Verse 3.14

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 3.14:

अन्नाद् भवन्ति भूतानि पर्जन्याद् अन्न-सम्भवः ।
यज्ञाद् भवति पर्जन्यो यज्ञः कर्म-समुद्भवः ॥ १४ ॥

annād bhavanti bhūtāni parjanyād anna-sambhavaḥ |
yajñād bhavati parjanyo yajñaḥ karma-samudbhavaḥ || 14 ||

annāt–from grains; bhavanti–develop; bhūtāni–all living beings; parjanyāt–from rain; anna–food grains; sambhavaḥ–produced; yajñāt–from the performance of sacrifice; bhavati–produced; parjanyaḥ–rain; yajñaḥ–sacrifice; karma–from prescribed duties; samudbhavaḥ–born of.

All living beings are born of food grains, which are produced from rain. Rains fall because of the performance of sacrifice, and sacrifice is born of the performance of prescribed duties.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

Śrī Bhagavān says, “It is still desirable to perform sacrifice (yajña), because it maintains the cycle of action in this material world.” To express this, Śrī Bhagavān speaks the verse beginning with annāt. Living entities are produced from food grains, thus food grains are the cause of the living entities. Grain is transformed into blood, which then turns into semen. This in turn forms the body of the living entity. Clouds are the source of food grains, which are produced from rain. Sacrifice is the cause of the clouds, because when sacrifice is performed, sufficient rain clouds are produced. The cause of the sacrifice is the performance of prescribed action, because a sacrifice is perfectly executed when the priest of the sacrifice and the person on whose behalf the sacrifice is performed both perform the prescribed karma.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

Ṛtvik–A priest who per-forms sacrifice in different seasons:

āgnedheyaṃ pāka-yajñān agniṣṭomādikān makhān
yaḥ karoti vṛto yasya sa tasyartvig ihocyate

One who feeds the fire god through the performance of a fire sacrifice is called a ṛtvika.

There are four prominent ṛtviks in the performance of sacrifice: (1) hotā, one who chants the mantras of the Ṛg Veda; (2) adhvaryu, one who chants the mantras of the Yajur Veda; (3) brahmā, one who chants the mantras of the Atharva Veda and (4) udgātā, one who chants the mantras of the Sāma Veda.