Devanagari
अयं वै सर्वयज्ञाख्य: सर्वव्रतमिति स्मृतम् ।
तप:सारमिदं भद्रे दानं चेश्वरतर्पणम् ॥ ६० ॥
Verse text
ayaṁ vai sarva-yajṣākhyaḥ
sarva-vratam iti smṛtam
tapaḥ-sāram idaṁ bhadre
dānaṁ ceśvara-tarpaṇam
Synonyms
ayam
—
this
;
vai
—
indeed
;
sarva
—
yajṣa — all kinds of religious rituals and sacrifices
;
ākhyaḥ
—
called
;
sarva
—
vratam — all religious ceremonies
;
iti
—
thus
;
smṛtam
—
understood
;
tapaḥ
—
sāram — the essence of all austerities
;
idam
—
this
;
bhadre
—
O good lady
;
dānam
—
acts of charity
;
ca
—
and
;
īśvara
—
the Supreme Personality of Godhead
;
tarpaṇam
—
the process of pleasing .
Translation
This payo-vrata is also known as sarva-yajṣa. 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.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
This payo-vrata is also known as all sacrifices and all vows. It is the essence of austerity. It is the essence of charity and is pleasing to the Lord.
It is called all sacrifices. This means that by performing this, all sacrifices are performed. If this vow is performed all vows are performed. It is the essence of austerity, because by this austerity all austerities are performed. Thus it is the essence of all sacrifices, vows and charity. This should be understood. It satisfies the Lord. The word ca indicates that this is the sacrifice, vow, austerity and charity which satisfies the Lord.
Purport
Ārādhanānāṁ sarveṣāṁ viṣṇor ārādhanaṁ param.
This is a statement made by Lord Śiva to Pārvatī. Worshiping Lord Viṣṇu is the supreme process of worship. And how Lord Viṣṇu is worshiped in this
payo-vrata
ceremony has now been fully described. The ultimate goal of life is to please Lord Viṣṇu by
varṇāśrama-dharma.
The Vedic principles of four
varṇas
and four
āśramas
are meant for worship of Viṣṇu (
viṣṇur ārādhyate panthā nānyat tat-toṣa-kāraṇam
). The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is also
viṣṇu-ārādhanam,
or worship of Lord Viṣṇu, according to the age. The
payo-vrata
method of
viṣṇu-ārādhanam
was enunciated long, long ago by Kaśyapa 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 Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to open hundreds and thousands of Viṣṇu temples (temples of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, Jagannātha, Balarāma, Sītā-Rāma, Gaura-Nitāi and so on). Performing prescribed worship in such temples of Viṣṇu 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 Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement Lord Viṣṇu is worshiped in every temple according to a schedule of twenty-four hours of engagement in performing
kīrtana,
chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa
mahā-mantra,
offering palatable food to Lord Viṣṇu and distributing this food to Vaiṣṇavas and others. These are authorized activities, and if the members of the Kṛṣṇa 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
yajṣa,
giving in charity, observing
vratas,
and undergoing austerities, is included in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. The members of this movement should immediately and sincerely follow the processes already recommended. Of course, sacrifice is meant to please Lord Viṣṇu.
Yajṣaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi sumedhasaḥ:
in Kali-yuga, those who are intelligent perform the
saṅkīrtana-yajṣa.
One should follow this process conscientiously.