Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Srimad Bhagavatam 7.15.6

devarshi-pitri-bhutebhya

atmane sva-janaya ca

annam samvibhajan pasyet

sarvam tat purushatmakam

SYNONYMS

deva -- unto the demigods; rishi -- saintly persons; pitri -- forefathers; bhutebhyah -- the living entities in general; atmane -- relatives; sva-janaya -- family members and friends; ca -- and; annam -- foodstuff (prasada); samvibhajan -- offering; pasyet -- one should see; sarvam -- all; tat -- them; purusha-atmakam -- related to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

TRANSLATION

One should offer prasada to the demigods, the saintly persons, one's forefathers, the people in general, one's family members, one's relatives and one's friends, seeing them all as devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

PURPORT

As mentioned above, it is recommended that everyone distribute prasada, considering every living being a part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. Even in feeding the poor, one should distribute prasada. In Kali-yuga there is a scarcity of food almost every year, and thus philanthropists spend lavishly to feed the poor. For this they invent the term daridra-narayana-seva. This is prohibited. One should distribute sumptuous prasada, considering everyone a part of the Supreme Lord, but one should not juggle words to make a poor man Narayana. Everyone is related to the Supreme Lord, but one should not mistakenly think that because one is related to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he has become the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Narayana. Such a Mayavada philosophy is extremely dangerous, especially for a devotee. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has therefore strictly forbidden us to associate with Mayavadi philosophers. Mayavadi-bhashya sunile haya sarva-nasa: if one associates with the Mayavada philosophy, his devotional life is doomed.

<<< >>>

Copyright (c) The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness