Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 9.20.24-26

cakraḿ dakṣiṇa-haste 'sya

padma-kośo 'sya pādayoḥ

īje mahābhiṣekeṇa

so 'bhiṣikto 'dhirāḍ vibhuḥ

pañca-pañcāśatā medhyair

gańgāyām anu vājibhiḥ

māmateyaḿ purodhāya

yamunām anu ca prabhuḥ

aṣṭa-saptati-medhyāśvān

babandha pradadad vasu

bharatasya hi dauṣmanter

agniḥ sācī-guṇe citaḥ

sahasraḿ 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; pañca-pañcāśatā — fifty-five; medhyaiḥ — fit for sacrifices; gańgāyām 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.

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), yajñārthāt karmaṇo 'nyatra loko 'yaḿ 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 yajña, 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 yajñas. For the present, however, the Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa enjoins:

aśvamedhaḿ gavālambhaḿ

sannyāsaḿ pala-paitṛkam

devareṇa sutotpattiḿ

kalau pañca vivarjayet

[Cc. Ādi 17.164]

"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 yajñas as the aśvamedha-yajña and gomedha-yajña are impossible to perform because there are neither sufficient riches nor qualified brāhmaṇas. This verse says, māmateyaḿ purodhāya: Mahārāja Bharata engaged the son of Mamatā, Bhṛgu Muni, to take charge of performing this yajña. Now, however, such brāhmaṇas are impossible to find. Therefore the śāstras recommend, yajñaiḥ sańkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi sumedhasaḥ: those who are intelligent should perform the sańkīrtana-yajña inaugurated by Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

kṛṣṇa-varṇaḿ tviṣākṛṣṇaḿ

sańgopāńgāstra-pārṣadam

yajñaiḥ sańkīrtana-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 sańkīrtana-yajña." (Bhāg. 11.5.32) Yajña 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 yajña, 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 yajña 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 (kāmaḿ vavarṣa parjanyaḥ [SB 1.10.4]), 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 yajña 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.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness