अङ्गोऽश्वमेधं राजर्षिराजहार महाक्रतुम् ।
नाजग्मुर्देवतास्तस्मिन्नाहूता ब्रह्मवादिभिः ॥२५॥
maitreya uvÄca
aá¹…go 'Å›vamedhaá¹ rÄjará¹£ir
ÄjahÄra mahÄ-kratum
nÄjagmur devatÄs tasminn
ÄhÅ«tÄ brahma-vÄdibhiḥ
maitreyaḥ uvÄca - Maitreya answered; aá¹…gaḥ - King Aá¹…ga; aÅ›vamedham - aÅ›vamedha sacrifice; rÄja-ṛṣiḥ - the saintly king; ÄjahÄra - executed; mahÄ-kratum - great sacrifice; na - not; Äjagmuḥ - came; devatÄḥ - the demigods; tasmin - in that sacrifice; ÄhÅ«tÄḥ - being invited; brahma-vÄdibhiḥ - by the brÄhmaṇas expert in executing sacrifices.
ÅšrÄ« Maitreya replied: My dear Vidura, once the great King Aá¹…ga arranged to perform the great sacrifice known as aÅ›vamedha. All the expert brÄhmaṇas present knew how to invite the demigods, but in spite of their efforts, no demigods participated or appeared in that sacrifice.
A Vedic sacrifice is not an ordinary performance. The demigods used to participate in such sacrifices, and the animals sacrificed in such performances were reincarnated with new life. In this Age of Kali there are no powerful brÄhmaṇas who can invite the demigods or give renewed life to animals. Formerly, the brÄhmaṇas well conversant in Vedic mantras could show the potency of the mantras, but in this age, because there are no such brÄhmaṇas, all such sacrifices are forbidden. The sacrifice in which horses were offered was called aÅ›vamedha. Sometimes cows were sacrificed (gavÄlambha), not for eating purposes, but to give them new life in order to show the potency of the mantra. In this age, therefore, the only practical yajña is saá¹…kÄ«rtana-yajña, or chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra twenty-four hours a day.
