TEXTS 2426
cakram daksina-haste sya
padma-koso sya padayoh
ije mahabhisekena
so bhisikto dhirad vibhuh
panca-pancasata medhyair
gangayam anu vajibhih
mamateyam purodhaya
yamunam anu ca prabhuh
asta-saptati-medhyasvan
babandha pradadad vasu
bharatasya hi dausmanter
agnih saci-gune citah
sahasram badvaso yasmin
brahmana ga vibhejire
SYNONYMS
cakramthe mark of Krsnas disc; daksina-hasteon the palm of the right hand; asyaof him (Bharata); padma-kosahthe mark of the whorl of a lotus; asyaof him; padayohon the soles of the feet; ijeworshiped the Supreme Personality of Godhead; maha-abhisekenaby a grand Vedic ritualistic ceremony; sahhe (Maharaja Bharata); abhisiktahbeing promoted; adhiratto the topmost position of a ruler; vibhuhthe master of everything; panca-pancasatafifty-five; medhyaihfit for sacrifices; gangayam anufrom the mouth of the Ganges to the source; vajibhihwith horses; mamateyamthe great sage Bhrgu; purodhayamaking him the great priest; yamunamon the bank of the Yamuna; anuin regular order; caalso; prabhuhthe supreme master, Maharaja Bharata; asta-saptatiseventy-eight; medhya-asvanhorses fit for sacrifice; babandhahe bound; pradadatgave in charity; vasuriches; bharatasyaof Maharaja Bharata; hiindeed; dausmantehthe son of Maharaja Dusmanta; agnihthe sacrificial fire; saci-guneon an excellent site; citahestablished; sahasramthousands; badvasahby the number of one badva (one badva equals 13,084); yasminin which sacrifices; brahmanahall the brahmanas present; gahthe cows; vibhejirereceived their respective share.
TRANSLATION
Maharaja Bharata, the son of Dusmanta, had the mark of Lord Krsnas disc on the palm of his right hand, and he had the mark of a lotus whorl on the soles of his feet. By worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead with a grand ritualistic ceremony, he became the emperor and master of the entire world. Then, under the priesthood of Mamateya, Bhrgu Muni, he performed fifty-five horse sacrifices on the bank of the Ganges, beginning from its mouth and ending at its source, and seventy-eight horse sacrifices on the bank of the Yamuna, beginning from the confluence at Prayaga and ending at the source. He established the sacrificial fire on an excellent site, and he distributed great wealth to the brahmanas. Indeed, he distributed so many cows that each of thousands of brahmanas had one badva [13,084] as his share.
PURPORT
As indicated here by the words dausmanter agnih saci-gune citah, Bharata, the son of Maharaja Dusmanta, arranged for many ritualistic ceremonies all over the world, especially all over India on the banks of the Ganges and Yamuna, from the mouth to the source, and all such sacrifices were performed in very distinguished places. As stated in Bhagavad-gita (3.9), yajnarthat karmano nyatra loko yam karma-bandhanah: Work done as a sacrifice for Visnu has to be performed, otherwise work binds one to this material world. Everyone should engage in the performance of yajna, and the sacrificial fire should be ignited everywhere, the entire purpose being to make people happy, prosperous and progressive in spiritual life. Of course, these things were possible before the beginning of Kali-yuga because there were qualified brahmanas who could perform such yajnas. For the present, however, the Brahma-vaivarta Purana enjoins:
In this age of Kali, five acts are forbidden: offering a horse in sacrifice, offering a cow in sacrifice, accepting the order of sannyasa, offering oblations of flesh to the forefathers, and begetting children in the wife of ones brother. In this age, such yajnas as the asvamedha-yajna and gomedha-yajna are impossible to perform because there are neither sufficient riches nor qualified brahmanas. This verse says, mamateyam purodhaya: Maharaja Bharata engaged the son of Mamata, Bhrgu Muni, to take charge of performing this yajna. Now, however, such brahmanas are impossible to find. Therefore the sastras recommend, yajnaih sankirtana-prayair yajanti hi sumedhasah: those who are intelligent should perform the sankirtana-yajna inaugurated by Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam
sangopangastra-parsadam
yajnaih sankirtana-prayair
yajanti hi sumedhasah
In this age of Kali, people endowed with sufficient intelligence will worship the Lord, who is accompanied by His associates, by performance of sankirtana-yajna. (Bhag. 11.5.32) Yajna must be performed, for otherwise people will be entangled in sinful activities and will suffer immensely. Therefore the Krsna consciousness movement has taken charge of introducing the chanting of Hare Krsna all over the world. This Hare Krsna movement is also yajna, but without the difficulties involved in securing paraphernalia and qualified brahmanas. This congregational chanting can be performed anywhere and everywhere. If people somehow or other assemble together and are induced to chant Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, all the purposes of yajna will be fulfilled. The first purpose is that there must be sufficient rain, for without rain there cannot be any produce (annad bhavanti bhutani parjanyad anna-sambhavah). All our necessities can be produced simply by rainfall (kamam vavarsa parjanyah [SB 1.10.4]), and the earth is the original source of all necessities (sarva-kama-dugha mahi). In conclusion, therefore, in this age of Kali people all over the world should refrain from the four principles of sinful lifeillicit sex, meat-eating, intoxication and gamblingand in a pure state of existence should perform the simple yajna of chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra. Then the earth will certainly produce all the necessities for life, and people will be happy economically, politically, socially, religiously and culturally. Everything will be in proper order.

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