Devanagari
तस्माद् ब्राह्मणदेवेषु मर्त्यादिषु यथार्हत: ।
तैस्तै: कामैर्यजस्वैनं क्षेत्रज्ञं ब्राह्मणाननु ॥ १८ ॥
Verse text
tasmād brāhmaṇa-deveṣu
martyādiṣu yathārhataḥ
tais taiḥ kāmair yajasvainaṁ
kṣetra-jṣaṁ brāhmaṇān anu
Synonyms
tasmāt
—
therefore
;
brāhmaṇa
—
deveṣu — through the brāhmaṇas and the demigods
;
martya
—
ādiṣu — through ordinary human beings and other living entities
;
yathā
—
arhataḥ — according to your ability
;
taiḥ taiḥ
—
with all those
;
kāmaiḥ
—
various objects of enjoyment such as sumptuous food, flower garlands, sandalwood paste, etc.
;
yajasva
—
you should worship
;
enam
—
this
;
kṣetra
—
jṣam — Supreme Lord situated in the hearts of all beings
;
brāhmaṇān
—
the brāhmaṇas
;
anu
—
after .
Translation
Therefore, my dear King, first offer prasāda unto the brāhmaṇas and the demigods, and after sumptuously feeding them you may distribute prasāda to other living entities according to your ability. In this way you will be able to worship all living entities — or, in other words, the supreme living entity within every living entity.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Worship the Supreme Lord, knower of the field, according one’s ability, by offering various objects to brāhmaṇas, who are devatās, and then to ordinary humans.
Worship the Supreme Lord, knower of the field, by offering foods to the brāhmaṇas who are devatās, and after the brāhmaṇas, to other humans. Another version has brāhmaṇānanam, the Lord whose mouth is the brāhmaṇas.
Purport
To distribute
prasāda
to all living entities, the process is that we must first offer
prasāda
to the
brāhmaṇas
and the Vaiṣṇavas, for the demigods are represented by the
brāhmaṇas.
In this way the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is situated in everyone’s heart, will be worshiped. This is the Vedic system of offering
prasāda.
Whenever there is a ceremony for distribution of
prasāda,
the
prasāda
is offered first to the
brāhmaṇas,
then to the children and old men, then to the women, and then to animals like dogs and other domestic animals. When it is said that Nārāyaṇa, the Supreme Being, is situated in everyone’s heart, this does not mean that everyone has become Nārāyaṇa or that a particular poor man has become Nārāyaṇa. Such a conclusion is rejected herein.