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a ons of men and demigods, along with sacrifices for Viṣṇu, and
blessed them by saying, “Be thou happy by this yajña [sacrifice] be-
cause its performance will bestow upon you everything desirable for
living happily and achieving libera on.” (Bg 3.10)
Bhak vedanta Swami Prabhupada writes:
The material crea on by the Lord of creatures (Viṣṇu) is a chance
offered to the condi oned souls to come back home – back to God-
head. All living en es within the material crea on are condi oned by
material nature because of their forge ulness of their rela onship to
Viṣṇu, or Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Vedic princi-
ples are to help us understand this eternal rela on, as it is stated in
the Bhagavad-gītā: vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ. (Bg 15.15) The
Lord says that the purpose of the Vedas is to understand Him. In the
Vedic hymns it is said: pa ṁ viśvasyātmeśvaram. Therefore, the Lord
of the living en es is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu. In
the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also (2.4.20) Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī describes
the Lord as pa in so many ways:
śriyaḥ patir yajña-patiḥ prajā-patir / dhiyāṁ patir loka-patir dharā-patiḥ
patir gatiś cāndhaka-vṛṣṇi-sātvatāṁ / prasīdatāṁ me bhagavān satāṁ patiḥ
The prajā-pa is Lord Viṣṇu, and He is the Lord of all living creatures, all
worlds, and all beau es, and the protector of everyone. The Lord creat-
ed this material world to enable the condi oned souls to learn how to
perform yajñas (sacrifices) for the sa sfac on of Viṣṇu, so that while in
the material world they can live very comfortably without anxiety, and
a er finishing the present material body they can enter into the king-
dom of God. That is the whole program for the condi oned soul. By
performance of yajña, the condi oned souls gradually become Kṛṣṇa
conscious and become godly in all respects. In the Age of Kali (the pre-
sent age of hypocrisy and quarrel), the saṅkīrtana-yajña (the chan ng
of the names of God) is recommended by the Vedic scriptures, and this
transcendental system was introduced by Lord Caitanya for the deliver-
ance of all men in this age. Saṅkīrtana-yajña and Kṛṣṇa consciousness
go well together. Lord Kṛṣṇa in His devo onal form (as Lord Caitanya) is
men oned in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.5.32) as follows, with special
reference to the saṅkīrtana-yajña:
kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ / sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam
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