Text 11]
Hiraṇyakaśipu, King of the Demons
71
TEXT 11
विष्णुद्विजक्रियामूलो यज्ञो धर्ममयः पुमान् । देवर्षिपिठ्भूतानां धर्मस्य च परायणम् ॥११॥
viṣṇur dvija-kriyā-mūlo yajño dharmamayaḥ pumān devarṣi-pitr-bhūtānām dharmasya ca parāyaṇam
viṣṇuḥ —Lord Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead;  dvija —of the  brāhmaṇas  and  kṣatriyas ;  kriyā-mūlaḥ —whose root is the performance of  yajña  and the ritualistic ceremonies mentioned in the  Vedas ;  yajñaḥ —personified  yajña  (Lord Viṣṇu, who is known as the  yajña-puruṣa );  dharma-mayaḥ —full of religious principles;  pumān —the Supreme Person;  deva-rṣi —of the demigods and great  rṣis  like Vyāsadeva and Nārada;  pitr —of the forefathers;  bhūtānām —and of all other living entities;  dharmasya —of the religious principles;  ca —also;  parāyaṇam —the shelter.
TRANSLATION
The basic principle of brahminical culture is to satisfy Lord Viṣṇu, the personification of sacrificial and ritualistic ceremonies. Lord Viṣṇu is the personified reservoir of all religious principles, and He is the shelter of all the demigods, the great pitās, and the people in general. When the  brāhmaṇas  are killed, no one will exist to encourage the  kṣatriyas  to perform  yajñas , and thus the demigods, not being appeased by  yajña , will automatically die.
PURPORT
Since Viṣṇu is the central point of brahminical culture, Hiraṇyakaśipu's plan was to kill Viṣṇu, for if Viṣṇu were killed, naturally the brahminical culture would also be lost. With brahminical culture lost,  yajña  would no longer be performed, and for want of  yajña  the regular distribution of rainfall would cease ( yajñād bhavati parjanyaḥ ). Thus there would be disturbances all over the world, and