638
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 3, Ch. 16]
tat —therefore;  vaḥ —you sages;  prasādayāmi —I am seeking your forgiveness;  adya —just now;  brahma —the  brāhmaṇas ;  daivam —most beloved personalities;  param —highest;  hi —because;  me —My;  tat —that offense;  hi —because;  iti —thus;  ātma-kṛtam —done by Me;  manye —I consider;  yat —which;  sva-pumbhiḥ —by My own attendants;  asatkṛtāḥ —having been disrespected.
TRANSLATION
To Me, the brāhmaṇa is the highest and most beloved personality. The disrespect shown by My attendants has actually been displayed by Me because the doormen are My servitors. I take this to be an offense by Myself; therefore I seek your forgiveness for the incident that has arisen.
PURPORT
The Lord is always in favor of the  brāhmaṇas  and the cows, and therefore it is said,  go-brāhmaṇa-hitāya ca . Lord Kṛṣṇa or Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is also the worshipable Deity of the  brāhmaṇas . In the Vedic literature, in the  Rg-mantra  hymns of the  Rg Veda , it is stated that those who are actually  brāhmaṇas  always look to the lotus feet of Viṣṇu:  om tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padaṁ sadā paśyanti sūrayaḥ . Those who are qualified  brāhmaṇas  worship only the Viṣṇu form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, which means Kṛṣṇa, Rāma and all Viṣṇu expansions. A so-called  brāhmaṇa , who is born in the family of  brāhmaṇas  but performs activities aimed against the Vaiṣṇavas, cannot be accepted as a  brāhmaṇa  because  brāhmaṇa  means Vaiṣṇava, and Vaiṣṇava means  brāhmaṇa . One who has become a devotee of the Lord is also a  brāhmaṇa . The formula is  brahma jānātīti brāhmaṇaḥ . A  brāhmaṇa  is one who has understood Brahman, and a Vaiṣṇava is one who has understood the Personality of Godhead. Brahman realization is the beginning of realization of the Personality of Godhead. One who understands the Personality of Godhead also knows the impersonal feature of the Supreme, which is Brahman. Therefore one who becomes a Vaiṣṇava is already a  brāhmaṇa . It should be noted that the glories of the  brāhmaṇa  described in this chapter by the Lord Himself refer to His devotee  brāhmaṇa , or the Vaiṣṇava. It should never be misunderstood that the so-called  brāhmaṇas  who are born in  brāhmaṇa  families but have no brahminical qualifications are referred to in this connection.
TEXT 5
यन्नामानि च गृह्णाति लोको भृत्ये कृतागसि ।
सोऽसाधुवादस्तत्कीर्तिं हन्ति त्वचमिवामयः ॥ ५ ॥