* Greatness of Brahmins and a King’s duties towards them.
Greatness of Brahmins and a King’s duties towards them.
Shri Narayan Muni said:-
A king should strenuously serve the Brahmin, who has realized Brahman. The prosperity or the destitution of his kingdom depends on pleasing or displeasing them. 1.
What can the Brahmins not offer the king when they are pleased by his service to them? They can fulfil all his desires. By the power of their penance, they can even make the Gods their servants. 2.
As a result of the favour received from Brahmins, many kings of old attained rare siddhis (achievements) after they performed great acts of religious merit. 3.
On the other hand, as a result of humiliating Brahmins, thousands of kings like Nahusha, Gods and demons perished even after going to heaven. 4.
Therefore, a king should always propitiate Brahmins with humility if he seeks his well-being. Otherwise, he loses all this glory. 5.
A king should never discomfit Brahmins. They are worthy of worship; they should be saluted and protected as the kind would protect his own sons. 6.
Being the bridges of dharma, Brahmins support the world; they are the pioneers of the scriptures and are the protectors of dharma. 7.
It is by resorting to them that humans along with the Gods survive. Being the promoters of sacrifices, the Brahmins are the first to partake the sacrificial oblations and the offerings to manes (Pitrus). 8.
They are the pleasure parks of the Vedas, and knowers of the fruits of all actions. They know the destiny of all the creatures and like fire, they are worthy of veneration. 9.
‘O Brahmin, when infuriated, the Brahmins can transform God into a non-God and a non-God into a God and even create other worlds. 10.
The fire of their fury has not been extinguished in the Dandaka (forest) even now; it is these great souls who rendered the waters of the sea salty in no time. 11.
Among them all, the children and the old deserve respect. By virtue of their birth, they are the teachers of the world and therefore, venerable to all. 12.
They accord respect to each other for the distinction of knowledge and penance. They are the highest means of knowledge; how can a wise person ever disrespect them? 13.
Even a Brahmin without education is God and a person of great worth. A learned Brahmin is a greater God. He is like the mighty ocean. 14.
Just as every fire, whether sacrificially consecrated or not, is sacred, every Brahmin, whether learned or not, is venerable like a God. 15.
Even while shining bright fire in a cemetery, fire never causes pollution. It shines equally brightly in a sacrificial Mamdap. A Brahmin is just exactly like that. 16.
A Brahmin of whatever characteristics is always considered worthy of veneration; it is for this reason that a Brahmin in the guise of a Kirata (forest- dweller) burnt the neck of Garuda. 17.
Brahmins should be worshiped by all, especially by a king. This is because disrespecting them would instantly destroy his kingdom. 18.
A king should satisfy Brahmins by offering them delicacies prepared using a lot of ghee, sugar and spices . 19.
A king should arrange things in such a way, that the Brahmins are satisfied with the feasts arranged for them. 20.
The Lord is not so much satisfied by oblations offered in the sacrificial fire as He is pleased by the food offered to the mouths of Brahmins with plenty of ghee. 21.
It is with this awareness that the Brahmins should be carefully fed. A king should offer them Dakshina and bid them good-bye after satisfying them. 22.
As per his means, a good king should always feed ten, hundred, thousands, ten thousand or one Lakh Brahmins. 23.
He should offer them gifts; mainly cows, gold and oil (Tila) on different occasions as per the prescriptions of the Vedas. 24.
On different constellations, days and Sankrantis/ Paravans, he (the King) should separately distribute different gifts as prescribed by the sages. 25.
A king should have wells, lakes and other water sources constructed where cows, Brahmins, holy men and others can drink water. 26.
One (A King) who ensures unrestricted water (for all) in summer never experiences any terrible and insurmountable calamity (to his kingdom). 27.
The religious merit of that king is infinite, who satisfies Brahmins with delicacies appropriate for different seasons, during every month and every season. 28.
In the same way a king should please the Gods with Payasa, ghee and sugar as oblations in sacrifices and offer bountiful Dakshinas. 29.
A king should get mighty temples constructed, should make provisions for their upkeep and maintenance and should install deities in them himself. 30.
He should create caravansaries of different varieties with facilities for their upkeep and maintenance. Furthermore, he should offer houses furnished with amenities to Brahmins. 31.
He should create numerous gardens rich in flowers, fruits and trees. In addition, he should donate trees full of fruits, to Brahmins. 32.
A king who protects and feeds his subjects and takes groups of them on holy pilgrimages acquires religious merits that are otherwise obtained by performing many sacrifices. 33.
A guiltless king acquires religious merit surpassing everything else if he worships a Brahmin who has controlled his senses and has his mind firmly fixed only on Brahman – the transcendental principle. 34.
A king should provide food to all creatures seeking nourishment. It is sure that no charity is superior to giving food to the needy. 35.
Food is indeed the supporter of the life of any living being. All the creatures survive only on food. One who does not get it, dies. Therefore food should be made available by a king to all the needy. 36.
A king should cause food festivals to be organised in his country at all places. Moreover, in his capital, he should willingly offer food everyday to the needy. 37.
He indeed pleases the Gods well, when he honours with food and due ceremonies the Brahmins, guests, mendicants, travellers and the helpless. 38.
If anyone remains hungry even for a day in a king’s town, the king will forfeit all his merit because of it. 39.
Therefore, a wise king should remain alert and he should painstakingly identify if there are any hungry people in his city and arrange for food to be given to them. 40.
A food giver is praised by all as life-giver. He acquires infinite merit in this world and the next in addition to gaining good reputation. 41.
A food-giver after (death), boards a plane to his desired heaven. The plane is golden, shines like the sun and is decorated with strings of tiny bells. The desired heaven has many Apsaras (fairies), ponds, heaps of garments, ornaments and delicacies of different types. 43.
‘O King, there he enjoys bountiful pleasures which include (travelling in) celestial vehicles, enjoying the company of beautiful damsels, and having his praise sung by hordes of Gandharvas. These are all indeed worthy of the live enjoyed by Indra himself. 44.
Thus ends the twenty eighth chapter entitled, ‘narration of eulogy of Brahmin class and charitability,’ in the fifth Prakaran of Satsangi jivan, the life story of Lord Narayan, also titled as Dharmashastra (the rules of the code of conduct). 28