Srimad Bhagavatam — Dashama Skandha, Shloka 11
The Brāhmaṇas’ Wives Blessed (Brāhmaṇa-patnī-prasāda) — Ritualism Humbled by Bhakti
देश: काल: पृथग्द्रव्यं मन्त्रतन्त्रर्त्विजोऽग्नय: । देवता यजमानश्च क्रतुर्धर्मश्च यन्मय: ॥ १० ॥ तं ब्रह्म परमं साक्षाद् भगवन्तमधोक्षजम् । मनुष्यदृष्ट्या दुष्प्रज्ञा मर्त्यात्मानो न मेनिरे ॥ ११ ॥
deśaḥ kālaḥ pṛthag dravyaṁ mantra-tantrartvijo ’gnayaḥ devatā yajamānaś ca kratur dharmaś ca yan-mayaḥ
Although the ingredients of sacrificial performance — the place, time, particular paraphernalia, mantras, rituals, priests, fires, demigods, performer, offering and the as yet unseen beneficial results — are all simply aspects of His opulences, the brāhmaṇas saw Lord Kṛṣṇa as an ordinary human because of their perverted intelligence. They failed to recognize that He is the Supreme Absolute Truth, the directly manifest Personality of Godhead, whom the material senses cannot ordinarily perceive. Thus bewildered by their false identification with the mortal body, they did not show Him proper respect.
The ritualistic brāhmaṇas could not understand why the sacrificial food should be offered to Lord Kṛṣṇa, whom they considered an ordinary human being. Just as a person with rose-colored glasses sees the entire world as rose-colored, a conditioned soul with mundane vision sees even God Himself as mundane and thus loses the opportunity to go back home, back to Godhead.
FAQs
This verse teaches that all aspects of yajña—time, place, mantras, priests, fires, deities, and dharma—are pervaded by the Lord, yet He remains Adhokṣaja, beyond material perception; mere ritual vision cannot reveal Him without devotion.
Because they looked with a purely human, material outlook and were absorbed in ritual formalism, they failed to perceive the Supreme Brahman standing before them as Bhagavān.
Do your duties, but cultivate bhakti—hear about the Lord, remember Him, and offer your actions to Him—so spiritual vision grows beyond external forms and social assumptions.