Read a Lecture by Srila Prabhupada on BG 3:8-11 in Seattle
SahYaja" Pa[Jaa" Sa*îa Pauraevac Pa[JaaPaiTa" )
ANaeNa Pa[SaivZYaßMaez vae_iSTvík-aMaDauk(- )) 10 ))
saha-yajïäù prajäù såñövä
puroväca prajäpatiù
anena prasaviñyadhvam
eña vo 'stv iñöa-käma-dhuk
SYNONYMS
saha-along with; yajïäù-sacrifices; prajäù-generations; såñövä-creating; purä-anciently; uväca-said; prajä-patiù-the Lord of creatures; anena-by this; prasaviñyadhvam-be more and more prosperous; eñaù-this; vaù-your; astu-let it be; iñöa-of all desirable things; käma-dhuk-bestower.
TRANSLATION
In the beginning of creation, the Lord of all creatures sent forth generations of men and demigods, along with sacrifices for Viñëu, and blessed them by saying, "Be thou happy by this yajïa [sacrifice] because its performance will bestow upon you everything desirable for living happily and achieving liberation."
PURPORT
The material creation by the Lord of creatures (Viñëu) is a chance offered to the conditioned souls to come back home-back to Godhead. All living entities within the material creation are conditioned by material nature because of their forgetfulness of their relationship to Viñëu, or Kåñëa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Vedic principles are to help us understand this eternal relation, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gétä: vedaiç ca sarvair aham eva vedyaù. The Lord says that the purpose of the Vedas is to understand Him. In the Vedic hymns it is said: patià viçvasyätmeçvaram. Therefore, the Lord of the living entities is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viñëu. In the Çrémad-Bhägavatam also (2.4.20) Çréla Çukadeva Gosvämé describes the Lord as pati in so many ways:
çriyaù patir yajïa-patiù prajä-patir
dhiyäà patir loka-patir dharä-patiù
patir gatiç cändhaka-våñëi-sätvatäà
prasédatäà me bhagavän satäà patiù
The prajä-pati is Lord Viñëu, and He is the Lord of all living creatures, all worlds, and all beauties, and the protector of everyone. The Lord created this material world to enable the conditioned souls to learn how to perform yajïas (sacrifices) for the satisfaction of Viñëu, so that while in the material world they can live very comfortably without anxiety and after finishing the present material body they can enter into the kingdom of God. That is the whole program for the conditioned soul. By performance of yajïa, the conditioned souls gradually become Kåñëa conscious and become godly in all respects. In the Age of Kali, the saìkértana-yajïa (the chanting of the names of God) is recommended by the Vedic scriptures, and this transcendental system was introduced by Lord Caitanya for the deliverance of all men in this age. Saìkértana-yajïa and Kåñëa consciousness go well together. Lord Kåñëa in His devotional form (as Lord Caitanya) is mentioned in the Çrémad-Bhägavatam (11.5.32) as follows, with special reference to the saìkértana-yajïa:
kåñëa-varëaà tviñäkåñëaà
säìgopäìgästra-pärñadam
yajïaiù saìkértana-präyair
yajanti hi su-medhasaù
"In this Age of Kali, people who are endowed with sufficient intelligence will worship the Lord, who is accompanied by His associates, by performance of saìkértana-yajïa." Other yajïas prescribed in the Vedic literatures are not easy to perform in this Age of Kali, but the saìkértana-yajïa is easy and sublime for all purposes, as recommended in Bhagavad-gétä also (9.14).
