Canto 11: General HistoryChapter 18: Description of Varṇāśrama-dharma

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.18.8

agnihotraḿ ca darśaś ca

paurṇamāsaś ca pūrva-vat

cāturmāsyāni ca muner

āmnātāni ca naigamaiḥ

SYNONYMS

agni-hotram — the fire sacrifice; ca — also; darśaḥ — the sacrifice performed on the new moon day; ca — also; paurṇa-māsaḥ — full moon sacrifice; ca — also; pūrva-vatas previously, in the gṛhastha-āśrama; cātuḥ-māsyāni — the vows and sacrifices of cāturmāsya; ca — also; muneḥ — of the vānaprastha; āmnātāni — enjoined; ca — also; naigamaiḥ — by expert knowers of the Vedas.

TRANSLATION

The vānaprastha should perform the agnihotra, darśa and paurṇamāsa sacrifices, as he did while in the gṛhastha-āśrama. He should also perform the vows and sacrifices of cāturmāsya, since all of these rituals are enjoined for the vānaprastha-āśrama by expert knowers of the Vedas.

PURPORT

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura has given a detailed explanation of the four rituals mentioned here, namely agnihotra, darśa, paurṇamāsa and cāturmāsya. The conclusion is that everyone should simply chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare and avoid the difficult entanglement of Vedic ritualistic ceremonies. If one neither chants Hare Kṛṣṇa nor performs such rituals, one certainly becomes a pāṣaṇḍī, an atheistic fool.

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