SB 9.20.24 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

चक्रं दक्षिणहस्तेऽस्य पद्मकोशोऽस्य पादयो: । ईजे महाभिषेकेण सोऽभिषिक्तोऽधिराड् विभु: ॥ २४ ॥ पञ्चपञ्चाशता मेध्यैर्गङ्गायामनु वाजिभि: । मामतेयं पुरोधाय यमुनामनु च प्रभु: ॥ २५ ॥ अष्टसप्ततिमेध्याश्वान् बबन्ध प्रददद् वसु । भरतस्य हि दौष्मन्तेरग्नि: साचीगुणे चित: । सहस्रं बद्वशो यस्मिन् ब्राह्मणा गा विभेजिरे ॥ २६ ॥

Verse text

cakraṁ dakṣiṇa-haste ’sya padma-kośo ’sya pādayoḥ īje mahābhiṣekeṇa so ’bhiṣikto ’dhirāḍ vibhuḥ paṣca-paṣcāśatā medhyair gaṅgāyām anu vājibhiḥ māmateyaṁ purodhāya yamunām anu ca prabhuḥ aṣṭa-saptati-medhyāśvān babandha pradadad vasu bharatasya hi dauṣmanter agniḥ sācī-guṇe citaḥ sahasraṁ badvaśo yasmin brāhmaṇā gā vibhejire

Synonyms

cakram — the mark of Kṛṣṇa’s disc ; dakṣiṇa — haste — on the palm of the right hand ; asya — of him (Bharata) ; padma — kośaḥ — the mark of the whorl of a lotus ; asya — of him ; pādayoḥ — on the soles of the feet ; īje — worshiped the Supreme Personality of Godhead ; mahā — abhiṣekeṇa — by a grand Vedic ritualistic ceremony ; saḥ — he (Mahārāja Bharata) ; abhiṣiktaḥ — being promoted ; adhirāṭ — to the topmost position of a ruler ; vibhuḥ — the master of everything ; paṣca — paṣcāśatā — fifty-five ; medhyaiḥ — fit for sacrifices ; gaṅgāyām anu — from the mouth of the Ganges to the source ; vājibhiḥ — with horses ; māmateyam — the great sage Bhṛgu ; purodhāya — making him the great priest ; yamunām — on the bank of the Yamunā ; anu — in regular order ; ca — also ; prabhuḥ — the supreme master, Mahārāja Bharata ; aṣṭa — saptati — seventy-eight ; medhya — aśvān — horses fit for sacrifice ; babandha — he bound ; pradadat — gave in charity ; vasu — riches ; bharatasya — of Mahārāja Bharata ; hi — indeed ; dauṣmanteḥ — the son of Mahārāja Duṣmanta ; agniḥ — the sacrificial fire ; sācī — guṇe — on an excellent site ; citaḥ — established ; sahasram — thousands ; badvaśaḥ — by the number of one badva (one badva equals 13,084) ; yasmin — in which sacrifices ; brāhmaṇāḥ — all the brāhmaṇas present ; gāḥ — the cows ; vibhejire — received their respective share .

Translation

Mahārāja Bharata, the son of Duṣmanta, had the mark of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s 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 Māmateya, Bhṛgu 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 Yamunā, beginning from the confluence at Prayāga and ending at the source. He established the sacrificial fire on an excellent site, and he distributed great wealth to the brāhmaṇas. Indeed, he distributed so many cows that each of thousands of brāhmaṇas had one badva [13,084] as his share.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The powerful emperor Bharata, enthroned by a bathing ceremony, had the mark of Lord Kṛṣṇa's disc on the palm of his right hand and he had the mark of a lotus whorl on the soles of his feet. He worshipped the Lord by fifty-five horse sacrifices on the bank of the Gaṅgā, beginning from its mouth and ending at its source. Making the son of Mamaṭā the priest, he bound up seventy-eight horses for sacrifice on the bank of the Yamunā River and gave away wealth. He established the sacrificial fire on excellent sites, during which time he distributed 13,084 cows to each of thousands of brāhmaṇas. Vājibhiḥ means by horse sacrifices. He made the son of Mamatā the priest. He bound up horses for sacrifice. He established fire in a place with the best qualities (sācī-guṇe). At the time of lighting the fires, he gave 13,084 cows to each of thousands of brāhmaṇas. ??

Purport

As indicated here by the words dauṣmanter agniḥ sācī-guṇe citaḥ, Bharata, the son of Mahārāja Duṣmanta, arranged for many ritualistic ceremonies all over the world, especially all over India on the banks of the Ganges and Yamunā, from the mouth to the source, and all such sacrifices were performed in very distinguished places. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (3.9) , yajṣārthāt karmaṇo ’nyatra loko ’yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ: “Work done as a sacrifice for Viṣṇu has to be performed; otherwise work binds one to this material world.” Everyone should engage in the performance of yajṣa, 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 brāhmaṇas who could perform such yajṣas. For the present, however, the Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa enjoins: aśvamedhaṁ gavālambhaṁ sannyāsaṁ pala-paitṛkam devareṇa sutotpattiṁ kalau paṣca vivarjayet “In this Age of Kali, five acts are forbidden: offering a horse in sacrifice, offering a cow in sacrifice, accepting the order of sannyāsa, offering oblations of flesh to the forefathers, and begetting children in the wife of one’s brother.” In this age, such yajṣas as the aśvamedha-yajṣa and gomedha-yajṣa are impossible to perform because there are neither sufficient riches nor qualified brāhmaṇas. This verse says, māmateyaṁ purodhāya: Mahārāja Bharata engaged the son of Mamatā, Bhṛgu Muni, to take charge of performing this yajṣa. Now, however, such brāhmaṇas are impossible to find. Therefore the śāstras recommend, yajṣaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi sumedhasaḥ: those who are intelligent should perform the saṅkīrtana-yajṣa inaugurated by Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ saṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam yajṣaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi sumedhasaḥ “In this Age of Kali, people endowed with sufficient intelligence will worship the Lord, who is accompanied by His associates, by performance of saṅkīrtana-yajṣa. ” ( Bhāg. 11.5.32 ) Yajṣa must be performed, for otherwise people will be entangled in sinful activities and will suffer immensely. Therefore the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement has taken charge of introducing the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa all over the world. This Hare Kṛṣṇa movement is also yajṣa, but without the difficulties involved in securing paraphernalia and qualified brāhmaṇas. This congregational chanting can be performed anywhere and everywhere. If people somehow or other assemble together and are induced to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, all the purposes of yajṣa will be fulfilled. The first purpose is that there must be sufficient rain, for without rain there cannot be any produce ( annād bhavanti bhūtāni parjanyād anna-sambhavaḥ ). All our necessities can be produced simply by rainfall ( kāmaṁ vavarṣa parjanyaḥ ), and the earth is the original source of all necessities ( sarva-kāma-dughā mahī ). In conclusion, therefore, in this Age of Kali people all over the world should refrain from the four principles of sinful life — illicit sex, meat-eating, intoxication and gambling — and in a pure state of existence should perform the simple yajṣa of chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-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.