Devanagari
स्वमेव ब्राह्मणो भुङ्क्ते स्वं वस्ते स्वं ददाति च ।
तस्यैवानुग्रहेणान्नं भुञ्जते क्षत्रियादय: ॥ ४६ ॥
Verse text
svam eva brāhmaṇo bhuṅkte
svaṁ vaste svaṁ dadāti ca
tasyaivānugraheṇānnaṁ
bhuṣjate kṣatriyādayaḥ
Synonyms
svam
—
own
;
eva
—
certainly
;
brāhmaṇaḥ
—
the brāhmaṇa
;
bhuṅkte
—
enjoy
;
svam
—
own
;
vaste
—
clothing
;
svam
—
own
;
dadāti
—
gives in charity
;
ca
—
and
;
tasya
—
his
;
eva
—
certainly
;
anugraheṇa
—
by the mercy of
;
annam
—
food grains
;
bhuṣjate
—
eats
;
kṣatriya
—
ādayaḥ — other divisions of society, headed by the kṣatriyas. .
Translation
The kṣatriyas, vaiśyas and śūdras eat their food by virtue of the brāhmaṇas’ mercy. It is the brāhmaṇas who enjoy their own property, clothe themselves with their own property and give charity with their own property.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Since the brāhmaṇa enjoys, wears and gives what is his, the kṣatriyas, vaiśyas and śūdras enjoy food by the mercy of the brāhmaṇa alone.
The structure of the sentence is one of cause and effect: because…. therefore. Vaste means “he wears.”
Purport
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is worshiped with the words
namo brahmaṇya-devāya,
which indicate that the Supreme Lord accepts the
brāhmaṇas
as worshipable gods. The Supreme Lord is worshiped by everyone, yet to teach others He worships the
brāhmaṇas.
Everyone should follow the instructions of the
brāhmaṇas,
for their only business is to spread
śabda-brahma,
or Vedic knowledge, all over the world. Whenever there is a scarcity of
brāhmaṇas
to spread Vedic knowledge, chaos throughout human society results. Since
brāhmaṇas
and Vaiṣṇavas are direct servants of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they do not depend on others. In actuality, everything in the world belongs to the
brāhmaṇas,
and out of their humility the
brāhmaṇas
accept charity from the
kṣatriyas,
or kings, and the
vaiśyas,
or merchants. Everything belongs to the
brāhmaṇas,
but the
kṣatriya
government and the mercantile people keep everything in custody, like bankers, and whenever the
brāhmaṇas
need money, the
kṣatriyas
and
vaiśyas
should supply it. It is like a savings account with money which the depositor can draw out at his will. The
brāhmaṇas,
being engaged in the service of the Lord, have very little time to handle the finances of the world, and therefore the riches are kept by the
kṣatriyas,
or the kings, who are to produce money upon the
brāhmaṇas’
demand. Actually the
brāhmaṇas
or Vaiṣṇavas do not live at others’ cost; they live by spending their own money, although it appears that they are collecting this money from others.
Kṣatriyas
and
vaiśyas
have no right to give charity, for whatever they possess belongs to the
brāhmaṇas.
Therefore charity should be given by the
kṣatriyas
and
vaiśyas
under the instructions of the
brāhmaṇas.
Unfortunately at the present moment there is a scarcity of
brāhmaṇas,
and since the so-called
kṣatriyas
and
vaiśyas
do not carry out the orders of the
brāhmaṇas,
the world is in a chaotic condition.
The second line of this verse indicates that the
kṣatriyas, vaiśyas
and
śūdras
eat only by virtue of the
brāhmaṇas’
mercy; in other words, they should not eat anything which is forbidden by the
brāhmaṇas.
The
brāhmaṇas
and Vaiṣṇavas know what to eat, and by their personal example they do not eat anything which is not offered first to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They eat only
prasāda,
or remnants of the food offered to the Lord. The
kṣatriyas, vaiśyas
and
śūdras
should eat only
kṛṣṇa-prasāda,
which is afforded them by the mercy of the
brāhmaṇas.
They cannot open slaughterhouses and eat meat, fish or eggs or drink liquor, or earn money for this purpose without authorization. In the present age, because society is not guided by brahminical instruction, the whole population is only absorbed in sinful activities. Consequently, everyone is deservedly being punished by the laws of nature. This is the situation in this Age of Kali.