Sri krishnāya namah.
Thereafter Daksha, seeking permission from Lord Brahma, reinstated the Yagna fire and together with the priests and other sages, sat down to complete the remaining rituals.
As Veerabhadra and other warriors had damaged the sacrificial hall and fires, the Yagna had been rendered impure. In order to bring purity to the Yagna and to ensure that it would be completed without any obstacles, the Brahmins organized 3 Purodaśa vessels (pātra). Completing the rituals and offering oblations as stipulated, they worshipped Sri Mahāvishnu.
While the chief priest Maharishi Bhrigu was holding the offerings, Daksha, the performer of the Yagna, meditated upon Sri Mahāvishnu with a pure inner mind.
Immediately Srihari, the Supreme Lord, manifested there. He was seated on His vehicle Garuda, which has the Sāma veda hymns known as Bṛhat and Rathāntara as its wings.
With His arrival, the 10 directions glowed luminously. In front of this illumination, Brahma and other Devatas appeared lusterless and pale.
With His dark complexion, golden waistband, golden-yellow silken clothing around His waist and with a crown that dazzled like the Sun, the Supreme Lord glowed vibrantly. The curly hair which resembled black bees and the glittering earrings decorated His face beautifully.
In His eight hands, which were decorated with golden ornaments, He held the conch, lotus, discus, bow, arrow, sword, mace and shield. It appeared as if He was in a hurry to rescue His devotees with these weapons. The Lord who was holding these weapons resembled a huge blossoming tree.
With Goddess Lakshmi on His chest and the long Vanamāla garland, He looked divine. With His charming smile and tender gaze He was showering limitless love and causing happiness to the entire world. The white vinjāmara fans that were on His either side looked like royal swans. The beautiful white umbrella over His head resembled the beautiful full moon. Together with all these decorations, He was looking extraordinarily beautiful.
Brahma, Shiva, Indra and all other Devatas, Maharishis, priests and the assembled invitees saw the Supreme Lord and instantly stood up to offer obeisance. In front of His supreme radiance, all the Devatas appeared pale and lusterless. Seeing this divine auspicious form in front of them, the Devatas were mesmerized and speechless. In nervousness they quickly folded their hands above their heads, fell on the ground and prostrated before Him.
Srihari is that Supreme Essence who cannot be understood through any definite decisive proofs! He is beyond them all! When this Supreme Essence appeared before them, all the Devatas stood up and reverentially worshipped Him!
The divine transcendental glories of the Supreme Lord are beyond the understanding of even Lords such as Brahma. His beauty, His glory cannot be understood by the mind. Even then the compassionate Lord, who treats His devotees as His children, appeared before them and blessed them with His darshan. Such is His grace! Enthralled by this love shown, each of them praised the Lord according to his capacity and understanding.
Each of the assembled guests praised the Lord according to the feelings that existed in his/her mind, according to his/her level of understanding of the Supreme Essence, according to the manner in which he/she perceived the Lord at that point of time.
Whenever He manifests, devotees arrange all the items in clean, beautiful puja-plates and offer them to Him. He then accepts them. Likewise, Daksha, with pure focused attention, meditated upon the Lord and the Lord accepted His prayers.
The Lord was accompanied by His attendants, Nanda and Sunanda. Daksha Prajāpati folded his hands and with feelings of total self-surrender, prayed as follows,
“In the Pure Consciousness (atma chaitanya), everything shines. Yet, the merits and demerits of the illumined objects cannot influence the Pure Consciousness. For this reason, it is absolutely pure. It has no second. It has no fear.
Even though the three states of waking, dream and deep sleep exist within this consciousness, it remains beyond them. Such Pure Consciousness is itself Your form!
O Lord, You are independent and above the scope of illusion (māya). You, an embodiment of knowledge, remain eternally in Your original form. Nevertheless, due to Your illusory powers, You appear as if You have taken on a human form and are impure”.
The priests then prayed to the Lord,
“Tattvaṁ na te vayam anañjana rudra-śāpāt Karmaṇy avagraha-dhiyo bhagavan vidāmaḥ
Dharmopalakṣaṇam idaṁ trivṛd adhvarākhyaṁ Jñātaṁ yad-artham adhidaivam ado vyavasthāḥ
O Lord! You are the Self (atma) that exists within the different living entities. Even then, the sins committed by those varied bodies do not touch You. Due to Nandi’s curse, our mind is eternally inclined towards fruitive actions and we have been unable to understand Your real form.
Yagna, which regulates people to walk on the path of the dharma and which is explained in all the three Vedas, is Your form. You manifest in the form of Indra and other Devatas. These Devatas and these disciplines manifest along with You solely to ensure successful completion of the Yagna”.
The assembled members prayed,
“O Lord, who protects one and all! Ignorant foolish persons are walking on the path called samsāra mārga i.e. they are eternally rotating in the repeated cycle of births and deaths. In this path, when the ferocious snake called death continually chases the persons, there is none to rescue them.
In this path of repeated births and deaths, afflictions known as spiritual ignorance (avidy), sense of I-ness (ahamkara), likes-dislikes (raga-dweśa) and fear of death (abhiniveśa) are the huge boulders that are impossible to cross over.”
Srikrishnāya namah.
