940 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 1, Ch. 18

admitted into the spiritual realm of the Lord and engages in the transcen-
dental loving service of the Lord. Therefore, the more we hear about the
transcendental activities of the Lord, as they are stated in the. Bhagavad-
gita and Srimad-Bhdgavatam, the more we can know about His transcen-
dental nature and thus make definite progress on the path back to
Godhead.

TEXT 12

RATTAN AAT |
arate atfeanaraad = ay 12

karmany asminn anasvase
dhuma-dhumratmanam bhavan

apayayati govinda-
pada-padmasavam madhu

karmani—performance of; asmin—in this; anasvase—without certainty;
dhuma—smoke; dhumra-atmanam—tinged body and mind; bhavan—your
good self; apayayati—very much pleasing; govinda—the Personality of
Godhead; pada—feet; padma-asavam—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 Naimisaranya was certainly
full of smoke and doubts because of so many flaws. The first flaw is that
there is an acute scarcity of expert brahmanas able to carry out such per-
formances successfully in this age of Kali. Any discrepancy in such sacri-
fices spoils the whole show, and the result is uncertain, like agricultural
enterprises. The good result of tilling the paddy field depends on provi-
dential rain, and therefore the result is uncertain. Similarly, performance
