यजमानपशोः कस्य कायात्तेनाहरच्छिरः ॥२४॥
dṛṣá¹vÄ saá¹jñapanaá¹ yogaá¹
paśūnÄá¹ sa patir makhe
yajamÄna-paÅ›oḥ kasya
kÄyÄt tenÄharac chiraḥ
dṛṣá¹vÄ - having seen; saá¹jñapanam - for the killing of the animals in the sacrifice; yogam - the device; paśūnÄm - of the animals; saḥ - he (VÄ«rabhadra); patiḥ - the lord; makhe - in the sacrifice; yajamÄna-paÅ›oḥ - who was an animal in the form of the chief of the sacrifice; kasya - of Daká¹£a; kÄyÄt - from the body; tena - by that (device); aharat - severed; Å›iraḥ - his head.
Then VÄ«rabhadra saw the wooden device in the sacrificial arena by which the animals were to have been killed. He took the opportunity of this facility to behead Daká¹£a.
In this connection it is to be noted that the device used for killing animals in the sacrifice was not designed to facilitate eating their flesh. The killing was specifically intended to give a new life to the sacrificed animal by the power of Vedic mantra. The animals were sacrificed to test the strength of Vedic mantras; yajñas were performed as a test of the mantra. Even in the modern age, tests are executed on animal bodies in the physiology laboratory. Similarly, whether or not the brÄhmaṇas were uttering the Vedic hymns correctly was tested by sacrifice in the arena. On the whole, the animals thus sacrificed were not at all the losers. Some old animals would be sacrificed, but in exchange for their old bodies they received other, new bodies. That was the test of Vedic mantras. VÄ«rabhadra, instead of sacrificing animals with the wooden device, immediately beheaded Daká¹£a, to the astonishment of everyone.
