TEXT 11
visnur dvija-kriya-mulo
yajno dharmamayah puman
devarsi-pitr-bhutanam
dharmasya ca parayanam
SYNONYMS
visnuhLord Visnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead; dvijaof the brahmanas and ksatriyas; kriya-mulahwhose root is the performance of yajna and the ritualistic ceremonies mentioned in the Vedas; yajnahpersonified yajna (Lord Visnu, who is known as the yajna-purusa); dharma-mayahfull of religious principles; pumanthe Supreme Person; deva-rsiof the demigods and great rsis like Vyasadeva and Narada; pitrof the forefathers; bhutanamand of all other living entities; dharmasyaof the religious principles; caalso; parayanamthe shelter.
TRANSLATION
The basic principle of brahminical culture is to satisfy Lord Visnu, the personification of sacrificial and ritualistic ceremonies. Lord Visnu is the personified reservoir of all religious principles, and He is the shelter of all the demigods, the great pitas, and the people in general. When the brahmanas are killed, no one will exist to encourage the ksatriyas to perform yajnas, and thus the demigods, not being appeased by yajna, will automatically die.
PURPORT
Since Visnu is the central point of brahminical culture, Hiranyakasipus plan was to kill Visnu, for if Visnu were killed, naturally the brahminical culture would also be lost. With brahminical culture lost, yajna would no longer be performed, and for want of yajna the regular distribution of rainfall would cease (yajnad bhavati parjanyah [Bg. 3.14]). Thus there would be disturbances all over the world, and naturally the demigods would be defeated. From this verse we get a clear indication of how human society is disturbed when the Vedic Aryan civilization is killed and the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies performed by the brahmanas are stopped. Kalau sudra-sambhavah: because the population of the modern world consists mostly of sudras, the brahminical culture is now lost and is extremely difficult to reestablish in a proper way. Therefore Lord Caitanya has recommended the chanting of the holy name of the Lord, which will revive brahminical culture very easily.
Because of the increment in demoniac population, people have lost brahminical culture. Nor is there a ksatriya government. Instead, the government is a democracy in which any sudra can be voted into taking up the governmental reigns and capture the power to rule. Because of the poisonous effects of Kali-yuga, the sastra (Bhag. 12.2.13) says, dasyu-prayesu rajasu: the government will adopt the policies of dasyus, or plunderers. Thus there will be no instructions from the brahmanas, and even if there are brahminical instructions, there will be no ksatriya rulers who can follow them. Aside from Satya-yuga, even formerly, in the days when demons were flourishing, Hiranyakasipu planned to destroy the brahminical culture and the ksatriya government and thus create chaos all over the world. Although in Satya-yuga this plan was very difficult to execute, in Kali-yuga, which is full of sudras and demons, the brahminical culture is lost and can be revived only by the chanting of the maha-mantra. Therefore the Krsna consciousness movement, or the Hare Krsna movement, has been inaugurated to revive brahminical culture very easily so that people may become happy and peaceful in this life and prepare for elevation in the next. In this regard, Srila Madhvacarya quotes this verse from the Brahmanda Purana:
O King, the demons think that Hari, Lord Visnu, exists because of the brahmanas and yajna, but factually Hari is the cause of everything including the brahmanas and yajna. Therefore, through the popularizing of hari-kirtana, or the sankirtana movement, the brahminical culture and ksatriya government will automatically come back, and people will be extremely happy.
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