564 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 4, Ch. 13

disciple is very submissive and devoted. As stated in the Bhagavad-gita,
the process of receiving knowledge from the spiritual master entails sub-
mission, inquiry and service.

TEXT 25

59 Ta
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maitreya uvaca
ango ’s’vamedham rajarsir
ajahara maha-kratum
ndjagmur devatds tasminn
ahita brahma-vadibhih

maitreyah uvaca—Maitreya answered; angah— King Anga; asvamedham—
asvamedha sacrifice; raja-rsih—the saintly king; ajahadra—executed; maha-
kratum—great sacrifice; na—not; ajagmuh—came; devatah—the demigods;
tasmin—in that sacrifice; dhatah—being invited; brahma-vadibhih—by the
brahmanas expert in executing sacrifices.

TRANSLATION

Sri Maitreya replied: My dear Vidura, once the great King Anga arranged
to perform the great sacrifice known as asvamedha. All the expert brah-
manas present knew how to invite the demigods, but in spite of their
efforts, no demigods participated or appeared in that sacrifice.

PURPORT

A Vedic sacrifice is not an ordinary performance. The demigods used to
participate in such sacrifices, and the animals sacrificed in such perform-
ances were reincarnated with new life. In this age of Kali there are no
powerful brahmanas who can invite the demigods or give renewed life to
animals. Formerly, the brahmanas well conversant in Vedic mantras
could show the potency of the mantras, but in this age, because there are
no such brahmanas, all such sacrifices are forbidden. The sacrifice in which
horses were offered was called asvamedha. Sometimes cows were sacrificed
(gavalambha), not for eating purposes, but to give them new life in order
to show the potency of the mantra. In this age, therefore, the only practi-
cal yajiia is sankirtana-yajiia or chanting of the Hare Krsna mantra
twenty-four hours a day.
