890
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 4, Ch. 22]
TEXT 4
गौरवाधन्त्रितः सम्यः प्रश्रयानतकन्धरः । विधिवत्पूजयाश्चक्रे गृहीताच्यर्हणासनान् ॥ ४ ॥
gauravād yantritaḥ sabhyaḥ praśrayānata-kandharaḥ vidhivat pūjayāncakre gṛhītādhyarhaṇāsanān
gauravāt—glories; yantritaḥ—completely; sabhyaḥ—most civilized; praśraya—by humbleness; ānata-kandharaḥ—bowing down his shoulder; vidhivat—according to the instructions of the śāstra; pūjayām—by worshiping; cakre—performed; gṛhīta—accepting; adhi—including; arhaṇa—paraphernalia for reception; āsanān—sitting places.
TRANSLATION
When the great sages accepted their reception, according to the instructions of the śāstras, and finally took their seats offered by the King, the King, influenced by the glories of the sages, immediately bowed down. Thus he worshiped the four Kumāras.
PURPORT
The four Kumāras are the  paramparā  spiritual masters of the  Vaiṣṇava sampradāya . Out of the four  sampradāyas , namely Brahma-sampradāya, Śrī-sampradāya, Kumāra-sampradāya and Rudra-sampradāya, the disciplic succession of spiritual master to disciple known as the Kumāra-sampradāya is coming down from the four Kumāras. So Pṛthu Mahārāja was very respectful to the  sampradāya-ācāryas . As it is said by Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Thākura,  sākṣād-dharitvena samasta-śāstrair : a spiritual master or the  paramparā-ācārya  should be respected exactly like the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The word  vidhivat  is significant in this verse. This means that Pṛthu Mahārāja also strictly followed the injunctions of the  śāstra  in receiving a spiritual master or  ācārya  of the transcendental disciplic succession. Whenever an  ācārya  is seen, one should immediately bow down before him. Pṛthu Mahārāja did this properly; therefore the words used here are  praśrayānata-kandharaḥ . Out of humility, he bowed down before the Kumāras.
TEXT 5
तत्पादशौचसलिलैर्मार्जितालकवन्धनः । तत्र शीलवतां वृत्तमाचरन्मानयषिव ॥ ५ ॥