Devanagari
न ह्यग्निमुखतोऽयं वै भगवान्सर्वयज्ञभुक् ।
इज्येत हविषा राजन्यथा विप्रमुखे हुतै: ॥ १७ ॥
Verse text
na hy agni-mukhato ’yaṁ vai
bhagavān sarva-yajṣa-bhuk
ijyeta haviṣā rājan
yathā vipra-mukhe hutaiḥ
Synonyms
na
—
not
;
hi
—
indeed
;
agni
—
fire
;
mukhataḥ
—
from the mouth or the flames
;
ayam
—
this
;
vai
—
certainly
;
bhagavān
—
Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa
;
sarva
—
yajṣa — bhuk — the enjoyer of the results of all kinds of sacrifices
;
ijyeta
—
is worshiped
;
haviṣā
—
by offering of clarified butter
;
rājan
—
O King
;
yathā
—
as much as
;
vipra
—
mukhe — through the mouth of a brāhmaṇa
;
hutaiḥ
—
by offering him first-class food .
Translation
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is the enjoyer of sacrificial offerings. Yet although His Lordship eats the oblations offered in the fire, my dear King, He is still more satisfied when nice food made of grains and ghee is offered to Him through the mouths of qualified brāhmaṇas.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O King! The Supreme Lord, enjoyer of all sacrifices, is not worshipped by offerings to the fires as much as he is worshiped by offerings to the mouths of the brāhmaṇas.
One should not be too attached to performing sacrifices. The Lord is not worshiped as much by offerings to the mouth of the fire as he is worshipped by offerings of food to the mouth of the brāhmaṇa.
Purport
As stated in
Bhagavad-gītā
(3.9)
,
yajṣārthāt karmaṇo ’nyatra loko ’yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ:
all fruitive activities should be performed for sacrifice, which should be directed toward pleasing Kṛṣṇa. As stated elsewhere in
Bhagavad-gītā
(5.29)
,
bhoktāraṁ yajṣa-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram:
He is the Supreme Lord and enjoyer of everything. However, although sacrifice may be offered to please Kṛṣṇa, He is more pleased when grains and ghee, instead of being offered in the fire, are prepared as
prasāda
and distributed, first to the
brāhmaṇas
and then to others. This system pleases Kṛṣṇa more than anything else. Furthermore, at the present time there is very little chance to offer sacrifices by pouring oblations of food grains and ghee into the fire. Especially in India, there is practically no ghee; for everything that should be done with ghee, people use a certain type of oil preparation. Oil, however, is never recommended for offering in a sacrificial fire. In Kali-yuga, the available quantity of food grains and ghee is gradually diminishing, and people are embarrassed that they cannot produce sufficient ghee and food grains. Under the circumstances, the
śāstras
enjoin,
yajṣaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi sumedhasaḥ:
in this age, those who are intellectual offer
yajṣa,
or perform sacrifices, through the
saṅkīrtana
movement. Everyone should join the
saṅkīrtana
movement, offering to the fire of this movement the oblations of his knowledge and riches. In our
saṅkīrtana
movement, or Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, we offer sumptuous
prasāda
to the Deity and later distribute the same
prasāda
to the
brāhmaṇas,
the Vaiṣṇavas and then to the people in general. Kṛṣṇa’s
prasāda
is offered to the
brāhmaṇas
and Vaiṣṇavas, and the
prasāda
of the
brāhmaṇas
and Vaiṣṇavas is offered to the general populace. This kind of sacrifice — chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa
mantra
and distribution of
prasāda
— is the most perfect and bona fide way of offering sacrifice for the pleasure of Yajṣa, or Viṣṇu.