TEXT 60
ayam vai sarva-yajnakhyah
sarva-vratam iti smrtam
tapah-saram idam bhadre
danam cesvara-tarpanam
SYNONYMS
ayamthis; vaiindeed; sarva-yajnaall kinds of religious rituals and sacrifices; akhyahcalled; sarva-vratamall religious ceremonies; itithus; smrtamunderstood; tapah-saramthe essence of all austerities; idamthis; bhadreO good lady; danamacts of charity; caand; isvarathe Supreme Personality of Godhead; tarpanamthe process of pleasing.
TRANSLATION
This payo-vrata is also known as sarva-yajna. In other words, by performing this sacrifice one can perform all other sacrifices automatically. This is also acknowledged to be the best of all ritualistic ceremonies. O gentle lady, it is the essence of all austerities, and it is the process of giving charity and pleasing the supreme controller.
PURPORT
Aradhananam sarvesam visnor aradhanam param. This is a statement made by Lord Siva to Parvati. Worshiping Lord Visnu is the supreme process of worship. And how Lord Visnu is worshiped in this payo-vrata ceremony has now been fully described. The ultimate goal of life is to please Lord Visnu by varnasrama-dharma. The Vedic principles of four varnas and four asramas are meant for worship of Visnu (visnur aradhyate pumsam nanyat tat-tosa-karanam). The Krsna consciousness movement is also visnu-aradhanam, or worship of Lord Visnu, according to the age. The payo-vrata method of visnu-aradhanam was enunciated long, long ago by Kasyapa Muni to his wife, Aditi, in the heavenly planets, and the same process is bona fide on earth even now. Especially for this age of Kali, the process accepted by the Krsna consciousness movement is to open hundreds and thousands of Visnu temples (temples of Radha-Krsna, Jagannatha, Balarama, Sita-Rama, Gaura-Nitai and so on). Performing prescribed worship in such temples of Visnu and thus worshiping the Lord is as good as performing the payo-vrata ceremony recommended here. The payo-vrata ceremony is performed from the first to the thirteenth day of the bright fortnight of the moon, but in our Krsna consciousness movement Lord Visnu is worshiped in every temple according to a schedule of twenty-four hours of engagement in performing kirtana, chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, offering palatable food to Lord Visnu and distributing this food to Vaisnavas and others. These are authorized activities, and if the members of the Krsna consciousness movement stick to these principles, they will achieve the same result one gains by observing the payo-vrata ceremony. Thus the essence of all auspicious activities, such as performing yajna, giving in charity, observing vratas, and undergoing austerities, is included in the Krsna consciousness movement. The members of this movement should immediately and sincerely follow the processes already recommended. Of course, sacrifice is meant to please Lord Visnu. Yajnaih sankirtana-prayair yajanti hi sumedhasah: [SB 11.5.32] in Kali-yuga, those who are intelligent perform the sankirtana-yajna. One should follow this process conscientiously.
Link to this page: https://prabhupadabooks.com/sb/8/16/60 Previous: SB 8.16.59 Next: SB 8.16.61
|