Bhagavān

yasyāmṛtāmala-yaśaḥ-śravaṇāvagāhaḥ
sadyaḥ punāti jagad āśvapacād vikuṇṭhaḥ |
so’haṁ bhavadbhya upalabdha-sutīrtha-kīrtiś
chindyāṁ sva-bāhum api vaḥ pratikūla-vṛttim ||
yat-sevayā caraṇa-padma-pavitra-reṇuṁ
sadyaḥ kṣatākhila-malaṁ pratilabdha-śīlam |
na śrīr viraktam api māṁ vijahāti yasyāḥ
prekṣā-lavārtham itare niyamān vahanti ||
nāhaṁ tathādmi yajamāna-havir vitāne
ścyotad-ghṛta-plutam adan huta-bhuṅ-mukhena |
yad brāhmaṇasya mukhataś carato’nughāsaṁ
tuṣṭasya mayy avahitair nija-karma-pākaiḥ ||
yeṣāṁ bibharmy aham akhaṇḍa-vikuṇṭha-yoga-
māyā-vibhūtir amalāṅghri-rajaḥ kirīṭaiḥ |
viprāṁs tu ko na viṣaheta yad-arhaṇāmbhaḥ
sadyaḥ punāti saha-candra-lalāma-lokān ||
ye me tanūr dvija-varān duhatīr madīyā
bhūtāny alabdha-śaraṇāni ca bheda-buddhyā |
drakṣyanty agha-kṣata-dṛśo hy ahi-manyavas tān
gṛdhrā ruṣā mama kuṣanty adhidaṇḍa-netuḥ ||
ye brāhmaṇān mayi dhiyā kṣipato’rcayantas
tuṣyad-dhṛdaḥ smita-sudhokṣita-padma-vaktrāḥ |
vāṇyānurāga-kalayātmajavad gṛṇantaḥ
sambodhayanty aham ivāham upāhṛtas taiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.16.6–11)

“[Śrī Bhagavān addresses the four Kumāras:] He upon plunging into the nectar of hearing about whose untainted glory the [whole] world is immediately purified, including [even] dog-cookers—[that is,] I, Vikuṇṭha [i.e., Bhagavān]—who have attained the fame of being an excellent tīrtha [i.e., source of purification] because of you all [i.e., because of all of you brāhmaṇas], by the worship of whom I am (1) endowed with purifying dust on my lotus feet, (2) purged of all contamination instantly, (3) possessed of good character, and (4) such that Śrī—for the sake of [attaining] an instant of whose attention others [viz., the devas led by Brahmā] observe restraints (niyamas) [i.e., austerities, etc.]—does not abandon me although [I am] detached—[I who am such] shall cut off even my own arm [if it is] unfavorably engaged [towards you brāhmaṇas]. I do not eat an oblation from a performer of yajña in a sacrifice through the mouth of the fire [in the sacrifice] as I eat each morsel covered with dripping ghee through the mouth of an eating brāhmaṇa who is satisfied with the results of his own actions offered to me [i.e., I am more satisfied with offerings made to brāhmaṇas than I am with offerings made to me directly in the fire of a yajña]. Who would not forgive [even misbehaved] brāhmaṇas, whose taintless foot dust I carry on my crown—I who am possessed of the undivided and unchecked magnificence of [my] yogamāyā [potency] and whose worship water [i.e., the water used to worship whose feet] immediately purifies all planes along with Śiva? [i.e., everyone should forgive brāhmaṇas if they commit some transgression since even I do so and carry the foot dust of brāhmaṇas atop my head]. The principal administrator of justice’s [viz., Yamarāja’s] vultures [i.e., emissaries in vulture of form], wrathful like snakes, angrily tear apart they of vision impaired by sin who see the best of the twice-born, cows, and living beings devoid of shelter—[who are] forms of me [i.e., who are dwelling places (adhiṣṭhānas) of mine] and [who are] my own—with thought of distinction [from me, i.e., without recognizing that brāhmaṇas are objects of my sense of ‘I,’ cows are objects of my sense of ‘my,’ and the shelterless are objects of my compassion]. I am captivated by they of satisfied heart and lotus faces moistened with the nectar of gentle smiles who assuage [even] insulting brāhmaṇas just as I do [in the case of Bhṛgu and others], worshiping [them] with mind upon me [i.e., with vision of me within them] and praising [them] with speech replete with the art of affection like a son [who similarly pacifies his angry father].”

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