134 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 4, Ch. 4
Deity on the sacrificial altar, the performers of fruitive rituals aim to
satisfy various demigods to achieve in return some material prosperity.
Real sacrifice, however, is to satisfy Lord Visnu, and the remnants of such
sacrifices are beneficial for advancement in devotional service. The process
of elevation by performing sacrifices other than those aimed at Visnu is
very slow, and therefore it has been condemned in this verse. Visvanatha
Cakravarti has described the ritualistic performers to be like crows because
crows delight in eating the remnants of food which has been thrown into
the dustbin. All the brahmanas who were present for the sacrifice were
also condemned by Sati.

Whether or not King Dakga and his flatterers could understand the
position of Lord Siva, Sati wanted to impress upon her father that he
should not think her husband to be without opulence. Sati, being the
devoted wife of Lord Siva, offers all kinds of material opulences to the
worshipers of Lord Siva. This fact is explained in the Srimad-Bhagavatam,
in the Tenth Canto. Lord Siva’s worshipers sometimes appear to be more
opulent than the worshipers of Lord Visnu because Durga, or Sati, being
the superintendent in charge of material affairs, can offer all material
opulences to the worshipers of Lord Siva in order to glorify her husband,
but the worshipers of Visnu are meant for spiritual elevation, and therefore
their material opulence is sometimes found to decrease. These points are
very nicely discussed in the Tenth Canto.

TEXT 22
dat ta et Barn
Rares || ATT |
Ate AALHAATARA-
wan fe a AeMTTTHT 122!
naitena dehena hare krtagaso
dehodbhavenadlam alam ku-janmand
vrida mamabhiit ku-jana-prasangatas
taj janma dhig yo mahatam avadya-krt

na—nol; etena—by this; dehena—by the body; hare—to Lord Siva; krta-
agasah— having committed offenses; deha-udbhavena—produced from your
body ;alam alam—enough, enough; ku-janmand—with a contemptible birth;
vrida—shame; mama—my; abhit—was; ku-jana-prasangatah—from a rela-
tionship with a bad person; tat janma—that birth; dhik—shameful; yah—
who; mahatam—of the great personalities; avadya-krt—an offender.
