पुरुषेष्वपि राजेन्द्र सुपात्रं ब्राह्मणं विदुः ।
तपसा विद्यया तुष्ट्या धत्ते वेदं हरेस्तनुम् ॥४१॥

puruá¹£eá¹£v api rÄjendra
supÄtraá¹ brÄhmaṇaá¹ viduḥ
tapasÄ vidyayÄ tuṣṭyÄ
dhatte vedaá¹ hares tanum

 puruá¹£eá¹£u - among persons; api - indeed; rÄja-indra - O best of kings; su-pÄtram - the best person; brÄhmaṇam - the qualified brÄhmaṇa; viduḥ - one should know; tapasÄ - due to austerity; vidyayÄ - education; tuṣṭyÄ - and satisfaction; dhatte - he assumes; vedam - the transcendental knowledge known as Veda; hareḥ - of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; tanum - body, or representation.


Text

My dear King, of all persons a qualified brÄhmaṇa must be accepted as the best within this material world because such a brÄhmaṇa, by practicing austerity, Vedic studies and satisfaction, becomes the counterpart body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Purport

From the Vedas we learn that the Personality of Godhead is the Supreme Person. Every living entity is an individual person, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is the Supreme Person. A brÄhmaṇa who is well versed in Vedic knowledge and fully conversant with transcendental matters becomes a representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore one should worship such a brÄhmaṇa or Vaiṣṇava. A Vaiṣṇava is superior to a brÄhmaṇa because whereas a brÄhmaṇa knows that he is Brahman, not matter, a Vaiṣṇava knows that he is not only Brahman but also an eternal servant of the Supreme Brahman. Therefore, worship of a Vaiṣṇava is superior to worship of the Deity in the temple. ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« ṬhÄkura says, sÄká¹£Äd dharitvena samasta-Å›Ästraiḥ: in all the scriptures the spiritual master, who is the best of the brÄhmaṇas, the best of the Vaiṣṇavas, is considered to be as good as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This does not mean, however, that the Vaiṣṇava thinks himself God, for this is blasphemous. Although a brÄhmaṇa or Vaiṣṇava is worshiped as being as good as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, such a devotee always remains a faithful servant of the Lord and never tries to enjoy the prestige that might accrue to him from being the Supreme Lord’s representative.