Devanagari
पत्न्य ऊचु:
यज्ञोऽयं तव यजनाय केन सृष्टो
विध्वस्त: पशुपतिनाद्य दक्षकोपात् ।
तं नस्त्वं शवशयनाभशान्तमेधं
यज्ञात्मन्नलिनरुचा दृशा पुनीहि ॥ ३३ ॥
Verse text
patnya ūcuḥ
yajṣo ’yaṁ tava yajanāya kena sṛṣṭo
vidhvastaḥ paśupatinādya dakṣa-kopāt
taṁ nas tvaṁ śava-śayanābha-śānta-medhaṁ
yajṣātman nalina-rucā dṛśā punīhi
Synonyms
patnyaḥ ūcuḥ
—
the wives of the executors of the sacrifice said
;
yajṣaḥ
—
the sacrifice
;
ayam
—
this
;
tava
—
Your
;
yajanāya
—
worshiping
;
kena
—
by Brahmā
;
sṛṣṭaḥ
—
arranged
;
vidhvastaḥ
—
devastated
;
paśupatinā
—
by Lord Śiva
;
adya
—
today
;
dakṣa
—
kopāt — from anger at Dakṣa
;
tam
—
it
;
naḥ
—
our
;
tvam
—
You
;
śava
—
śayana — dead bodies
;
ābha
—
like
;
śānta
—
medham — the still sacrificial animals
;
yajṣa
—
ātman — O Lord of sacrifice
;
nalina
—
lotus
;
rucā
—
beautiful
;
dṛśā
—
by the vision of Your eyes
;
punīhi
—
sanctify .
Translation
The wives of the performers of the sacrifice said: My dear Lord, this sacrifice was arranged under the instruction of Brahmā, but unfortunately Lord Śiva, being angry at Dakṣa, devastated the entire scene, and because of his anger the animals meant for sacrifice are lying dead. Therefore the preparations of the yajṣa have been lost. Now, by the glance of Your lotus eyes, the sanctity of this sacrificial arena may be again invoked.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The wives said: This sacrifice created by Brahmā for worshipping you has been destroyed by Śiva because of his anger at Dakṣa. Lotus-navelled Lord! Lord of sacrifice! Purify with the glance of your lotus eyes this sacrifice where animal sacrifice has stopped.
Kena means by Brahmā. Śava means water. Thus śava-śaya-nābha means lotus navel. O lord with a lotus navel! Purify the sacrifice in which animal sacrifice had stopped (śānta-medham) with your eyes. Without your presence, nothing can be accomplished even with all the present efforts. This is addressed to everyone.
Purport
Animals were offered in sacrifice in order to give them renewed life; that was the purpose of having animals there. Offering an animal in sacrifice and giving him renewed life was the evidence of the strength of chanting
mantras.
Unfortunately, when Dakṣa’s sacrifice was devastated by Lord Śiva, some of the animals were killed. (One was killed just to replace the head of Dakṣa.) Their bodies were lying about, and the sacrificial arena was turned into a crematorium. Thus the real purpose of
yajṣa
was lost.
Lord Viṣṇu, being the ultimate objective of such sacrificial ceremonies, was requested by the wives of the priests to glance over the
yajṣa
arena with His causeless mercy so that the routine work of the
yajṣa
might be continued. The purport here is that animals should not be unnecessarily killed. They were used to prove the strength of the
mantras
and were to have been rejuvenated by the use of the
mantras.
They should not have been killed, as they were by Lord Śiva to replace the head of Dakṣa with an animal’s head. It was pleasing to see an animal sacrificed and rejuvenated, and that pleasing atmosphere had been lost. The wives of the priests requested that the animals be brought back to life by the glance of Lord Viṣṇu to make a pleasing
yajṣa.