Devanagari
अतो ह्यन्योन्यमात्मानं ब्रह्म क्षत्रं च रक्षत: ।
रक्षति स्माव्ययो देव: स य: सदसदात्मक: ॥ ४ ॥
Verse text
ato hy anyonyam ātmānaṁ
brahma kṣatraṁ ca rakṣataḥ
rakṣati smāvyayo devaḥ
sa yaḥ sad-asad-ātmakaḥ
Synonyms
ataḥ
—
hence
;
hi
—
certainly
;
anyonyam
—
each other
;
ātmānam
—
the self
;
brahma
—
the brāhmaṇas
;
kṣatram
—
the kṣatriyas
;
ca
—
and
;
rakṣataḥ
—
protect
;
rakṣati sma
—
protects
;
avyayaḥ
—
immutable
;
devaḥ
—
the Lord
;
saḥ
—
He
;
yaḥ
—
who
;
sat
—
asat — ātmakaḥ — the form of the cause and effect .
Translation
That is why the brāhmaṇas and kṣatriyas protect each other, as well as themselves; and the Lord Himself, who is both the cause and effect and is yet immutable, protects them through each other.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Thus, the brāhmaṇas and kṣatriyas protect each other. But the unchanging Supreme Lord, who is cause and effect, protects them both.
The brāhmaṇa protects the kṣatriya by the strength of his austerity. The kṣatriya protects the brāhmaṇa by the strength of his body. Actually, however, the Supreme Lord, who is cause and effect, who is without change (avyayaḥ), protects both.
Purport
The entire social structure of
varṇa
and
āśrama
is a cooperative system meant to uplift all to the highest platform of spiritual realization. The
brāhmaṇas
are intended to be protected by the
kṣatriyas,
and the
kṣatriyas
also are intended to be enlightened by the
brāhmaṇas.
When the
brāhmaṇas
and
kṣatriyas
cooperate nicely, the other subordinate divisions, the
vaiśyas,
or mercantile people, and the
śūdras,
or laborer class, automatically flourish. The entire elaborate system of Vedic society was therefore based on the importance of the
brāhmaṇas
and
kṣatriyas.
The Lord is the real protector, but He is unattached to the affairs of protection. He creates
brāhmaṇas
for the protection of the
kṣatriyas,
and
kṣatriyas
for the protection of the
brāhmaṇas.
He remains aloof from all activities; therefore, He is called
nirvikāra,
“without activity.” He has nothing to do. He is so great that He does not perform action personally, but His energies act. The
brāhmaṇas
and
kṣatriyas,
and anything that we see, are different energies acting upon one another.
Although individual souls are all different, the Superself, or Supersoul, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Individually one’s self may differ from others in certain qualities and may engage in different activities, such as those of a
brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya
or
vaiśya,
but when there is complete cooperation among different individual souls, the Supreme Personality of Godhead as Supersoul, Paramātmā, being one in every individual soul, is pleased and gives them all protection. As stated before, the
brāhmaṇas
are produced from the mouth of the Lord, and the
kṣatriyas
are produced from the chest or arms of the Lord. If the different castes or social sections, although apparently differently occupied in different activities, nevertheless act in full cooperation, then the Lord is pleased. This is the idea of the institution of four
varṇas
and four
āśramas.
If the members of different
āśramas
and
varṇas
cooperate fully in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then society is well protected by the Lord, without doubt.
In
Bhagavad-gītā
it is stated that the Lord is the proprietor of all different bodies. The individual soul is the proprietor of his individual body, but the Lord clearly states, “My dear Bhārata, you must know that I am also
kṣetra-jṣa.
”
Kṣetra-jṣa
means “the knower or proprietor of the body.” The individual soul is the proprietor of the individual body, but the Supersoul, the Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is the proprietor of all bodies everywhere. He is the proprietor not only of human bodies but of birds, beasts and all other entities, not only on this planet but on other planets also. He is the supreme proprietor; therefore He does not become divided by protecting the different individual souls. He remains one and the same. That the sun appears on top of everyone’s head when at the meridian does not imply that the sun becomes divided. One man thinks that the sun is on his head only, whereas five thousand miles away another man is thinking that the sun is only on his head. Similarly, the Supersoul, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is one, but He appears to individually oversee each individual soul. This does not mean that the individual soul and the Supersoul are one. They are one in quality, as spirit soul, but the individual soul and Supersoul are different.