Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.74.16
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
-
deva - varcasaḥ
—
possessing the power of demigods
Compound: deva (demigod) + varcas (lustre, vital splendour). The priests are not human-grade; they carry the same tejas as the devas. Gauḍīyas: brahminical varcas is what allows a ritual's outer form to actually move inner energies.
-
rājasūyena
—
by the Rājasūya
Instrumental of rājasūya. The sacrifice itself is the means; Yudhiṣṭhira is the object being sanctified. Vedic theology: a yajña has agency.
-
vidhi - vat
—
according to the prescriptions of the Vedas
Vidhi (injunction) + vat (suffix: in the manner of). The book of rules is being honoured precisely so that what follows — Kṛṣṇa first — cannot be charged with irregularity.
-
pracetasam
—
Varuṇa
Pra + cetas — the highly-conscious one. Varuṇa's original Rājasūya is the template. The Bhāgavatam fixes the comparison: Yudhiṣṭhira's yajña is to its priests as Varuṇa's was to the amaras.
Just as the devatas performed sacrifice at the rajasuya of Varuna, so the priests performed sacrifice for Yudhisthira.
The priests such as Vyāsa had more power than the devatās. They performed it just as the ancient sages among devatās (amarāḥ) performed it for Varuṇa. Just as it was performed elsewhere it was performed here. Its main elements are shown in brief.
The priests performed the sacrifice for Yudhiṣṭhira, who had attained the kingdom (mahā-rājam). The priests shone like devatās because of austerity or because of jewels and ornaments or because of prospering from various worships.
- Where am I being sloppy with form thinking it doesn't matter?
- What precision in my practice would empower the result?
When master engineers build a bridge, they follow the design exactly — yet the bridge bears the maker's signature in every joint. The priests, deva-varcasa, run Yudhiṣṭhira's Rājasūya by the rule-book, and the result has the same celestial signature as Varuṇa's original — because the rule-book itself came from the Lord.
My note
Source: vedabase.io