1208
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 4, Ch. 26]
Because King Prācīnabarhiṣat was engaged in performing various sacrifices in which animals were killed, Nārada Muni pointed out that such sacrifices are influenced by the mode of ignorance. From the very beginning of  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  it is said:  dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo 'tra  (1.1.2). All kinds of religious systems that are involved in cheating are completely kicked out of  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam . In the  bhagavad-dharma , the religion dealing with one's relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, animal sacrifice is not recommended. In the performance of  saṅkīrtana-yajña —Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare—there is no recommendation for animal sacrifices.
In these three verses, King Purañjana's going to the forest to kill animals is symbolic of the living entity's being driven by the mode of ignorance and thus engaging in different activities for sense gratification. The material body itself indicates that the living entity is already influenced by the three modes of material nature and that he is driven to enjoy material resources. When the body is influenced by the mode of ignorance, its infection becomes very acute. When it is influenced by the mode of passion, the infection is at the symptomatic stage. However, when the body is influenced by the mode of goodness, the materialistic infection becomes purified. The ritualistic ceremonies recommended in religious systems are certainly on the platform of goodness, but because within this material world even the mode of goodness is sometimes polluted by the other qualities (namely passion and ignorance), a man in goodness is sometimes driven by the influence of ignorance.
It is herein described that King Purañjana once went to the forest to kill animals. This means that he, the living entity, came under the influence of the mode of ignorance. The forest in which King Purañjana engaged in hunting was named Pañca-prastha. The word  pañca  means five, and this indicates the objects of the five senses. The body has five working senses, namely, the hands, the legs, the tongue, the rectum and the genitals. By taking full advantage of these working senses, the body enjoys material life. The chariot is driven by five horses, which represent the five sense organs—namely, the eyes, ears, nose, skin and tongue. These sense organs are very easily attracted by the sense objects. Consequently the horses are described as moving swiftly. On the chariot King Purañjana kept two explosive weapons, which may be compared to  ahaṅkāra , or false ego. This false ego is typified by two attitudes: "I am this body" ( ahantā ), and "Everything in my bodily relationships belongs to me" ( mamatā ).