258
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 8, Ch. 16]
ceremonies. O gentle lady, it is the essence of all austerities, and it is the process of giving charity and pleasing the supreme controller.
PURPORT
Ārādhanānām sarveṣām viṣṇor ārādhanam param.  This is a statement made by Lord Śiva to Pārvatī. Worshiping Lord Viṣṇu is the supreme process of worship. And how Lord Viṣṇu is worshiped in this  payo-vrata  ceremony has now been fully described. The ultimate goal of life is to please Lord Viṣṇu by  varṇāśrama-dharma . The Vedic principles of four  varṇas  and four  āśramas  are meant for worship of Viṣṇu ( viṣṇur ārādhyate puṁsām nānyat tat-toṣa-kāraṇam ). The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is also  viṣṇu-ārādhanam , or worship of Lord Viṣṇu, according to the age. The  payo-vrata  method of  viṣṇu-ārādhanam  was enunciated long, long ago by Kaśyapa Muni to his wife, Aditi, in the heavenly planets, and the same process is bona fide on earth even now. Especially for this age of Kali, the process accepted by the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to open hundreds and thousands of Viṣṇu temples (temples of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, Jagannātha, Balarāma, Sītā-Rāma, Gaura-Nītāi and so on). Performing prescribed worship in such temples of Viṣṇu and thus worshiping the Lord is as good as performing the  payo-vrata  ceremony recommended here. The  payo-vrata  ceremony is performed from the first to the thirteenth day of the bright fortnight of the moon, but in our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement Lord Viṣṇu is worshiped in every temple according to a schedule of twenty-four hours of engagement in performing  kīrtana , chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa  mahā-mantra , offering palatable food to Lord Viṣṇu and distributing this food to Vaiṣṇavas and others. These are authorized activities, and if the members of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement stick to these principles, they will achieve the same result one gains by observing the  payo-vrata  ceremony. Thus the essence of all auspicious activities, such as performing  yajña , giving in charity, observing  vratas , and undergoing austerities, is included in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. The members of this movement should immediately and sincerely follow the processes already recommended. Of course, sacrifice is meant to please Lord Viṣṇu.  Yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi sumedhasaḥ:  in Kali-yuga, those who are intelligent perform the  saṅkīrtana-yajña . One should follow this process conscientiously.