Text 42]
Pastimes of the Lord in His Youth
279
TEXT 41
বড় বড় লোক সব আনিল বোলাইয়া । সবারে কছে শ্রীবাস হাসিয়া হাসিয়া ॥ 85 ॥
baḍa baḍa loka saba ānila bolāiyā sabāre kahe śrīvāsa hāsiyā hāsiyā
SYNONYMS
baḍa baḍa —respectable;  loka —persons;  saba —all;  ānila —brought them;  bolāiyā —causing to be called;  sabāre —to everyone;  kahe —addresses;  śrīvāsa —Śrīvāsa Thākura;  hāsiyā hāsiyā —while smiling.
TRANSLATION
Śrīvāsa Thākura called for all the respectable gentlemen of the neighborhood and smilingly addressed them as follows.
TEXT 42
নিত্য রাত্রে করি আমি ভবানী-পূজন । আমার মহিমা দেখ, ত্রাক্ষণ-সজ্জন ॥ 82 ॥
nitya rātre kari āmi bhavānī-pūjana āmāra mahimā dekha, brāhmaṇa-sajjana
SYNONYMS
nitya rātre —every night;  kari —I do;  āmi —I;  bhavānī-pūjana —worship of Bhavānī, the wife of Lord Śiva;  āmāra —my;  mahimā —glories;  dekha —you see;  brāhmaṇa-sat-jana —all respectable  brāhmaṇas .
TRANSLATION
“Gentlemen, every night I worship the goddess Bhavānī. Since the paraphernalia for the worship is present here, now all you respectable  brāhmaṇas  and members of the higher castes can understand my position.”
PURPORT
According to the Vedic system there are four castes—the  brāhmaṇas ,  kṣatriyas ,  vaiśyas  and  śūdras —and below them are the  pañcamas , who are lower than the  śūdras . The higher castes—the  brāhmaṇas , the  kṣatriyas  and even the  vaiśyas —were known as  brāhmaṇa-sajjana . The  brāhmaṇas  especially were known as  sajjana , or respectable gentlemen who guided the entire society. If there were disputes in the village, people would approach these respectable  brāhmaṇas  to settle them. Now it