940
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 1, Ch. 18]
admitted into the spiritual realm of the Lord and engages in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. Therefore, the more we hear about the transcendental activities of the Lord, as they are stated in the  Bhagavad-gītā  and  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam , the more we can know about His transcendental nature and thus make definite progress on the path back to Godhead.
TEXT 12
कर्मण्यसिन्नाश्वासे धूमधूम्रात्मनां भवान् । 
    आपाययति गोविन्दपादपद्मासवं मधु ॥१२॥
karmaṇy asminn anāśvāse 
    dhūma-dhūmrātmanām bhavān 
    āpāyayati govinda- 
    pāda-padmāsavam madhu
karmaṇi —performance of;  asmin —in this;  anāśvāse —without certainty;  dhūma —smoke;  dhūmra-ātmanām —tinged body and mind;  bhavān —your good self;  āpāyayati —very much pleasing;  govinda —the Personality of Godhead;  pāda —feet;  padmā-āsavam —nectar of the lotus flower;  madhu —honey.
TRANSLATION
We have just begun performance of this fruitive activity, a sacrificial fire, without certainty of its result due to the many imperfections in our action. Our bodies have become black from the smoke, but we are factually pleased by the nectar of the lotus feet of the Personality of Godhead Govinda, which you are distributing.
PURPORT
The sacrificial fire kindled by the sages of Naimiṣāraṇya was certainly full of smoke and doubts because of so many flaws. The first flaw is that there is an acute scarcity of expert  brāhmaṇas  able to carry out such performances successfully in this age of Kali. Any discrepancy in such sacrifices spoils the whole show, and the result is uncertain, like agricultural enterprises. The good result of tilling the paddy field depends on providential rain, and therefore the result is uncertain. Similarly, performance