# SB 9.1.17 > भगवन्किमिदं जातं कर्म वो ब्रह्मवादिनाम > विपर्ययमहो कष्टं मैवं स्याद्ब्रह्मविक्रिया ॥१७॥ ## Text > bhagavan kim idaṁ jātaṁ > karma vo brahma-vādinām > viparyayam aho kaṣṭaṁ > maivaṁ syād brahma-vikriyā ## Synonyms *bhagavan*—O my lord; *kim idam*—what is this; *jātam*—born; *karma*—fruitive activities; *vaḥ*—of all of you; *brahma-vādinām*—of you, who are expert in chanting the Vedic *mantras*; *viparyayam*—deviation; *aho*—alas; *kaṣṭam*—painful; *mā evam syāt*—thus it should not have been; *brahma-vikriyā*—this opposite action of the Vedic *mantras.* ## Translation **My lord, all of you are expert in chanting the Vedic mantras. How then has the result been opposite to the one desired? This is a matter for lamentation. There should not have been such a reversal of the results of the Vedic mantras.** ## Purport In this age, the performance of *yajña* has been forbidden because no one can properly chant the Vedic *mantras.* If Vedic *mantras* are chanted properly, the desire for which a sacrifice is performed must be successful. Therefore the Hare Kṛṣṇa chant is called the *mahā-mantra,* the great, exalted *mantra* above all other Vedic *mantras,* because simply chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mahā-mantra* brings so many beneficial effects. As explained by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu (*Śikṣāṣṭaka* 1): > ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaṁ > śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaṁ vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam > ānandāmbudhi-vardhanaṁ prati-padaṁ pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanaṁ > sarvātma-snapanaṁ paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam > [[cc/antya/20/12|[Cc. Antya 20.12] ]] "Glory to the Śrī Kṛṣṇa *saṅkīrtana,* which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional life, of repeated birth and death. This *saṅkīrtana* movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the benediction moon. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge. It increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it enables us to fully taste the nectar for which we are always anxious." Therefore, the best performance of *yajña* given to us is the *saṅkīrtana-yajña. Yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi sumedhasaḥ* (SB 11.5.32). Those who are intelligent take advantage of the greatest *yajña* in this age by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mahā-mantra* in congregation. When the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mantra* is chanted by many men together, the chanting is called *saṅkīrtana,* and as a result of such a *yajña* there will be clouds in the sky (*yajñād bhavati parjanyaḥ* [[bg/3/14|[Bg. 3.14] ]]). In these days of drought, people can gain relief from scarcity of rain and food by the simple method of the Hare Kṛṣṇa *yajña.* Indeed, this can relieve all of human society. At present there are droughts throughout Europe and America, and people are suffering, but if people take this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement seriously, if they stop their sinful activities and chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mahā-mantra,* all their problems will be solved without difficulty. In other processes of *yajña* there are difficulties because there are no learned scholars who can chant the *mantras* perfectly well, nor is it possible to secure the ingredients to perform the *yajña.* Because human society is poverty-stricken and men are devoid of Vedic knowledge and the power to chant the Vedic *mantras,* the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mahā-mantra* is the only shelter. People should be intelligent enough to chant it. *Yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi sumedhasaḥ* [SB 11.5.32]. Those whose brains are dull cannot understand this chanting, nor can they take to it.