Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 4 Chapter 13 Verse 35

Canto 4: Creation of the Fourth Order | Chapter 13: Description of the Descendants of Dhruva Mahārāja

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.13.35

iti vyavasitā viprās

tasya rājñaḥ prajātaye

puroḍāśaḿ niravapan

śipi-viṣṭāya viṣṇave

SYNONYMS

iti — thus; vyavasitāḥ — having decided; viprāḥ — the brāhmaṇas; tasya — his; rājñaḥ — of the king; prajātaye — for the purpose of getting a son; puroḍāśam — the paraphernalia of sacrifice; niravapan — offered; śipi-viṣṭāya — to the Lord, who is situated in the sacrificial fire; viṣṇave — to Lord Viṣṇu.

TRANSLATION

Thus for the sake of a son for King Ańga, they decided to offer oblations to Lord Viṣṇu, who is situated in the hearts of all living entities.

PURPORT

According to sacrificial rituals, animals are sometimes sacrificed in the yajña arena. Such animals are sacrificed not to kill them but to give them new life. Such action was an experiment to observe whether the Vedic mantras were being properly pronounced. Sometimes small animals are killed in a medical laboratory to investigate therapeutic effects. In a medical clinic, the animals are not revived, but in the yajña arena, when animals were sacrificed, they were again given life by the potency of Vedic mantras. The word śipi-viṣṭāya appears in this verse. Śipi means "the flames of the sacrifice." In the sacrificial fire if the oblations are offered into the flames, then Lord Viṣṇu is situated there in the form of the flames. Therefore Lord Viṣṇu is known as Śipiviṣṭa.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness