Text 26] The Dynasty of Paru 107

on the bank of the Yamuna, beginning from the confluence at
Prayaga and ending at the source. He established the sacrificial fire
on an excellent site, and he distributed great wealth to the
brahmanas. Indeed, he distributed so many cows that each of thou-
sands of brahmanas had one badva [13,084] as his share.

PURPORT

As indicated here by the words dausmanter agnih sdci-gune citah,
Bharata, the son of Maharaja Dusmanta, arranged for many ritualistic
ceremonies all over the world, especially all over India on the banks of
the Ganges and Yamuna, from the mouth to the source, and all such
sacrifices were performed in very distinguished places. As stated in
Bhagavad-gité (3.9), yajfarthat karmano ’nyatra loko *yarn karma-
bandhanah: “‘Work done as a sacrifice for Visnu has to be performed,
otherwise work binds one to this material world.” Everyone should
engage in the performance of yajra, and the sacrificial fire should be ig-
nited everywhere, the entire purpose being to make people happy,
prosperous and progressive in spiritual life. Of course, these things were
possible before the beginning of Kali-yuga because there were qualified
brahmanas who could perform such yajfas. For the present, however,
the Brahma-vaivarta Purana enjoins:

asvamedham gavalambham
sannydsam pala-paitrkam
devarena sutotpattim
kalau parica vivarjayet

“In this age of Kali, five acts are forbidden: offering a horse in sacrifice,
offering a cow in sacrifice, accepting the order of sannydsa, offering
oblations of flesh to the forefathers, and begetting children in the wife of
one’s brother.” In this age, such yajfas as the asvamedha-yajna and
gomedha-yajna are impossible to perform because there are neither
sufficient riches nor qualified bradhmanas. This verse says, maémateyart
purodhaya: Maharaja Bharata engaged the son of Mamata, Bhrgu Muni,
to take charge of performing this yajria. Now, however, such brahmanas
are impossible to find. Therefore the sastras recommend, yajnaih
sankirtana-prayair yajanti hi sumedhasah: those who are intelligent
