Hare Krsna
Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada
ByHis Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Sankirtan Yagna – the Best Yagna
When you go to India you can see this Naimishāranya still. It is very nice place. Just like Vrindāvana, Prayāga, Hardwar. There are hundreds of nice place for spiritual advancement. So this Naimishāranya is still there. The railway station is now called Nimsar. It is about hundred miles from Lucknow. And people go there. It is a very excellent position for spiritual advancement. There are many temples like Vrindāvana and Prayāga, and Naimishāranya. So the sages assembled in Naimishāranya, or animisha-kshetre - the spot which is especially a favorite of Vishnu, who does not close His eyelids.
So our eye closes but Vishnu’s eye never closes. Therefore He is calledanimisha. Therefore gopīs condemned Brahmā, “Why have you awarded us these nonsense eyelids? When it blinks, we cannot see Krishna.” This is the desire of the gopis. They want to see Krishna always, without being disturbed by the eyelids. This is Krishna consciousness. The moment the eyes are being closed by the eyelids, it’s intolerable by them. This is perfection of Krishna consciousness. They are condemning, “Oh, Brahmā did not know how to create. Why has he created this eyelid?” This is Krishna conscious. Because we are in this material world, our eyelids are made like that. It must close for a moment, again, again, again. Not for moment, for hours. We want to close our eyes for hours. That is our disease. But in the spiritual world, there is no closing of the eyes. Animisha.
So the sages were performing the sacrifice for one thousand years. How they were able to do? They were able to do this because in the Satya-yugathey used to live for one hundred thousands of years; in Tretā-yuga, for ten thousands of years; and in the Dvāpara-yuga, for one thousands of years. Now in this Kali-yuga, they live for one hundred years. That also not complete. Nobody can complete one hundred years, and it is reducing. Maybe our forefathers or grandfathers might have lived for hundred years, but we are not living so much. And gradually, our children, our grandchildren, they will gradually reduce that span of life so much so that at the end of Kali-yuga, if a man would live for twenty to thirty years, he’ll be considered a grand old man. Yes. We are reducing. But formerly, they were living so many years.
Yajna means Lord Vishnu. Yajnārthāt karmano ‘nyatra loko ‘yam karma-bandhanah [Bg. 3.9]. So whatever we do, it must be done for Krishna. That is perfection. You do whatever you like, but do it for Krishna. Then there is perfection. Just like Arjuna.
Arjuna was a fighter, expert in killing. So he was considering, “Why shall I kill my own family members? Better stop.” But Krishna encouraged him, “You must kill.” So that is yajna.
Under the instruction of Krishna, Arjuna was engaged in the killing art, but that is yajna, because it is for Krishna, not for himself. For himself he was denying to fight. But when he agreed to fight and kill on account of Krishna, it is called yajna. This secret people do not know. They think that killing is very very bad, that’s all right. Killing, why killing? Even if you give charity, if you become munificent, merciful, that is also not good unless you do it for Krishna.
So in this way, in Naimishāranya, they performed yajna. That is our only business, to perform yajna. So in this Krishna consciousness movement, because everything is being done for Krishna, it is simply yajna. Nothing else. It is not karma. When it is karma, you are bound up by the results of karma. But if you perform yajna, you are not bound up. Karmāni nirdahati kintu ca bhakti-bhājām [Bs. 5.54].
Bhakti-bhājām, those who are engaged in devotional service, they have no more any karma. Karma means if you do something then it will have reaction, either good or bad. But here, because everything is done for Krishna, I haven’t got to enjoy or suffer for the resultant action. Karmany evādhikāras te mā phaleshu [Bg.2.47]. This is philosophy.
[An excerpt from a lectrure delivered on the Srimad Bhagavatam 1.1.4 on August 27, 1973 in London]
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