ब्रह्मण्यदेवः पुरुषः पुरातनो
नित्यं हरिर्यच्चरणाभिवन्दनात् ।
अवाप लक्ष्मीमनपायिनीं यशो
जगत्पवित्रं च महत्तमाग्रणीः ॥
यत्सेवयाशेषगुहाशयः स्वराड्
विप्रप्रियस्तुष्यति काममीश्वरः ।
तदेव तद्धर्मपरैर्विनीतैः
सर्वात्मना ब्रह्मकुलं निषेव्यताम् ॥
पुमान् लभेतानतिवेलमात्मनः
प्रसीदतोऽत्यन्तशमं स्वतः स्वयम् ।
यन्नित्यसम्बन्धनिषेवया ततः
परं किमत्रास्ति मुखं हविर्भुजाम् ॥
अश्नात्यनन्तः खलु तत्त्वकोविदैः
श्रद्धाहुतं यन्मुख इज्यनामभिः ।
न वै तथा चेतनया बहिष्कृते
हुताशने पारमहंस्यपर्यगुः ॥
यद्ब्रह्म नित्यं विरजं सनातनं
श्रद्धातपोमङ्गलमौनसंयमैः ।
समाधिना बिभ्रति हार्थदृष्टये
यत्रेदम् आदर्श इवावभासते ॥
तेषामहं पादसरोजरेणु-
मार्या वहेयाधिकिरीटमायुः ।
यं नित्यदा बिभ्रत आशु पापं
नश्यत्यमुं सर्वगुणा भजन्ति ॥
brahmaṇya-devaḥ puruṣaḥ purātano
nityaṁ harir yac-caraṇābhivandanāt |
avāpa lakṣmīm anapāyinīṁ yaśo
jagat-pavitraṁ ca mahattamāgraṇīḥ ||
yat-sevayāśeṣa-guhāśayaḥ svarāḍ
vipra-priyas tuṣyati kāmam īśvaraḥ |
tad eva tad-dharma-parair vinītaiḥ
sarvātmanā brahma-kulaṁ niṣevyatām ||
pumān labhetānativelam ātmanaḥ
prasīdato’tyanta-śamaṁ svataḥ svayam |
yan-nitya-sambandha-niṣevayā tataḥ
paraṁ kim atrāsti mukhaṁ havir-bhujām ||
aśnāty anantaḥ khalu tattva-kovidaiḥ
śraddhā-hutaṁ yan-mukha ijya-nāmabhiḥ |
na vai tathā cetanayā bahiṣ-kṛte
hutāśane pāramahaṁsya-paryaguḥ ||
yad brahma nityaṁ virajaṁ sanātanaṁ
śraddhā-tapo-maṅgala-mauna-saṁyamaiḥ |
samādhinā bibhrati hārtha-dṛṣṭaye
yatredam ādarśa ivāvabhāsate ||
teṣām ahaṁ pāda-saroja-reṇum
āryā vaheyādhi-kirīṭam āyuḥ |
yaṁ nityadā bibhrata āśu pāpaṁ
naśyaty amuṁ sarva-guṇā bhajanti ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.21.38–43)
“[Pṛthu Mahārāja addresses an assembly of devas, brāhmaṇas, and kings:] By respectfully bowing to whose feet the Deva [i.e., the Best] of those supportive of brāhmaṇas, the Primeval Puruṣa, the Foremost of the greatest of the mahats—Hari [himself]—attains imperishable Lakṣmī and glory purifying of the [entire] world, and by worshiping whom he who dwells in the hearts of all, he who is self-manifest, he to whom the brāhmaṇas are dear [alt., he who is dear to the brāhmaṇas], Īśvara [viz., again, Hari himself], is satisfied as desired—that brāhmaṇa caste specifically is to be worshiped in all respects by cultured persons devoted to his [viz., Śrī Hari’s] dharma. Through whose mouth, and indeed not so through a fire devoid of consciousness, the Infinite One [viz., Hari]—he whose words are graspable [only] by paramahaṁsas—eats an oblation [offered] with reverence and obeisances unto the objects of worship [i.e., the devas] by persons cognizant of the reality, and by means of worship in regular connection with whom a person on their own [i.e., without engaging in cultivation of jñāna] without any great delay can, by virtue of [thereby acquiring] a purified mind, attain absolute equanimity [i.e., mokṣa]—what greater mouth of the devas exists in this world than that [i.e., than the mouth of a brāhmaṇa]? O honorable people! All my life may I carry atop my crown the dust of the lotus feet of they who by means of faith, austerity, well-being, silence, restraint, and samādhi [i.e., steadiness of mind] perpetually carry the pure, eternal Veda, in which this [world] appears as though in a mirror, for the sake of sight [i.e., understanding] of its [i.e., the Veda’s] object, [those brāhmaṇas’ foot dust] which quickly destroys the sin of one who always carries it [atop the head]. All qualities take shelter in him [i.e., in one who honors the foot dust of brāhmaṇas].”