Text 28]
The Lord's Pastimes Out of Vṛndāvana
117
annam coru-rasam tebhyo dattvā bhagavad-arpaṇam go-viprārthāsavaḥ śūrāḥ praṇemur bhuvi mūrdhabhiḥ
annam—foodstuff; ca—also; uru-rasam—highly delicious; tebhyaḥ—unto the brāhmaṇas; dattvā—after supplying; bhagavat-arpaṇam—which was first offered to the Personality of Godhead; go—cow; vipra—brāhmaṇas; artha—purpose; āsavaḥ—purpose of living; śūrāḥ—all the valiant kṣatriyas; praṇemuḥ—offered obeisances; bhuvi—touching the ground; mūrdhabhiḥ—with their heads.
TRANSLATION
Thereafter they offered the brāhmaṇas highly delicious foodstuffs which were first offered to the Personality of Godhead, and they offered their respectful obeisances by touching their heads to the ground. They lived perfectly by protecting the cows and the brāhmaṇas.
PURPORT
The behavior exhibited by the descendants of Yadu in the pilgrimage site of Prabhāsa was highly cultured and exactly to the point of human perfection. The perfection of human life is attained by following three principles of civilization: protecting the cows, maintaining the brahminical culture and, above all, becoming a pure devotee of the Lord. Without becoming a devotee of the Lord, one cannot perfect one's human life. The perfection of human life is to be elevated to the spiritual world, where there is no birth, no death, no diseases and no old age. That is the highest perfectional aim of human life. Without this aim, any amount of material advancement in so-called comforts can only bring the defeat of the human form of life.
Brāhmaṇas and Vaiṣṇavas do not accept any foodstuff which is not first offered to the Personality of Godhead. Foodstuff offered to the Lord is accepted by the devotees as the mercy of the Lord. After all, the Lord supplies all kinds of foodstuff, both to the human being and to other animals. A human being must be conscious of the fact that all foodstuffs, namely grains, vegetables, milk, water, etc.—the prime necessities of life—are supplied by the Lord for mankind, and such foodstuffs cannot be manufactured by any scientist or materialist in a laboratory or factory established by human effort. The intelligent class of men are called brāhmaṇas, and those who have realized the Absolute Truth in His supreme personal feature are called Vaiṣṇavas. But both of them accept foodstuffs which are the remnants of sacrifice. Sacrifice is ultimately meant to satisfy