208
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 2, Ch. 4]
not even to bow down and offer respects. He never even heard the prayers of the  devadāsī  offered in the temple of Jagannātha because a  sannyāsī  is forbidden to hear songs sung by the fair sex. Yet even in the rigid position of a  sannyāsī  He recommended the mode of worship preferred by the  gopī  of Vṛndāvana as the topmost loving service possible to be rendered to the Lord. And Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the principal head of all such goddesses of fortune, and therefore She is the pleasure counterpart of the Lord and is nondifferent from Kṛṣṇa.
In the Vedic rituals there are recommendations for performing different types of sacrifice in order to achieve the greatest benefit of life. Such benedictions as the result of performing great sacrifices are, after all, some favors given by the goddess of fortune, and the Lord, being the husband or lover of the goddess of fortune, factually is the Lord of all sacrifices also. And He is the final enjoyer of all kinds of  yajña ; therefore  Yajñapati  is another name of Lord Viṣṇu. It is recommended in the  Bhagavad-gītā  that everything should be done for the  Yajñapati  ( yajñārthe kuru karmāṇi ), otherwise acts will be the cause of conditioning by the law of material nature. Those who are not freed from all misconceptions ( vyalīkam ) perform sacrifices to please the minor demigods, but the devotees of the Lord know very well that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the supreme enjoyer of all performances of sacrifices; therefore they perform the  saṅkīrtana-yajña  ( śravanam kīrtanam viṣṇoḥ ), especially recommended in this age of Kali. In Kali-yuga, performance of other types of sacrifice is not feasible due to insufficient arrangement and inexpert priesthood.
We have information from the  Bhagavad-gītā  (Bg. 3.9-10) that Lord Brahmā, after giving rebirth to the conditioned souls within the universe, instructed them to perform sacrifices and to lead a prosperous life. By such sacrificial performances the conditioned souls will never be in difficulty to keep body and soul together. Ultimately they can purify their existence. They will find natural promotion into spiritual existence, the real identity of the living being. A conditioned soul should never give up the practice of sacrifice, charity and austerity, in any circumstances. The aim of all such sacrifices is to please the  Yajñapati , the Personality of Godhead; therefore the Lord is also  Prajāpati . According to the  Kaṭhopaniṣad , the one Lord is the leader of the innumerable living entities. The living entities are maintained by the Lord ( eko bahūnām yo vidadhāti kāmān ). The Lord is called, therefore, the supreme  bhūta-bhṛt , or maintainer of all living beings.
Living beings are endowed with intelligence proportionately in terms of their previous activities. All living beings are not equally endowed with