स्वागतं ते प्रसीदेश तुभ्यं नम:
श्रीनिवास श्रिया कान्तया त्राहि न: ।
त्वामृतेऽधीश नाङ्गैर्मख: शोभते
शीर्षहीन: कबन्धो यथा पुरुष: ॥ ३६ ॥
svāgataṁ te prasīdeśa tubhyaṁ namaḥ
śrīnivāsa śriyā kāntayā trāhi naḥ
tvām ṛte 'dhīśa nāṅgair makhaḥ śobhate
śīrṣa-hīnaḥ ka-bandho yathā puruṣaḥ
jātiḥ śāstraṁ japas tapaḥ
aprāṇasyaiva dehasya
maṇḍanaṁ loka-rañjanam
SYNONYMS
yajamānī—the wife of Dakṣa; uvāca—prayed; su-āgatam—auspicious appearance; te—Your; prasīda—become pleased; īśa—my dear Lord; tubhyam—unto You; namaḥ—respectful obeisances; śrīnivāsa—O abode of the goddess of fortune; śriyā—with Lakṣmī; kāntayā—Your wife; trāhi—protect; naḥ—us; tvām—You; ṛte—without; adhīśa—O supreme controller; na—not; aṅgaiḥ—with bodily limbs; makhaḥ—the sacrificial arena; śobhate—is beautiful; śīrṣa-hīnaḥ—without the head; ka-bandhaḥ—possessed of only a body; yathā—as; puruṣaḥ—a person.
TRANSLATION
The wife of Dakṣa prayed as follows: My dear Lord, it is very fortunate that You have appeared in this arena of sacrifice. I offer my respectful obeisances unto You, and I request that You be pleased on this occasion. The sacrificial arena is not beautiful without You, just as a body is not beautiful without the head.
PURPORT
Another name of Lord Viṣṇu is Yajñeśvara. In Bhagavad-gītā it is said that all activities should be performed as Viṣṇu-yajña, for the pleasure of Lord Viṣṇu. 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 Dakṣa: "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 Kṛṣṇa consciousness, without an understanding of Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, any advancement in a civilization, no matter how sophisticated, is of no value. There is a statement in the Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya (3.11):
jātiḥ śāstraṁ japas tapaḥ
aprāṇasyaiva dehasya
maṇḍanaṁ loka-rañjanam