108 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 9, Ch. 11

greatly affectionate and favorable to the brahmanas. Thus with
melted hearts they returned all the property received from Him
and spoke as follows.

PURPORT

In the previous chapter it was said that the prajas, the citizens, strictly
followed the system of varndsrama-dharma. The bréhmanas acted ex-
actly like brahmanas, the ksatriyas exactly like ksatriyas, and so on.
Therefore, when Lord Ramacandra gave everything in charity to the
bréhmanas, the brahmanas, being qualified, wisely considered that
brahmanas are not meant to possess property to make a profit from it.
The qualifications of a bréhmana are given in Bhagavad-gita (18.42):

Samo damas tapah sSaucamrn
ksantir Grjavam eva ca

Jidnam vijidnam astikyamn
brahma-karma svabhdvajam

“Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty,
wisdom, knowledge, and religiousness—these are the qualities by which
the bréhmanas work.”” The brahminical character offers no scope for
possessing land and ruling citizens; these are the duties of a ksatriya.
Therefore, although the brdhmanas did not refuse Lord Ramacandra’s
gift, after accepting it they returned it to the King. The brahmanas were
so pleased with Lord Ramacandra’s affection toward them that their
hearts melted. They saw that Lord Ramacandra, aside from being the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, was fully qualified as a ksatriya and
was exemplary in character. One of the qualifications of a ksatriya is to
be charitable. A ksatriya, or ruler, levies taxes upon the citizens not for
his personal sense gratification but to give charity in suitable cases.
Danam isvara-bhaévah. On one hand, ksatriyas have the propensity to
rule, but on the other they are very liberal with charity. When Maharaja
Yudhisthira gave charity, he engaged Karna to take charge of distribut-
ing it. Karna was very famous as Data Karna. The word data refers to
one who gives charity very liberally. The kings always kept a large quan-
tity of food grains in stock, and whenever there was any scarcity of
