prÄá¹‡Ä dÄrÄḥ sutÄ brahman
gá¹›hÄÅ› ca sa-paricchadÄḥ
rÄjyaá¹ balaá¹ mahÄ« koÅ›a
iti sarvaá¹ niveditam
prÄṇÄḥ - life; dÄrÄḥ - wife; sutÄḥ - children; brahman - O great brÄhmaṇa; gá¹›hÄḥ - home; ca - also; sa - with; paricchadÄḥ - all paraphernalia; rÄjyam - kingdom; balam - strength; mahÄ« - land; koÅ›aḥ - treasury; iti - thus; sarvam - everything; niveditam - offered.
In some readings, the word dÄrÄḥ is not used, but the word used then is rÄyaḥ, which means “wealth.†In India there are still wealthy persons who are recognized by the state as rÄya. A great devotee of Lord Caitanya MahÄprabhu was called RÄmÄnanda RÄya because he was governor of Madras and very rich. There are still many holders of the title rÄya — RÄya Bahadur, RÄya Chaudhuri and so on. The dÄrÄḥ, or wife, is not permitted to be offered to the brÄhmaṇas. Everything is offered to worthy persons who are able to accept charity, but nowhere is it found that one offers his wife; therefore in this case the reading rÄyaḥ is more accurate than dÄrÄḥ. Also, since Pá¹›thu MahÄrÄja offered everything to the KumÄras, the word koÅ›aḥ, “treasury,†need not be separately mentioned. Kings and emperors used to keep a private treasury which was known as ratna-bhÄṇá¸a. The ratna-bhÄṇá¸a was a special treasury room which contained special jewelries, such as bangles, necklaces and so on, which were presented to the king by the citizens. This jewelry was kept separate from the regular treasury house where all the collected revenues were kept. Thus Pá¹›thu MahÄrÄja offered his stock of private jewelry to the lotus feet of the KumÄras. It has already been admitted that all the King’s property belonged to the brÄhmaṇas and that Pá¹›thu MahÄrÄja was simply using it for the welfare of the state. If it were actually the property of the brÄhmaṇas, how could it be offered again to them? In this regard, ÅšrÄ«pÄda ÅšrÄ«dhara SvÄmÄ« has explained that this offering is just like the servant’s offering of food to his master. The food already belongs to the master, for the master has purchased it, but the servant, by preparing food, makes it acceptable to the master and thus offers it to him. In this way, everything belonging to Pá¹›thu MahÄrÄja was offered to the KumÄras.