248 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 4, Ch. 7

The sacrificial arena is not beautiful without You, just as a body is not
beautiful without the head.

PURPORT

Another name of Lord Visnu is Yajfiesvara. In Bhagavad-gita it is said
that all activities should be performed as Visnu yajita, for the pleasure of
Lord Visnu. Unless we please Him, whatever we do is the cause of our
bondage in the material world. This is confirmed herein by the wife of
Daksa: “Without Your presence, the grandeur of this sacrificial ceremony
is useless, just as a body without the head, however decorated it may be,
is useless.” The comparison is equally applicable to the social body.
Material civilization is very proud of being advanced, but it is actually
the useless trunk of a body without a head. Without Krsna consciousness,
without an understanding of Visnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
any advancement in a civilization, no matter how sophisticated, is of no
value. There is a statement in the Srimad-Bhagavatam: bhagavad-bhakti-
hinasya jatih sastrarm japas tapah apranasyaiva dehasya mandanam loka-
rafijanam. The purport is that sometimes when a friend or relative dies,
especially amongst lower class men, the dead body is decorated. Dressed
and ornamented, the body is taken in procession. That sort of decoration
of the dead body has no actual value because the life force is already gone.
Similarly, any aristocracy, any social prestige or any advancement of
material civilization without Krsna consciousness is as good as the decora-
tion of a dead body. The name of the wife of Daksa was Prasiiti, and she
was the daughter of Svayambhuva Manu. Her sister, Devahitti, was married
to Kardama Muni, and Kapiladeva, the Personality of Godhead, became
her son. Prasiiti, then, was the aunt of Lord Visnu. She was asking the
favor of Lord Visnu in an affectionate mode; since she was His aunt, she
sought some special favor. Also significant in this verse is that the Lord is
praised with the goddess of fortune. Wherever Lord Visnu is worshiped,
naturally there is the favor of the goddess of fortune. Lord Visnu is
addressed here as amrta, transcendental. The demigods, including Brahma
and Lord Siva, were produced after the creation, but Lord Visnu existed
before the creation. He is addressed, therefore, as amrta. Lord Visnu is
worshiped with His internal energy by the Vaisnavas, Prasiiti, the wife of
Daksa, implored the Lord to turn the priests into Vaisnavas instead of
simply fruitive workers performing sacrifices for some material benefits.

TEXT 37
CPMRAICT Hye

we: fi a charted
