Chapter Seven The Sacrifice Performed by Daksa
1. The sage Maitreya said: O mighty-armed Vidura, Lord Siva, being thus pacified by the words of Lord Brahma, spoke as follows in answer to Lord Brahma’s request.
2. Lord Siva said: My dear father, Brahma, I do not mind the offenses created by the demigods. Because these demigods are childish and less intelligent, I do not take a serious view of their offenses, and I have punished them only in order to right them.
3. Lord Siva continued: Since the head of Daksa has already been burned to ashes, he will have the head of a goat. The demigod known as Bhaga will be able to see his share of sacrifice through the eyes of Mitra.
4. The demigod Pusa will be able to chew only through the teeth of his disciples, and if alone, he will have to satisfy himself by eating dough made from chickpea flour. But the demigods who have agreed to give me my share of the sacrifice will recover from all their injuries.
5. Those who have had their arms cut off will have to work with the arms of Asvini-kumara, and those whose hands were cut off will have to do their work with the hands of Pusa. The priests will also have to act in that manner. As for Bhrgu, he will have the beard from the goat’s head.
6. The great sage Maitreya said: My dear Vidura, all the personalities present were very much satisfied in heart and soul upon hearing the words of Lord Siva, who is the best among the benedictors.
7. Thereafter, Bhrgu, the chief of the great sages, invited Lord Siva to come to the sacrificial arena. Thus the demigods, accompanied by the sages, Lord Siva, and Lord Brahma, all went to the place where the great sacrifice was being performed.
8. After everything was executed exactly as directed by Lord Siva, Daksa’s body was joined to the head of the animal meant to be killed in the sacrifice.
9. When the animal’s head was fixed on the body of King Daksa, Daksa was immediately brought to consciousness, and as he awakened from sleep, the King saw Lord Siva standing before him.
10. At that time, when Daksa saw Lord Siva, who rides upon a bull, his heart, which was polluted by envy of Lord Siva, was immediately cleansed, just as the water in a lake is cleansed by autumn rains.
11. King Daksa wanted to offer prayers to Lord Siva, but as he remembered the ill-fated death of his daughter Sati, his eyes filled with tears, and in bereavement his voice choked up, and he could not say anything.
12. At this time, King Daksa, afflicted by love and affection, was very much awakened to his real senses. With great endeavor, he pacified his mind, checked his feelings, and with pure consciousness began to offer prayers to Lord Siva.
13. King Daksa said: My dear Lord Siva, I committed a great offense against you, but you are so kind that instead of withdrawing your mercy, you have done me a great favor by punishing me. You and Lord Visnu never neglect even useless, unqualified brahmanas. Why, then, should you neglect me, who am engaged in performing sacrifices?
14. My dear great and powerful Lord Siva, you were created first from the mouth of Lord Brahma in order to protect the brahmanas in pursuing education, austerities, vows and self-realization. As protector of the brahmanas, you always protect the regulative principles they follow, just as a cowherd boy keeps a stick in his hand to give protection to the cows.
15. I did not know your full glories. For this reason, I threw arrows of sharp words at you in the open assembly, although you did not take them into account. I was going down to hell because of my disobedience to you, who are the most respectable personality, but you took compassion upon me and saved me by awarding punishment. I request that you be pleased by your own mercy, since I cannot satisfy you by my words.
16. The great sage Maitreya said: Thus being pardoned by Lord Siva, King Daksa, with the permission of Lord Brahma, again began the performance of the yajna, along with the great learned sages, the priests and others.
17. Thereafter, in order to resume the activities of sacrifice, the brahmanas first arranged to purify the sacrificial arena of the contamination caused by the touch of Virabhadra and the other ghostly followers of Lord Siva. Then they arranged to offer into the fire the oblations known as purodaa.
18. The great sage Maitreya said to Vidura: My dear Vidura, as soon as King Daksa offered the clarified butter with Yajur Veda mantras in sanctified meditation, Lord Visnu appeared there in His original form as Narayana.
19. Lord Narayana was seated on the shoulder of Stotra, or Garuda, who had big wings. As soon as the Lord appeared, all directions were illuminated, diminishing the luster of Brahma and the others present.
20. His complexion was blackish, His garment yellow like gold, and His helmet as dazzling as the sun. His hair was bluish, the color of black bees, and His face was decorated with earrings. His eight hands held a conchshell, wheel, club, lotus flower, arrow, bow, shield and sword, and they were decorated with golden ornaments such as bangles and bracelets. His whole body resembled a blossoming tree beautifully decorated with various kinds of flowers.
21. Lord Visnu looked extraordinarily beautiful because the goddess of fortune and a garland were situated on His chest. His face was beautifully decorated with a smiling attitude which can captivate the entire world, especially the devotees. Fans of white hair appeared on both sides of the Lord like white swans, and the white canopy overhead looked like the moon.
22. As soon as Lord Visnu was visible, all the demigods—Lord Brahma and Lord Siva, the Gandharvas and all present there—immediately offered their respectful obeisances by falling down straight before Him.
23. In the presence of the glaring effulgence of the bodily luster of Narayana, everyone else’s luster faded away, and everyone stopped speaking. Fearful with awe and veneration, all present touched their hands to their heads and prepared to offer their prayers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Adhoksaja.
24. Although the mental scope of even demigods like Brahma was unable to comprehend the unlimited glories of the Supreme Lord, they were all able to perceive the transcendental form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead by His grace. Only by such grace could they offer their respectful prayers according to their different capacities.
