SB 1.12.34 (1964)
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT No. 34
Tena sambhrita eambhare dharmaputra yudhisthirah Bajimedhais tribhir bheeto yajnai samayajad harim
ENGLISH SYNONYMS
Tena—by that riches, Sambhrita—collected, Sambharo—ingredients, Dharmaputra—the pious king, Yudhtsthira—of the name, Bajimedhai—by horse-sacrifices, Tribhi—three times, Bheeto—being too much afraid after the battle of Kurukshetra, Yajnai—sacrifices, Samayajad—perfectly worshipped, Hari—the personality of Godhead.
TRANSLATION
By that riches he could collect the ingredients of three sacrifices in which horses are offered and the pious king Maharaj Yudhisthira who was very much afraid after the battle of Kurukshetra thus pleased the Lord Hari Personality of Godhead.
PURPORT
Maharaj Yudhisthir was the ideal and celebrated pious king of the world and still he was too much afraid after the execution of the battle of Kurukshetra on account of mass killing in the fight and that also only for installing him on the throne. He therefore, took all the responsibility of sins committed in the warfare. And to get rid of all such sins he desired to perform three sacrifices in which horses are offered in the alter. Such sacrifice is not only costly so as a King like Maharaj Yudhisthir had to collect the necessary heaps of gold left by Maharaj Marutta and the Brahmins, who were given in charity gold by the King Marutta. The learned Brahmins could not take away all the loads of gold given by Maharaj Marutta and therefore they left behind them the major portion of the gift. And Maharaj Marutta also did not recollect such heaps of gold given away in charity. Besides that all the golden plates and utensils which were used in the sacrifice were also thrown in the dustbins and all such heaps of gold remained unclaimed property for a long time till Maharaj Yudhisthir collected them for his own purposes. Lord Sri Krishna advised the brothers of Maharaj Yudhisthir to collect the unclaimed property because it belonged to the King. The more astonishing thing is that no subject of the state also collected such unclaimed gold for industrial enterprise or like that. This means that the state citizens were completely satisfied by all necessaries of life and therefore not inclined to accept unnecessary productive enterprises for sense gratification. Maharaj Yudhisthira also requisitioned the heaps of gold for performing sacrifices and for pleasing the Supreme Hari Personality of Godhead. Otherwise he had no desire to collect them for the State Treasury.
One should take lessons from the acts of Maharaj Yudhisthira how he was afraid of sins committed in the battlefield and therefore he wanted to satisfy the Supreme Authority. This means unintentional sins are also committed in our daily occupational discharge of duties and to counteract even such unintentional crimes, one must perform sacrifices as they are recommended in the revealed scriptures. The Lord says in the Bagwat Geeta (Yajnarthe Karmani anyatra Karma bandhana) one must perform sacrifices recommended in the scriptures in order to get rid from commitment of all unauthorised work or even unintentional crimes which we are apt to commit. By doing so one shall be freed from all kinds of sins. And those who do not do so but work on self-interest of sense-gratification,-shall have to undergo all tribulations accrued from committed sins. Therefore, the main purpose of performing sacrifices is to satisfy the Supreme Personality Hari. The process of performing sacrifices may be different in terms of different time, place and persons but the aim of such sacrifices is one and the same at all times and in all circumstances viz. satisfaction of the Supreme Lord Hari. That is the way of pious life and that is the way of peace and prosperity of the world at large. Maharaj Yudhisthir did all these as the ideal pious king in the world.
If Maharaj Yudhisthir were to be a sinner in his daily discharge of duties in the matter of royal administration of state affairs, wherein killing of man and the animals is a recognised art,—then we can just imagine what amount of sins are committed consciously or unconsciously by the untrained population of the Kaliyuga without any asset of performing sacrifices in the matter of pleasing the Supremc Lord. The Bhagwatam says therefore, that the prime duty of the human being is to satisfy the Supreme Lord by the performance of one's occupational duty. (see PP 119 Vol. I).
Let any man of any place or community, caste or creed,-be engaged in any sort of occupational duty but he must agree to perform sacrifices as it is recommended in the scriptures for the particular place, time and person. In the Vedic literatures it is recommended that in the Kaliyuga people must be engaged in the matter of glorifying the Lord by chanting the holy name of Krishna (Kirtanat eva krishnasya muktasanga param brajet) without any offence and by doing so one can be freed from all sins: and thus can attain the highest perfection of life by returning back to home, back to Godhead. We have already discussed this subject matter more than once in this great literature of SRIMAD BHAGWATAM at different places and specially in the introductory portion by sketching the life of Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu,-and still we are repeating the same thing in this connection with a view to bring about peace and prosperity in the human society at large.
The Lord has declared openly in the 'Bhagwat Geeta' how He becomes pleased with us and the same process is practically demonstrated in the life and preaching work of Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The perfect process of performing Yajnas or sacrifices for pleasing the Supreme Lord Hari (Peronality of Godhead who gets us free from all miseries of existence), is to follow the ways of Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in this dark age of quarrel and dissensions.
Maharaj Yudhisthira had to collect heaps of gold for securing the ingredients of Horse-sacrifice Yajna in the days of sufficiency and we can hardly think of such performance of Yajnas in these days of insufficiency and complete scarcity of gold. At the present moment we have heaps of papers with promise of being converted into gold by economic development of modern civilisation and still there is no possibility of spending riches like Maharaj Yudhisthira either individually or collectively or by state patronisation. Just suitable, therefore, for the age, is the method recommended by Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in terms of the Shastra. Such method requires no expenditure at all and yet can award more benefit than what is derived from other expensive method of Yajna performances.
The Horse-saerifice Yajna or for the matter of Cow-sacrifice Yajnas performed by the Vedic regulations may not be misunderstood as the proces of killing the animals. On the contrary such animals offered for the Yajna were rejuvinated to a new span of life by the transcendental power of chanting the Vedic hyms, which if properly chanted, is different from what is understood by the common layman. The Vedamantras are all practical and the proof is rejuvination of the sacrificed animal.
There is no possiblity of such methodical chanting of the Vedic hymns by the socalled Brahmins or priests of the present age. The untrained descendants of the twice-born family are no more like their forefathers and as such they are counted amongst the Sudras or once-born man. The once-born man is unfit for chanting the Vedic hymns and therefore there is no practical utility of the original hymns without being harnessed by the authorised Personality in terms of the Vedic injunctions suitable for the age and the candidates.
And to save them all, Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu propounded the 'Samkritan' movement or Yajna for all practical purposes and the people of the present age are strongly recommended to follow the sure and recognised Path.