SB 4.22.43
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 43
- niṣpāditaś ca kārtsnyena
- bhagavadbhir ghṛṇālubhiḥ
- sādhūcchiṣṭaṁ hi me sarvam
- ātmanā saha kiṁ dade
SYNONYMS
niṣpāditaḥ ca — also the order is properly carried out; kārtsnyena — in full; bhagavadbhiḥ — by the representatives of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; ghṛṇālubhiḥ — by the most compassionate; sādhu-ucchiṣṭam — remnants of the foodstuffs of saintly persons; hi — certainly; me — mine; sarvam — everything; ātmanā — heart and soul; saha — with; kim — what; dade — shall give.
TRANSLATION
My dear brāhmaṇa, you have carried out the order thoroughly because you are also as compassionate as the Lord. It is my duty, therefore, to offer you something, but all I possess are but remnants of food taken by great saintly persons. What shall I give?
PURPORT
The word sādhūcchiṣṭam is significant in this verse. Pṛthu Mahārāja got his kingdom from great saintly persons like Bhṛgu and others just as one gets remnants of food. After the death of King Vena, the whole world was bereft of a popular ruler. There were so many catastrophes occurring that the great saintly persons, headed by Bhṛgu, created the body of King Pṛthu out of the body of his dead father, King Vena. Since King Pṛthu was thus offered the kingdom by the virtue of the mercy of great saintly persons, he did not want to divide his kingdom among saints like the Kumāras. When a father is eating food, he may, out of compassion, offer the remnants of his food to his son. Although such food may be already chewed by the father, it cannot be offered to the father again. Pṛthu Mahārāja's position was something like this; whatever he possessed had already been chewed, and therefore he could not offer it to the Kumāras. Indirectly, however, he offered everything he possessed to the Kumāras, and consequently they utilized his possessions in whatever way they liked. The next verse clarifies this matter.