Devanagari
ततश्चावभृथस्नानविधूताशेषकिल्बिष: ।
सरस्वत्यां महानद्यां रेजे व्यब्भ्र इवांशुमान् ॥ २३ ॥
Verse text
tataś cāvabhṛtha-snāna-
vidhūtāśeṣa-kilbiṣaḥ
sarasvatyāṁ mahā-nadyāṁ
reje vyabbhra ivāṁśumān
Synonyms
tataḥ
—
thereafter
;
ca
—
also
;
avabhṛtha
—
snāna — by bathing after finishing the sacrifice
;
vidhūta
—
cleansed
;
aśeṣa
—
unlimited
;
kilbiṣaḥ
—
whose reactions of sinful activities
;
sarasvatyām
—
on the bank of the great river Sarasvatī
;
mahā
—
nadyām — one of the biggest rivers in India
;
reje
—
Lord Paraśurāma appeared
;
vyabbhraḥ
—
cloudless
;
iva aṁśumān
—
like the sun .
Translation
Thereafter, having completed the ritualistic sacrificial ceremonies, Lord Paraśurāma took the bath known as the avabhṛtha-snāna. Standing on the bank of the great river Sarasvatī, cleared of all sins, Lord Paraśurāma appeared like the sun in a clear, cloudless sky.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Thereafter, Paraśurāma, by whom unlimited sins were destroyed in the Sarasvatī River by taking his avabhṛtha-snāna there, shone like the sun in a cloudless sky.
He, because of whom all sins were destroyed by the bath in the Sarasvatī River, shone. The Sarasvatī obtained the power to purify persons of sin, like the Gaṅgā.
Purport
As stated in
Bhagavad-gītā
(3.9)
,
yajṣārthāt karmaṇo ’nyatra loko ’yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ:
“Work done as a sacrifice for Viṣṇu has to be performed; otherwise work binds one to this material world.”
Karma-bandhanaḥ
refers to the repeated acceptance of one material body after another. The whole problem of life is this repetition of birth and death. Therefore one is advised to work to perform
yajṣa
meant for satisfying Lord Viṣṇu. Although Lord Paraśurāma was an incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he had to account for sinful activities. Anyone in this material world, however careful he may be, must commit some sinful activities, even though he does not want to. For example, one may trample many small ants and other insects while walking on the street and kill many living beings unknowingly. Therefore the Vedic principle of
paṣca-yajṣa,
five kinds of recommended sacrifice, is compulsory. In this Age of Kali, however, there is a great concession given to people in general.
Yajṣaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi sumedhasaḥ:
we may worship Lord Caitanya, the hidden incarnation of Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇam:
although He is Kṛṣṇa Himself, He always chants Hare Kṛṣṇa and preaches Kṛṣṇa consciousness. One is recommended to worship this incarnation by chanting, the
saṅkīrtana-yajṣa.
The performance of
saṅkīrtana-yajṣa
is a special concession for human society to save people from being affected by known or unknown sinful activities. We are surrounded by unlimited sins, and therefore it is compulsory that one take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa
mahā-mantra.