Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.7.41

agnir uvāca

yat-tejasāhaḿ susamiddha-tejā

havyaḿ vahe svadhvara ājya-siktam

taḿ yajñiyaḿ pañca-vidhaḿ ca pañcabhiḥ

sviṣṭaḿ yajurbhiḥ praṇato 'smi yajñam

SYNONYMS

agniḥ — the fire-god; uvāca — said; yat-tejasā — by whose effulgence; aham — I; su-samiddha-tejāḥ — as luminous as blazing fire; havyam — offerings; vahe — I am accepting; su-adhvare — in the sacrifice; ājya-siktam — mixed with butter; tam — that; yajñiyam — the protector of the sacrifice; pañca-vidham — five; ca — and; pañcabhiḥ — by five; su-iṣṭam — worshiped; yajurbhiḥ — Vedic hymns; praṇataḥ — offer respectful obeisances; asmi — I; yajñam — to Yajña (Viṣṇu).

TRANSLATION

The fire-god said: My dear Lord, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You because by Your favor I am as luminous as blazing fire and I accept the offerings mixed with butter and offered in sacrifice. The five kinds of offerings according to the Yajur Veda are all Your different energies, and You are worshiped by five kinds of Vedic hymns. Sacrifice means Your Supreme Personality of Godhead.

PURPORT

In Bhagavad-gītā it is clearly said that yajña should be performed for Lord Viṣṇu. Lord Viṣṇu has one thousand popular, transcendental names, out of which one name is Yajña. lt is clearly said that everything should be done for the satisfaction of Yajña, or Viṣṇu. All other actions a person may take are only causes for his bondage. Everyone has to perform yajña according to the Vedic hymns. As stated in the Upaniṣads, fire, the altar, the auspicious full moon, the period of four months called cāturmāsya, the sacrificial animal, and the beverage called soma are necessary requisites, as are the specific hymns mentioned in the Vedas and composed of four letters. One hymn is as follows: āśrāvayeti catur-akṣaraḿ astu śrauṣaḍ iti catur-akṣaraḿ yajeti dvābhyāḿ ye yajāmahaḥ. These mantras, chanted according to the śruti and smṛti literatures, are only to please Lord Viṣṇu. For the deliverance of those who are materially conditioned and attached to material enjoyment, performing yajña and following the rules and regulations of the four divisions of society and of spiritual life are recommended. It is said in the Viṣṇu Purāṇa that by offering sacrifice to Viṣṇu one can gradually be liberated. The whole target of life, therefore, is to please Lord Viṣṇu. That is yajña. Any person who is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness has dedicated his life for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa, the origin of all Viṣṇu forms, and by offering worship and prasāda daily, he becomes the best performer of yajña. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is clearly stated that in this age of Kali the only successful performance of yajña, or sacrifice, is yajñaiḥ sańkīrtana-prāyaiḥ: the best type of sacrifice is simply to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. This yajña is offered before the form of Lord Caitanya, as other yajñas are offered before the form of Lord Viṣṇu. These recommendations are found in the Eleventh Canto of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Moreover, this yajña performance confirms that Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Viṣṇu Himself. As Lord Viṣṇu appeared at the Dakṣa yajña long, long ago, Lord Caitanya has appeared in this age to accept our sańkīrtana-yajña.

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