25. When Lord Visnu accepted the oblations offered in the sacrifice, Daksa, the Prajapati, began with great pleasure to offer respectful prayers unto Him. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is actually the master of all sacrifices and preceptor of all the Prajapatis, and He is served even by such personalities as Nanda and Sunanda.
26. Daksa addressed the Supreme Personality of Godhead: My dear Lord, You are transcendental to all speculative positions. You are completely spiritual, devoid of all fear, and You are always in control of the material energy. Even though You appear in the material energy, You are situated transcendentally. You are always free from material contamination because You are completely self-sufficient.
27. The priests addressed the Lord, saying: O Lord, transcendental to material contamination, by the curse offered by Lord Siva’s men we have become attached to fruitive activities, and thus we are now fallen and therefore do not know anything about You. On the contrary, we are now involved in the injunctions of the three departments of the Vedic knowledge under the plea of executing rituals in the name of yajna. We know that You have made arrangements for distributing the respective shares of the demigods.
28. The members of the assembly addressed the Lord: O exclusive shelter for all who are situated in troubled life, in this formidable fort of conditional existence the time element, like a snake, is always looking for an opportunity to strike. This world is full of ditches of so-called distress and happiness, and there are many ferocious animals always ready to attack. The fire of lamentation is always blazing, and the mirage of false happiness is always alluring, but one has no shelter from them. Thus foolish persons live in the cycle of birth and death, always overburdened in discharging their so-called duties, and we do not know when they will accept the shelter of Your lotus feet.
29. Lord Siva said: My dear Lord, my mind and consciousness are always fixed on Your lotus feet, which, as the source of all benediction and the fulfillment of all desires, are worshiped by all liberated great sages because Your lotus feet are worthy of worship. With my mind fixed on Your lotus feet, I am no longer disturbed by persons who blaspheme me, claiming that my activities are not purified. I do not mind their accusations, and I excuse them out of compassion, just as You exhibit compassion toward all living entities.
30. Sri Bhrgu said: My dear Lord, all living entities, beginning from the highest, namely Lord Brahma, down to the ordinary ant, are under the influence of the insurmountable spell of illusory energy, and thus they are ignorant of their constitutional position. Everyone believes in the concept of the body, and all are thus submerged in the darkness of illusion. They are actually unable to understand how You live in every living entity as the Supersoul, nor can they understand Your absolute position. But You are the eternal friend and protector of all surrendered souls. Therefore, please be kind toward us and forgive all our offenses.
31. Lord Brahma said: My dear Lord, Your personality and eternal form cannot be understood by any person who is trying to know You through the different processes of acquiring knowledge. Your position is always transcendental to the material creation, whereas the empiric attempt to understand You is material, as are its objectives and instruments.
32. King Indra said: My dear Lord, Your transcendental form with eight hands and weapons in each of them appears for the welfare of the entire universe, and it is very pleasing to the mind and eyes. In such a form, Your Lordship is always prepared to punish the demons, who are envious of Your devotees.
33. The wives of the performers of the sacrifice said: My dear Lord, this sacrifice was arranged under the instruction of Brahma, but unfortunately Lord Siva, being angry at Daksa, devastated the entire scene, and because of his anger the animals meant for sacrifice are lying dead. Therefore the preparations of the yajna have been lost. Now, by the glance of Your lotus eyes, the sanctity of this sacrificial arena may be again invoked.
34. The sages prayed: Dear Lord, Your activities are most wonderful, and although You do everything by Your different potencies, You are not at all attached to such activities. You are not even attached to the goddess of fortune, who is worshiped by the great demigods like Brahma, who pray to achieve her mercy.
35. The Siddhas prayed: Like an elephant that has suffered in a forest fire but can forget all its troubles by entering a river, our minds, O Lord, always merge in the nectarean river of Your transcendental pastimes, and they desire never to leave such transcendental bliss, which is as good as the pleasure of merging in the Absolute.
36. The wife of Daksa prayed as follows: My dear Lord, it is very fortunate that You have appeared in this arena of sacrifice. I offer my respectful obeisances unto You, and I request that You be pleased on this occasion. The sacrificial arena is not beautiful without You, just as a body is not beautiful without the head.
37. The governors of various planets spoke as follows: Dear Lord, we believe only in our direct perception, but under the circumstances we do not know whether we have actually seen You with our material senses. By our material senses we can simply perceive the cosmic manifestation, but You are beyond the five elements. You are the sixth. We see You, therefore, as a creation of the material world.
38. The great mystics said: Dear Lord, persons who see You as nondifferent from themselves, knowing that You are the Supersoul of all living entities, are certainly very, very dear to You. You are very favorable toward those who engage in devotional service, accepting You as the Lord and themselves as the servants. By Your mercy, You are always inclined in their favor.
39. We offer our respectful obeisances unto the Supreme, who has created varieties of manifestations and put them under the spell of the three qualities of the material world in order to create, maintain and annihilate them. He Himself is not under the control of the external energy; in His personal feature He is completely devoid of the variegated manifestation of material qualities, and He is under no illusion of false identification.
40. The personified Vedas said: We offer our respectful obeisances unto You, the Lord, the shelter of the quality of goodness and therefore the source of all religion, austerity and penance, for You are transcendental to all material qualities and no one knows You or Your actual situation.
