शतकृत्व इयाज ॥१७॥
dravya-deÅ›a-kÄla-vayaḥ-Å›raddhartvig-vividhoddeÅ›opacitaiḥ sarvair api kratubhir yathopadeÅ›aá¹ Å›ata-ká¹›tva iyÄja
dravya - the ingredients for performing yajña; deÅ›a - the particular place, a holy place or a temple; kÄla - the suitable time, such as springtime; vayaḥ - the age, especially youth; Å›raddhÄ - faith in goodness, not in passion and ignorance; á¹›tvik - the priests; vividha-uddeÅ›a - worshiping different demigods for different purposes; upacitaiḥ - enriched by; sarvaiḥ - all kinds of; api - certainly; kratubhiḥ - by sacrificial ceremonies; yathÄ-upadeÅ›am - according to the instruction; Å›ata-ká¹›tvaḥ - one hundred times; iyÄja - He worshiped.
Lord Ṛṣabhadeva performed all kinds of sacrifices one hundred times according to the instructions of the Vedic literatures. Thus He satisfied Lord Viṣṇu in every respect. All the rituals were enriched by first-class ingredients. They were executed in holy places according to the proper time by priests who were all young and faithful. In this way Lord Viṣṇu was worshiped, and the prasÄda was offered to all the demigods. Thus the functions and festivals were all successful.
It is said, kaumÄra Äcaret prÄjño dharmÄn bhÄgavatÄn iha (BhÄg. 7.6.1). A ritual should be performed by young men, even boys, at a tender age in order for the ritual to be performed successfully. From childhood, people should be trained in Vedic culture, especially in devotional service. In this way, one can perfect one’s life. A Vaiṣṇava does not disrespect the demigods, but on the other hand he is not so foolish that he accepts each and every demigod as the Supreme Lord. The Supreme Lord is master of all demigods; therefore the demigods are His servants. The Vaiṣṇava accepts them as servants of the Supreme Lord, and he worships them directly. In the Brahma-saá¹hitÄ, the important demigods — Lord Åšiva, Lord BrahmÄ and even the incarnations and expansions of Lord Kṛṣṇa like MahÄ-Viṣṇu, GarbhodakaÅ›ÄyÄ« Viṣṇu and all the other viṣṇu-tattvas, as well as the Å›akti-tattvas like DurgÄdevÄ« — are all worshiped by the process of worshiping Govinda with the words govindam Ädi-puruá¹£aá¹ tam ahaá¹ bhajÄmi. A Vaiṣṇava worships the demigods in relation to Govinda, not independently. Vaiṣṇavas are not so foolish that they consider the demigods independent of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is confirmed in Caitanya-caritÄmá¹›ta. Ekale Ä«Å›vara kṛṣṇa, Ära saba bhá¹›tya: the supreme master is Kṛṣṇa, and all others are His servants.
