Devanagari
तेष्वेव भगवान् राजंस्तारतम्येन वर्तते ।
तस्मात्पात्रं हि पुरुषो यावानात्मा यथेयते ॥ ३८ ॥
Verse text
teṣv eva bhagavān rājaṁs
tāratamyena vartate
tasmāt pātraṁ hi puruṣo
yāvān ātmā yatheyate
Synonyms
teṣu
—
among the different types of bodies (demigod, human, animal, bird, etc.)
;
eva
—
indeed
;
bhagavān
—
the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His Paramātmā feature
;
rājan
—
O King
;
tāratamyena
—
comparatively, more or less
;
vartate
—
is situated
;
tasmāt
—
therefore
;
pātram
—
the Supreme Person
;
hi
—
indeed
;
puruṣaḥ
—
Paramātmā
;
yāvān
—
as far as
;
ātmā
—
the degree of understanding
;
yathā
—
development of austerity and penance
;
īyate
—
is manifest .
Translation
O King Yudhiṣṭhira, the Supersoul in every body gives intelligence to the individual soul according to his capacity for understanding. Therefore the Supersoul is the chief within the body. The Supersoul is manifested to the individual soul according to the individual’s comparative development of knowledge, austerity, penance and so on.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O King! The Paramātmā resides in all beings proportionately. Therefore he is the object of worship in those beings according to the degree of their knowledge and renunciation.
Because the Lord resides as Paramātmā to various degrees in animals and others, Paramātmā is the object of worship. However, to the degree that the jīva has superiority in knowledge, detachment and other qualities, he becomes the object of worship. Śruti says puruṣatve cāvistarām ātmā: in the human form a person understands ātmā. (Aitreya-āraṇyaka 2.3.2.4)
Purport
In
Bhagavad-gītā
(15.15)
it is said,
mattaḥ smṛtir jṣānam apohanaṁ ca:
the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His localized aspect gives intelligence to the individual soul as far as he is able to grasp it. Therefore we find the individual soul in different high and low positions. A living entity with the body of a bird or beast cannot take instructions from the Supreme Soul as adequately as an advanced human being. Thus there are gradations of bodily forms. In human society, the perfect
brāhmaṇa
is supposed to be the most advanced in spiritual consciousness, and further advanced than the
brāhmaṇa
is the Vaiṣṇava. Therefore the best persons are the Vaiṣṇavas and Viṣṇu. When charity is to be given, one should take instruction from
Bhagavad-gītā
(17.20)
:
dātavyam iti yad dānaṁ
dīyate ’nupakāriṇe
deśe kāle ca pātre ca
tad dānaṁ sāttvikaṁ smṛtam
“That gift which is given out of duty, at the proper time and place, to a worthy person, and without expectation of return, is considered to be charity in the mode of goodness.” One should give charity to the
brāhmaṇas
and Vaiṣṇavas, for thus the Supreme Personality of Godhead will be worshiped. In this connection, Śrīla Madhvācārya comments:
brahmādi-sthāvarānteṣu
na viśeṣo hareḥ kvacit
vyakti-mātra-viśeṣeṇa
tāratamyaṁ vadanti ca
Beginning from Brahmā down to the ant, everyone is conducted by the Supersoul (
īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe ’rjuna tiṣṭhati
). But because of a particular person’s advancement in spiritual consciousness, he is considered to be important. Therefore, the
brāhmaṇa
Vaiṣṇava is important, and, above all, the Supersoul, the Personality of Godhead, is the most important personality.