SB 10.23.11 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

देश: काल: पृथग्द्रव्यं मन्त्रतन्त्रर्त्विजोऽग्नय: । देवता यजमानश्च क्रतुर्धर्मश्च यन्मय: ॥ १० ॥ तं ब्रह्म परमं साक्षाद् भगवन्तमधोक्षजम् । मनुष्यद‍ृष्ट्या दुष्प्रज्ञा मर्त्यात्मानो न मेनिरे ॥ ११ ॥

Verse text

deśaḥ kālaḥ pṛthag dravyaṁ mantra-tantrartvijo ’gnayaḥ devatā yajamānaś ca kratur dharmaś ca yan-mayaḥ taṁ brahma paramaṁ sākṣād bhagavantam adhokṣajam manuṣya-dṛṣṭyā duṣprajṣā martyātmāno na menire

Synonyms

deśaḥ — the place ; kālaḥ — time ; pṛthak dravyam — particular items of paraphernalia ; mantra — Vedic hymns ; tantra — prescribed rituals ; ṛtvijaḥ — priests ; agnayaḥ — sacrificial fires ; devatāḥ — the presiding demigods ; yajamānaḥ — the performer of the sacrifice ; ca — and ; kratuḥ — the offering ; dharmaḥ — the invisible power of fruitive results ; ca — and ; yat — whom ; mayaḥ — constituting ; tam — Him ; brahma paramam — the Supreme Absolute Truth ; sākṣāt — directly manifest ; bhagavantam — the Personality of Godhead ; adhokṣajam — who is transcendental to material senses ; manuṣya — dṛṣṭyā — seeing Him as an ordinary man ; duṣprajṣāḥ — perverted in their intelligence ; martya — ātmānaḥ — falsely identifying themselves with the material body ; na menire — they did not properly honor .

Translation

Although the ingredients of sacrificial performance — the place, time, particular paraphernalia, mantras, rituals, priests, fires, demigods, performer, offering and the as yet unseen beneficial results — are all simply aspects of His opulences, the brāhmaṇas saw Lord Kṛṣṇa as an ordinary human because of their perverted intelligence. They failed to recognize that He is the Supreme Absolute Truth, the directly manifest Personality of Godhead, whom the material senses cannot ordinarily perceive. Thus bewildered by their false identification with the mortal body, they did not show Him proper respect.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Although the ingredients of sacrificial performance—the place, time, particular paraphernalia, mantras, rituals, priests, fires, demigods, performer, offering and the as yet unseen beneficial results—are all simply aspects of His opulences, the brāhmaṇas saw Lord Kṛṣṇa as an ordinary human because of their perverted intelligence. They failed to recognize that He is the Supreme Absolute Truth, the directly manifest Personality of Godhead, whom the material senses cannot ordinarily perceive. Thus bewildered by their false identification with the mortal body, they did not show Him proper respect. KB 10.23.10-11 There are various details to be observed in the performance of sacrifices. They are known as deśa, place; kāla, time; pṛthag-dravya, the different detailed paraphernalia; mantra, hymns; tantra, scriptural evidences; agni, fire; ṛtvik, learned performers of sacrifices; devatā, the demigods; yajamāna, the performer of the sacrifices; kratu, the sacrifice itself; and dharma, the procedures. All these are for satisfying Kṛṣṇa. It is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā that He is the actual enjoyer of all sacrifices because He is directly the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the Supreme Absolute Truth, beyond the conception or speculation of the material senses. He is present just like an ordinary human boy, but for persons who identify themselves with the body, it is very difficult to understand Him. The brāhmaṇas were very much interested in the comforts of the material body and in elevation to the higher planetary residences called svarga-vāsa. They were therefore completely unable to understand the position of Kṛṣṇa.

Purport

The ritualistic brāhmaṇas could not understand why the sacrificial food should be offered to Lord Kṛṣṇa, whom they considered an ordinary human being. Just as a person with rose-colored glasses sees the entire world as rose-colored, a conditioned soul with mundane vision sees even God Himself as mundane and thus loses the opportunity to go back home, back to Godhead.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Why should one person give his acquired goods to another person, overlooking the rules outlined in scriptures for suitability of place, time and person? This verse answers. Because the brahmanas had material vision (martyatmanah) they thought of Krsna, the para Brahman, as an ordinary human, because he is beyond material senses (adhoksaja), but is visible by mercy. Time, place, the ingredients such as offerings cooked rice etc (prthak dravyam), the usage (tantra) of mantra, the priests , fires, devatas, sponsors, the sacrifice and religious principles were just manifestation of power of a part of part of himself.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

These verses show their ignorance by showing the truth. Pṛthag dravyam means various materials. All ingredients are parts of the Lord because he is the supreme Brahman, he is Bhagavān endowed with all powers, and he is beyond the senses. Though he had appeared directly to them by him mercy, they did not respect him, because they had no discrimination, because they considered themselves their bodies (martyātmānaḥ).

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

These verses show their ignorance by showing the truth. Pṛthag dravyam means various materials. All ingredients are parts of the Lord because he is the supreme Brahman, he is Bhagavān endowed with all powers, and he is beyond the senses. By his mercy he directly manifests. Or they do not respect him because he is supreme Brahman. He is a form of eternity, knowledge and bliss (param): Nārāyaṇa. He is directly the Lord, not just an avatāra (sākṣāt). And he manifests his powers as the Lord as the master of Mathurā (bhagavantam). He appeared to take birth again when he was under the cart (adhokṣajam). This analysis of the word adhokṣajam is found in SB 10;14.12. He is the joy of Gokula. By material eyes he is not respected. Why? They have no intelligence (duṣprajñāḥ). Why is this said? They identify with their bodies (martyātmanaḥ) or take birth repeatedly in the world. If they were intelligent they would fear this world. The later statement of the brāhmaṇas aptly fits this description and thus confirms as true what is said here.