पात्रं त्वत्र निरुक्तं वै कविभिः पात्रवित्तमैः ।
हरिरेवैक उर्वीश यन्मयं वै चराचरम् ॥
देवर्ष्यर्हत्सु वै सत्सु तत्र ब्रह्मात्मजादिषु ।
राजन्यदग्रपूजायां मतः पात्रतयाच्युतः ॥
जीवराशिभिराकीर्ण अण्डकोशाङ्घ्रिपो महान् ।
तन्मूलत्वादच्युतेज्या सर्वजीवात्मतर्पणम् ॥
पुराण्यनेन सृष्टानि नृतिर्यगृषिदेवताः ।
शेते जीवेन रूपेण पुरेषु पुरुषो ह्यसौ ॥
तेष्वेव भगवान् राजंस्तारतम्येन वर्तते ।
तस्मात्पात्रं हि पुरुषो यावानात्मा यथेयते ॥ ३
pātraṁ tv atra niruktaṁ vai kavibhiḥ pātra-vittamaiḥ |
harir evaika urvīśa yan-mayaṁ vai carācaram ||
devarṣy-arhatsu vai satsu tatra brahmātmajādiṣu |
rājan yad agra-pūjāyāṁ mataḥ pātratayācyutaḥ ||
jīva-rāśibhir ākīrṇa aṇḍa-kośāṅghripo mahān |
tan-mūlatvād acyutejyā sarva-jīvātma-tarpaṇam ||
purāṇy anena sṛṣṭāni nṛ-tiryag-ṛṣi-devatāḥ |
śete jīvena rūpeṇa pureṣu puruṣo hy asau ||
teṣv eva bhagavān rājaṁs tāratamyena vartate |
tasmāt pātraṁ hi puruṣo yāvān ātmā yatheyate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.14.34–38)
“[Śrī Nārada to Śrī Yudhiṣṭhira:] O Ruler of the earth! The one Hari alone, of whom the universe [lit., the moving and the unmoving] is constituted, has been declared the [most] fit recipient of honor (pātram) here [i.e., on the earth] by the learned most knowledgable in regard to fit recipients of honor since, O King, Acyuta [i.e., Hari] was accepted as being the fit recipient of the first worship there [i.e., at your Rājasūya sacrifice] even when the devas, ṛṣis, ascetics, sons of Brahmā [i.e., Sanat, Sanandana, and so on], and others were present. Worship of Acyuta is satisfying to all jīvas and oneself because of [his] being the root of the vast tree of the universe filled with the multitudes of jīvas. The abodes [i.e., bodies] of human beings, animals, sages, and devatās [i.e., all living beings] were emanated by him. He, the Puruṣa, [then] lies in those abodes in the form of life [i.e., in the form of he who is the cause of life in those abodes, i.e., the Inner Regulator (Antaryāmī)]. O King, Bhagavān is present in these [abodes, i.e., bodies] verily in a gradation. Therefore, a person [i.e., a human being] is a fit recipient of honor as and to the extent the Self [i.e., Bhagavān] is perceived.”
Commentary
tasmāt tāratamya-vartanāt puruṣaḥ prāyo manuṣyaḥ pātram | tatra jñānādikaṁ viśiṣṭam iti bhagavad-vartanasyātiśayāt | tatrāpi ātmā yāvān yathā jñānādi-parimāṇādikaḥ, tathāsau pātram ity arthaḥ |
(Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā on SB 7.14.38; Bhakti Sandarbha: 289)
“‘Therefore’ (tasmāt), that is, because of the gradation [in Bhagavān’s presence], a person (puruṣaḥ), generally, a human being, is a fit recipient of honor (pātram) [in comparison to animals, inanimate objects, and so forth]. Therein [i.e., among human beings], knowledge (jñāna) and so forth [i.e., non-attachment (vairāgya) and various other virtues] are distinguished because of the profusion of [i.e., because of the comparatively greater extent of] Bhagavān’s presence [in a person who is possessed of knowledge (jñāna) and so forth]. Therein as well [i.e., even among persons endowed with knowledge (jñāna) and so forth], ‘As and to the extent the Self [is perceived],’ that is, as is the amount and so on of knowledge (jñāna) and so forth, so one is a fit recipient of honor. This is the meaning.”