhmaṇa means Vaiṣṇava and Vaiṣṇava means brÄhmaṇa. One who has become a devotee of the Lord is also a brÄhmaṇa. The formula is brahma jÄnÄtÄ«ti brÄhmaṇaḥ. A brÄhmaṇa 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 brÄhmaṇa. It should be noted that the glories of the brÄhmaṇa described in this chapter by the Lord Himself refer to His devotee-brÄhmaṇa, or the Vaiṣṇava. It should never be misunderstood that the so-called brÄhmaṇas who are born in brÄhmaṇa families but have no brahminical qualifications are referred to in this connection.