विप्राश्च वृद्धाश्च सदानुवृत्त्या ।
आर्या नताः सुहृदो भ्रातरश्च
सर्वाणि भूतान्यनसूययैव ॥३९॥
यन्नः सुतप्तं तप एतदीश
निरन्धसां कालमदभ्रमप्सु ।
सर्वं तदेतत्पुरुषस्य भूम्नो
वृणीमहे ते परितोषणाय ॥४०॥
yan naḥ svadhÄ«taá¹ guravaḥ prasÄditÄ
viprÄÅ› ca vá¹›ddhÄÅ› ca sad-Änuvá¹›ttyÄ
ÄryÄ natÄḥ suhá¹›do bhrÄtaraÅ› ca
sarvÄṇi bhÅ«tÄny anasÅ«yayaivayan naḥ sutaptaá¹ tapa etad Ä«Å›a
nirandhasÄá¹ kÄlam adabhram apsu
sarvaṠtad etat puruṣasya bhūmno
vṛṇīmahe te paritoá¹£aṇÄya
yat — what; naḥ — by us; svadhÄ«tam — studied; guravaḥ — superior persons, spiritual masters; prasÄditÄḥ — satisfied; viprÄḥ — the brÄhmaṇas; ca — and; vá¹›ddhÄḥ — those who are elderly; ca — and; sat-Änuvá¹›ttyÄ â€” by our gentle behavior; ÄryÄḥ — those who are advanced in spiritual knowledge; natÄḥ — were offered obeisances; su-há¹›daḥ — friends; bhrÄtaraḥ — brothers; ca — and; sarvÄṇi — all; bhÅ«tÄni — living entities; anasÅ«yayÄ â€” without envy; eva — certainly; yat — what; naḥ — of us; su-taptam — severe; tapaḥ — penance; etat — this; Ä«Å›a — O Lord; nirandhasÄm — without taking any food; kÄlam — time; adabhram — for a long duration; apsu — within the water; sarvam — all; tat — that; etat — this; puruá¹£asya — of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; bhÅ«mnaḥ — the most exalted; vṛṇīmahe — we want this benediction; te — of You; paritoá¹£aṇÄya — for the satisfaction.
Dear Lord, we have studied the Vedas, accepted a spiritual master and offered respect to brÄhmaṇas, advanced devotees and aged personalities who are spiritually very advanced. We have offered our respects to them, and we have not been envious of any brother, friends or anyone else. We have also undergone severe austerities within the water and have not taken food for a long time. All these spiritual assets of ours are simply offered for Your satisfaction. We pray for this benediction only, and nothing more.
As stated in ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam, saá¹siddhir hari-toá¹£aṇam: the real perfection of life is pleasing the Supreme Personality of Godhead. VedaiÅ› ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ: in understanding the Vedas, one has to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One who has actually understood Him surrenders unto Him after many, many births. We find all these qualifications in the PracetÄs. They underwent severe austerities and penances within the water, and they did not take any food for a very long time. They practiced these austerities not for material benediction but for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord. One may engage in any business — material or spiritual — but the purpose should be the satisfaction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This verse presents a perfect picture of Vedic civilization. People training to become devotees should be respectful not only to the Supreme Personality of Godhead but also to those who are elderly in knowledge, who are Ä€ryans and actual devotees of the Lord. An Ä€ryan is one who does not boast but is an actual devotee of the Lord. Ä€ryan means “advanced.†Formerly, those who claimed to be Ä€ryans had to be devotees of the Lord. For instance, in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (2.2) Kṛṣṇa chastised Arjuna by saying that he was speaking like a non-Ä€ryan:
Å›rÄ«-bhagavÄn uvÄca
kutas tvÄ kaÅ›malam idaá¹
viá¹£ame samupasthitam
anÄrya-juá¹£á¹am asvargyam
akīrti-karam arjuna
“The Supreme Person [BhagavÄn] said: My dear Arjuna, how have these impurities come upon you? They are not at all befitting a man who knows the progressive values of life. They do not lead to higher planets, but to infamy.†Arjuna, the ká¹£atriya, was refusing to fight despite being directly ordered by the Supreme Lord. He was thus chastised by the Lord as belonging to a non-Ä€ryan family. Anyone who is advanced in the devotional service of the Lord certainly knows his duty. It does not matter whether his duty is violent or nonviolent. If it is sanctioned and ordered by the Supreme Lord, it must be performed. An Ä€ryan performs his duty. It is not that the Ä€ryans are unnecessarily inimical to living entities. The Ä€ryans never maintain slaughterhouses, and they are never enemies of poor animals. The PracetÄs underwent severe austerities for many, many years, even within the water. Accepting austerities and penances is the avowed business of those interested in advanced civilization.
The word nirandhasÄm means “without food.†Eating voraciously and unnecessarily is not the business of an Ä€ryan. Rather, the eating process should be restricted as far as possible. When Ä€ryans eat, they eat only prescribed eatables. Regarding this, the Lord says in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (9.26):
patraá¹ puá¹£paá¹ phalaá¹ toyaá¹
yo me bhaktyÄ prayacchati
tad ahaá¹ bhakty-upahá¹›tam
aÅ›nÄmi prayatÄtmanaḥ
“If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it.†Thus there are restrictions for the advanced Āryans. Although the Lord Himself can eat anything and everything, He restricts Himself to vegetables, fruits, milk and so on. This verse thus describes the activities of those who claim to be Āryans.
