ayaá¹ vai sarva-yajñÄkhyaḥ
sarva-vratam iti smá¹›tam
tapaḥ-sÄram idaá¹ bhadre
dÄnaá¹ ceÅ›vara-tarpaṇam
ayam - this; vai - indeed; sarva-yajña - all kinds of religious rituals and sacrifices; Äkhyaḥ - called; sarva-vratam - all religious ceremonies; iti - thus; smá¹›tam - understood; tapaḥ-sÄram - the essence of all austerities; idam - this; bhadre - O good lady; dÄnam - acts of charity; ca - and; īśvara - the Supreme Personality of Godhead; tarpaṇam - the process of pleasing.
Ä€rÄdhanÄnÄá¹ sarveá¹£Äá¹ viṣṇor ÄrÄdhanaá¹ param. This is a statement made by Lord Åšiva to PÄrvatÄ«. Worshiping Lord Viṣṇu is the supreme process of worship. And how Lord Viṣṇu is worshiped in this payo-vrata ceremony has now been fully described. The ultimate goal of life is to please Lord Viṣṇu by varṇÄÅ›rama-dharma. The Vedic principles of four varṇas and four ÄÅ›ramas are meant for worship of Viṣṇu (viṣṇur ÄrÄdhyate panthÄ nÄnyat tat-toá¹£a-kÄraṇam). The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is also viṣṇu-ÄrÄdhanam, or worship of Lord Viṣṇu, according to the age. The payo-vrata method of viṣṇu-ÄrÄdhanam was enunciated long, long ago by KaÅ›yapa Muni to his wife, Aditi, in the heavenly planets, and the same process is bona fide on earth even now. Especially for this Age of Kali, the process accepted by the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to open hundreds and thousands of Viṣṇu temples (temples of RÄdhÄ-Kṛṣṇa, JagannÄtha, BalarÄma, SÄ«tÄ-RÄma, Gaura-NitÄi and so on). Performing prescribed worship in such temples of Viṣṇu and thus worshiping the Lord is as good as performing the payo-vrata ceremony recommended here. The payo-vrata ceremony is performed from the first to the thirteenth day of the bright fortnight of the moon, but in our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement Lord Viṣṇu is worshiped in every temple according to a schedule of twenty-four hours of engagement in performing kÄ«rtana, chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahÄ-mantra, offering palatable food to Lord Viṣṇu and distributing this food to Vaiṣṇavas and others. These are authorized activities, and if the members of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement stick to these principles, they will achieve the same result one gains by observing the payo-vrata ceremony. Thus the essence of all auspicious activities, such as performing yajña, giving in charity, observing vratas, and undergoing austerities, is included in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. The members of this movement should immediately and sincerely follow the processes already recommended. Of course, sacrifice is meant to please Lord Viṣṇu. Yajñaiḥ saá¹…kÄ«rtana-prÄyair yajanti hi sumedhasaḥ: in Kali-yuga, those who are intelligent perform the saá¹…kÄ«rtana-yajña. One should follow this process conscientiously.