वरं पापशतं कुर्याद्वरं विप्रवधं प्रिये । परब्रह्मार्पिते ह्यन्ने न कुर्यादवहेलनम् ॥ ९३ ॥
varaṁ pāpaśataṁ kuryādvaraṁ vipravadhaṁ priyē | parabrahmārpitē hyannē na kuryādavahēlanam || 93 ||
Translation
Better to commit a hundred sins, better even to kill a brāhmaṇa, beloved, than to show contempt for food offered to the Supreme Brahman.
Word by word
- varaṁ
- better
- pāpaśataṁ
- a hundred sins
- kuryādvaraṁ
- one should commit; better
- vipravadhaṁ
- killing a brāhmaṇa
- priyē
- O beloved
- parabrahmārpitē
- offered to the Supreme Brahman
- hyannē
- indeed, in food
- na
- not
- kuryādavahēlanam
- should one show contempt
Meaning
Vara is glossed as "a little preferable": a deliberate hyperbole, the commentary's way of saying that contempt for the offering is worse than the gravest crimes, not a permission for them.