Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.86.53
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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mat-kalayā
—
with loving meditation upon Me
Compound: mat (My) + kalā (small part, here meaning loving meditation, devotional connection). The brāhmaṇa who is also mat-kalā-yukta — endowed with even a portion of bhakti to Me — is supremely elevated. Gauḍīyas: bhakti's smallest portion outweighs all other qualifications.
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tapasā
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by austerity
Instrumental of tapas (heat, austerity). The first of three triadic qualifiers for the elevated brāhmaṇa — tapas, vidyā, tuṣṭi — to which the Bhāgavata adds bhakti (mat-kalā) as topmost. Tapas without bhakti remains in karma-kāṇḍa; with bhakti it becomes bhakti-tapas.
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śreyān
—
the best
Comparative of śreyas — 'better.' Used as superlative here. The brāhmaṇa is śreyān 'of all living beings.' Gauḍīyas: not a caste-claim but a niṣṭha-claim — the brāhmaṇa who is mat-kalā-yukta is the model.
The brahmana is best of all living entities by birth, austerity, knowledge, peace and even more because he directly see me through worship (mat kalaya).
He establishes their qualities using kaimutya. The brāhmaṇa is the best simply by his birth caste. He is better by following his dharma (tapas). But he who has realized my sphūrti (kalā) is the best. What more can be said? Better than following his dharma (tapasā) is to have knowledge of scripture (vidyayā). Better than that is to be an ātmārāma (tuṣṭyā). Better than that is to realize my sphūrti (kalayā). The sequence is in order of increasing excellence.
By his very birth, a brāhmaṇa is the best of all living beings in this world, or in the three worlds. But he is better with svadharma (tapasā), study of scriptures (vidyayā) and being satisfied or being peaceful without attaining objects. But the person who has bhakti is the best (mat-kalayā). A person endowed with all of these elements is the best mahā-bhāgavata. This mahā-bhāgavata is described in Padma Purāṇa: tāpādi-pañca-saṁskāro navejyā-karma-kārakaḥ | artha-pañcaka-vid vipro mahā-bhāgavataḥ smṛtaḥ || The mahā-bhāgavata is a person who has undergone the five saṁskāras such as branding, performing the rituals like navejyā and knows the artha-pañcaka. Padma Purāṇa 6.253.27 The meaning is in Bhāgavatāmṛta.
- What beginning gift in me could be magnified by sustained austerity?
- Where am I coasting on inheritance instead of compounding it?
A brāhmaṇa by birth is already the best of jīvas — but combine that with tapas, vidyā, contentment, and bhakti to Me, and there is no higher being on earth. Kṛṣṇa Himself ranks the categories.
My note
Source: vedabase.io