Text 42]
Instructions by Mahārāja Pṛthu
871
bibhrati —illuminates;  ha —as he did it;  artha —the real purpose of the  Vedas ;  dṛṣṭaye —for the purpose of finding out;  yatra —wherein;  idam —all this;  ādarśe —in a mirror;  iva —like;  avabhāsate —manifests.
TRANSLATION
In brahminical culture a  brāhmaṇa 's transcendental position is eternally maintained because the injunctions of the  Vedas  are accepted with faith, austerity, scriptural conclusions, full sense and mind control and meditation. In this way the real goal of life is illuminated, just as one's face in a clear mirror is fully reflected.
PURPORT
Since it is described in the previous verse that feeding a living  brāhmaṇa  is more effective than offering oblations in a fire sacrifice, in this verse it is now clearly described what brahminism is and who a  brāhmaṇa  is. In the age of Kali, taking advantage of the fact that by feeding a  brāhmaṇa  one obtains a more effective result than by performing sacrifices, a class of men with no brahminical qualifications claim the eating privilege known as  brāhmaṇa-bhojana  simply on the basis of their births in  brāhmaṇa  families. In order to distinguish this class of men from the real  brāhmaṇas , Mahārāja Pṛthu is giving an exact description of a  brāhmaṇa  and brahminical culture. One should not take advantage of his position simply to live like a fire without light. A  brāhmaṇa  must be fully conversant with the Vedic conclusion, which is described in  Bhagavad-gītā .  Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ . (Bg. 15.15) The Vedic conclusion—the ultimate understanding, or  Vedānta  understanding—is knowledge of Kṛṣṇa. Actually that is a fact because simply by understanding Kṛṣṇa as He is, as described in  Bhagavad-gītā  ( janma karma ca me divyam evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ ), one becomes a perfect  brāhmaṇa . The  brāhmaṇa  who knows Kṛṣṇa perfectly well is always in a transcendental position. This is also confirmed in  Bhagavad-gītā :
māṁ ca yo 'vyabhicāreṇa bhakti-yogena sevate sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate
“One who engages in full devotional service and who does not fall down in any circumstance at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.” (Bg. 14.26)
Therefore a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa is actually a perfect  brāhmaṇa . His situation is transcendental, for he is free from the four defects of condi-