Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.84.54
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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ā-śvabhyaḥ
—
extending even to the dogs
ā (extending) + śvan (dog). The verse explicitly names the dog — the unclean animal — as fed. Gauḍīyas read this as the punctum: dharmic completion includes those dharma's normal categories exclude.
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vandibhyaḥ
—
to the bards
From √vand (to praise). The bards praised the yajña; the yajamāna's own ornaments and clothes become their dakṣiṇā. Gauḍīyas note the unusual generosity — typically vandins receive coin, not the host's own garments.
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annena
—
with food
Instrumental of anna (food). Feeding-as-pūjā (annena pūjayat). Gauḍīyas hold prasāda-distribution as one of the dāna-limbs and as a small bhakti-act in itself: the giver, the receiver, and the food are all connected through Bhagavān.
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varṇān
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all classes of people
Accusative plural of varṇa. Every social class is fed. Gauḍīyas note the verse's deliberate inclusivity — the same scripture that codifies varṇa here universalizes its pūjā at the closing meal.
Having bathed, Vasudeva, along with his wives, gave to the reciters cloth and ornaments and gave food to all animals from the horses to dogs.
Vasudeva’s queens gave cloth and ornaments to the reciters. Instead of snataḥ alaṅkara sometimes nānālaṅkara is seen. They worshipped the various castes and others down to the dogeaters, by offering food.
After bathing and decorating themselves they gave away their used ornaments. Women or the queens also gave. Vasudeva fed all four varṇas of people.
- What 'jewel' am I tempted to keep that completion would ask me to release?
- Where would my devotion be sealed by an unaccustomed act of giving?
Out of the bath, Vasudeva gives away the very clothes and jewels he wore to the bards, dresses fresh, then feeds everyone — every class of person, down to the dogs. The dharma-act ends where bhakti always wants to start: with the meal that includes even the unincluded.
Across the Bhāgavata tradition, the closing meal of a yajña is meant to include those usually excluded. Prabhupāda institutionalized this in our own time — every ISKCON temple keeps the door open at meal-time.
Gauḍīyas read this verse, ā-śvabhyaḥ annena pūjayat (he honored even the dogs with food), as the doctrinal seed of that practice.
My note
Source: vedabase.io