SRIMAD-BHAGAVATAM 7 CHAPTER 14 TEXT 17
na hy agni-mukhato ’yaṁ vai
bhagavān sarva-yajna-bhuk
ijyeta haviṣā rājan
yathā vipra-mukhe hutaiḥ
TRANSLATION
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is the enjoyer of sacrificial offerings. Yet although His Lordship eats the oblations offered in the fire, my dear King, He is still more satisfied when nice food made of grains and ghee is offered to Him through the mouths of qualified brāhmaṇas.
PURPORT
As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (3.9), yajnārthāt karmaṇo ’nyatra loko ’yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ: all fruitive activities should be performed for sacrifice, which should be directed toward pleasing Kṛṣṇa. As stated elsewhere in Bhagavad-gītā (5.29), bhoktāraṁ yajna-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram: He is the Supreme Lord and enjoyer of everything. However, although sacrifice may be offered to please Kṛṣṇa, He is more pleased when grains and ghee, instead of being offered in the fire, are prepared as prasāda and distributed, first to the brāhmaṇas and then to others. This system pleases Kṛṣṇa more than anything else. Furthermore, at the present time there is very little chance to offer sacrifices by pouring oblations of food grains and ghee into the fire. Especially in India, there is practically no ghee; for everything that should be done with ghee, people use a certain type of oil preparation. Oil, however, is never recommended for offering in a sacrificial fire. In Kali-yuga, the available quantity of food grains and ghee is gradually diminishing, and people are embarrassed that they cannot produce sufficient ghee and food grains. Under the circumstances, the śāstras enjoin, yajnaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi sumedhasaḥ: [SB 11.5.32] in this age, those who are intellectual offer yajna, or perform sacrifices, through the saṅkīrtana movement. Everyone should join the saṅkīrtana movement, offering to the fire of this movement the oblations of his knowledge and riches. In our saṅkīrtana movement, or Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, we offer sumptuous prasāda to the Deity and later distribute the same prasāda to the brāhmaṇas, the Vaiṣṇavas and then to the people in general. Kṛṣṇa’s prasāda is offered to the brāhmaṇas and Vaiṣṇavas, and the prasāda of the brāhmaṇas and Vaiṣṇavas is offered to the general populace. This kind of sacrifice—chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra and distribution of prasāda—is the most perfect and bona fide way of offering sacrifice for the pleasure of Yajna, or Viṣṇu.